Advanced_Photoshop_Issue_139_-_2015_UK_

03

ESTABLISH GREYSCALE

Once you have a decent line art drawing you can begin

placing the greyscale values. First, select a middle grey, #555

in the colour picker window, and change your brush to about

170px in size and about 10% Hardness. At the top, choose

Multiply as the brush’s blend mode and reduce Opacity to

about 30%. Fill in your outlines with grey, using pen pressure

to paint lighter values in the distance and darker in the

foreground. Your line art should still be visible at this point.

04

LASSO IN SHADOWS

To emphasise the shadows on the cliff sides, tap L for

the Lasso tool, and trace around the bottom portion of cliffs or

mountains that will be in shadow. Hold down Shift to add to the

selection, and draw rock shapes on the left and a few more

crystal-shaped ones protruding near the mid-ground. Select

the Charcoal brush from Photoshop’s Dry Media brush set and

paint in a dark grey. Shade in these areas using random

strokes and keeping the Opacity high at around 90%.

TECHNIQUES CONTROL TONE AND COLOUR IN SCENES

02

DEVELOP LINE ART

Now that all our settings are in place, create a standard hard

round brush at about 7px size and about 70% Hardness. Hit the D key to

make sure your default black foreground colour is active, and begin

drawing. Sketch outlines of mountain ranges and cliffs, working

background to foreground. Keeping in mind the rule of thirds, draw the

horizon towards the bottom line and major cliffs at the vertical lines.

Keep shapes generally loose, as they will be refined later.

01

SET UP PARAMETERS

Before beginning a painting, ensure all

settings are correct. Now is a good time to download

the brushes from FileSilo. Create a new document at

2050 pixels width, 1080 pixels height, 300dpi

resolution, and 8 bit with a white background colour.

In the top right corner of Photoshop, make sure your

workspace is set to Painting. Go to Window>Brush

and check Shape Dynamics and Transfer as well as

the small locks next to them. Selecting pen pressure

as your control, edit the minimum diameters of both

to suit your pen tablet preferences.

05

ADD ATMOSPHERIC HAZE

Flip the canvas often, as elements tend to shift in the

direction of your dominant hand. Now that your shapes are more

solid you can select a large 500px Soft Round brush at 0%

Hardness. Change your painting mode to Overlay and, using the

colour picker (Eyedropper tool), spot-select and lightly paint a light

grey in the background, and dark grey in our foreground. Play with

Color Dodge as well to show a bright light source, which in this

painting is beyond the mountains towards the right.

FROM SKETCH TO

FINAL PAINTING

WORK IN

PROGRESS

Progress 2: Add greyscale value

Progress 3: Add colour

and details

Progress 1: Sketch line art

Flip the canvas often, as elements

tend to shift in the direction of your

dominant hand