DIGITAL PAINTING
USE ARTISTIC LICENSE
ADD DETAIL AND KEEP IT LIGHT WHILE ADDING YOUR OWN FLAIRQUICK TIP
Masking is an effective way to delete elements in
an image, while still keeping the deleted data just
in case. Masks work in black and white; black
being what is being erased and white is what is
visible. Filters and brush effects can be applied to
masks, an advantage over erasing.STOCK IMAGES AND TEXTURE
The stock surface texture used in this tutorial is
a soft grunge papery texture from http://www.
lostandtaken.com, a royalty free stock website.
There are an innumerable amount of places to
find stock images that can suit almost any need.
However, make sure when using your stock
that you abide by the stock creator’s usage
requirements and copyrights. Some places offer
royalty free, commercial free stock that is free to
use anywhere, but some require payment or
notation that the stock is being used. Others
also require a timed usage licence. Also make
sure the stock is a good enough quality and size
for easier editing.14
RECOLOUR THE FLOWERS
When turning a photo into an artistic style,
it’s important to keep each layer separate and
make sure they are easily editable. Doing so makes
changing entire formats and colour schemes
easier to get the desired effect. To demonstrate, the
flowers and petals have been switched to a
stronger red. Brush in darker pits to the existing
flowers and give the background petals more life by
masking out their transparency around their edges.
Lock the transparent pixels, and use a Gradient to
give whole sections of petals an orange hue.15
ADD DEPTH
Mask off the petals and brush strokes that
intersect undesirably, like on her arms and some
areas of her hair. Duplicate the background petals
layer underneath itself and set it to Multiply, giving
the petals more depth. Play with the opacity. Next
add a new layer below the precedent layer and set it
to Multiply also. Brush in smaller, lesser petals,
mostly focusing on her hair. Add a new Multiply layer
above the flowers layer and repeat, but focusing on
the cloth in her hand.16
ADD IN HIGHLIGHTS
Create a new layer over the flower line art
layer, and pick a light, relatively neutral colour that
fits in with the art. With the watercolour brush, add in
small highlights to the petals. Brush the highlights
on random petals and keep them sharp, but keep in
mind the light sources of the art so the highlights
don’t conflict. Using a small, splotchy brush, add
splashes of red to the sides of some flowers. Add
some splashes to her hair also.17
ADDING FINER DETAILS
Now that the flowers have been
completed, group all of the layers involved. Keep
these layers separate for any future editing.
Looking back, some sections of the woman can be
adjusted to match the flowers. Remove or add
some of the line art to your liking and use Color
Balance if necessary. A clear contrast needs to be
made between the woman and flowers, but at the
same time it must look harmonious. Add in small
details such as highlights to her eyes, hair and lips.18
SIMPLIFY THE BACKGROUND
Next is to simplify the background. It needs
to match the feel of the art. First, sort the woman
and flowers into a single group and attach a blank
mask. Very lightly mask the edges of the ground to
blend with the background. On a layer above the
background, use the Soft Round brush with Transfer
on and pick a matching neutral colour. Lightly colour
around the woman and flowers. Keep the edges
textured. With the watercolour brush, pick a red from
the flowers and loosely colour around them.