QUICK TIP
Take breaks! It’s important to rest your mind every
hour or so, both to maintain energy levels and to
return to the image with fresh eyes. Often you’ll
notice glaring errors when you take even a short
break, which you might have missed otherwise.13
CHECK YOUR VALUES
Now that you’re nearing the finish line, it’s a
good time to check your values – essentially to look
at the image in black and white so you can see how
well it reads. Go to Layer>New Adjustment Layer
and select Hue/Saturation. Slide the Saturation slider
to -100. Remember – you want your focal point to
pop out, so increase the contrast in those areas
using the Dodge and Burn tools sparingly, or by
adding a Brightness/Contrast adjustment layer in the
same manner as before.14
CHARACTER PAINTING
Save the best until last – it’s time to look at the characters! Striking the
balance of adding detail without ruining the painterly effect isn’t easy, so try to
be bold with your strokes and feel out the shapes. Adding little elements like the
ball of light, interesting clothing designs and poses will help add story to your
painting. Think about who the characters are, where are they going, what this
world is. The more thought you put into the designs in your painting, the more
exciting it’ll be for viewers.15
FINISHING TOUCHES
Use adjustment layers to fine-tune your painting. Bring the saturation up
slightly using Hue/Saturation and adjust contrast with a Levels adjustment layer.
Use the Color Balance adjustment to add yellows (+8) to the highlights and blue
(+20) to the midtones; experiment with these settings until you get the overall
colour tones you desire. As with the atmosphere, less is more when it comes to
adjustments. Apply some Sharpening (Filter>Sharpen>Unsharp Mask) to the final
image to pop out some of the texture detail and you’re done!MASTER REAL PAINT EFFECTS