QUICK TIP
Aside from brushes, having a library of royalty-free textures is also beneficial. You can use them in
conjunction with the brushes you download or perhaps even make your own custom tools out of them.
This will make painting in Photoshop even more efficient and enjoyable for you.04
SEPARATION OF ELEMENTS
Now you need to separate the picture’s
elements using silhouettes. Use the Pen tool to
select each element, such as the figure, then fill
them with any colour. Make sure each selection is
made on a different layer. Duplicate the line art
layer on top of each silhouette. Ctrl/right-click on
each line art layer and select Create Clipping
Mask. Alternatively, you can just put the mouse
cursor between the line layer and the silhouette
then Opt/Alt-click.05
BROAD STROKES
With each element separated into individual
layers, your next step would be to introduce colours
using broad brush strokes. Before painting on a
selected layer, click Lock Transparent Pixels. This will
ensure that the silhouette of that layer is preserved.
There is no need to be concerned about polishing at
this point. You will revisit each element later after the
basic colours have been laid out. This is where the
colour thumbnail becomes useful as it can be used
as a guide in this step.06
RENDERING THE BACKGROUND
One of the better approaches to painting, be
it digital or traditional, is to render the most distant
elements first. In this case, it’s best to begin with the
sky and the shipment containers behind the
character. Use Jan Ditlev Christensen’s fine art
brushes (provided online) for the hard surfaces. For
the clouds, use Dan Luvisi’s custom brush pack (link
provided). To control the ‘amount of paint’ in each
stroke, access brush presets and set Opacity and
Flow jitter to Pen Pressure.07
INITIAL BACKGROUND ENHANCEMENTS
Now that you’ve rendered the background,
you’ll need to create two new layers on top of it.
Change the blending mode of the first one to Color
Burn and the other to Color Dodge. Use an airbrush
to enhance contrast and colours. This method, while
less automated compared to using a filter or an
adjustment layer, provides greater control because it
allows you to choose specific areas to darken,
lighten, or intensify. Having these enhancements on
separate layers makes the file more editable.08
ADDING TEXTURE
One of our objectives is to visually convey an idea. Keep in mind that no matter which style or genre
you’ve chosen for your painting, it has to be believable. Even if your painting is stylised as opposed to
photorealistic, there are still merits in adding details such as textures that make the artwork all the more
convincing. It’s a good idea to build up a library of free textured brushes that can be downloaded online, such
as Ramon Miranda’s Artistic Oils Brushkit (link provided).DIGITAL PAINTING