Advanced Painter Techniques

Introduction xiii

Chapter 1 Painting an Oil Portrait 1

Creating a 3D Look with 2D Tools 2

Considering the Result First 2

Setting Up Your Canvas 3

Adding Light 5

Painting the Portrait 7

Drawing the Sketch and Toning the Canvas 7

Enhancing the Oil Painting Texture 15

Refining the Portrait 18

Finishing Touches 26

Final Thoughts 31

Chapter 2 Painting Clouds, Water, and Stone 33

Learning the Fundamentals of Painting a Landscape 34

Painting the Clouds 34

Defining the Horizon 38

Creating Fluffy Clouds 38

Refining the Details 42

Painting the Water 43

Painting the Rocky Cliffs 51

Creating Pits and Holes 57

Adding More Textural Effects 59

Completing the Water 60

Finishing Touches 63

Final Thoughts 66

Chapter 3 Painting a Rocky Surface Then Making It Look Wet 69

Creating a Rocky Texture 70

Adding Color Using Gradients 74

Combining the Images into One Texture 78

Painting a Wet Surface 81

Duplicating for Future Use 82

Creating Shadows 83

Adding Shine 84

Darkening and Softening 86

Adding Reflected Light 86

Adding Highlights 87

Painting a Gooey Surface 88

Creating Cracks in the Rocks 88

Giving the Cracks Dimension 91

Getting Gooey 92

Adding Dimension 94

Removing the Bevel 95

Adding More Shadows, Highlights, and Texture 97

Final Thoughts 99

Chapter 4 Painting a Fantasy Forest with the Image Hose 101

Using the Image Hose 102

Setting Up the Image 102

Painting Trees in the Forest 104

Painting a Few Trees to Produce a Forest 104

Creating a Nozzle File of the Trees 106

Adding Leaves to the Trees 116

Creating a Leaf Brush 116

Creating a Leaf Nozzle 118

Finishing Touches 123

Enhancing the Scene with Shadows 123

Adding Light 126

Adding Dust Motes 127

Adding a Little More Light and Dust 128

Adding Fauna in the Flora 128

Putting a Soft Focus on Reality 129

Final Thoughts 131

Chapter 5 Painting the Sleepwalker 133

Painting a Night Scene 134

Setting Up the Image 134

Painting the Sleepwalker 139

Putting Up Wallpaper 139

Darkening the Image 142

Painting the Sleepwalking Character 144

Cloning the Image 146

Adding Floorboards for Balance 147

Smoothing Out the Rough Spots 149

Painting the Eye Candy in the Image 151

Adding Wispy Smoke 151

Cooling Down the Night 154

Enhancing the Mood with Moonlight 155

Finishing Touches 158

Final Thoughts 161

Chapter 6 Painting a Sea Serpent 163

Using a Paper Texture for the Image 164

Creating the Paper Texture 164

Wet and Dry Digital Watercolor Layers 166

Painting the Sea Monster 167

Moving from Dark to Light 167

Painting in the Details 168

Making the Scales Seamless 171

Practicing Scales 173

Adding Scales to the Sea Serpent 176

Adding the Fog Bank 178

Adding the Sea Serpent’s Reflection in the Water 183

Finishing Touches 186

Final Thoughts 187

Chapter 7 Red Riding Hood 189

Importing the Sketch and Setting Up the Image 190

Using Custom Brushes to Paint the Forest Background 192

Creating a Leaf Brush 193

Separating the Character and Background 200

Painting the Separated Background 202

Painting Vines 204

Making a Grass Paper Texture 207

Building a Grass Nozzle File 210

Painting Red Riding Hood 213

Adding Weave to the Basket 214

Finishing Touches 215

Anchoring with Gravel and Shadow 215

Adding Texture to Red’s Cape 215

A Little Lighting 216

Final Thoughts 217

Chapter 8 From Concept to Complete 219

Defining Concept Work 220

Setting Up the Image 220

Setting the Mood and Tone 222

Playing with Color Schemes 222

Choosing the Light Source 223

Painting the Monster 226

Making More Monster 226

Developing a Wet and Gooey Look 231

Finishing the Monster 235

Refining the Monster Details 235

Softening the Edges 236

Adjusting the Foreground 238

Painting the Foreground 239

Finishing Touches 241

Final Thoughts 243

Chapter 9 Painting Shiny Baubles 245

Using a Different Approach 246

Painting the Face 246

Adding a Decorative Pattern to the Fabric 247

Painting the Earrings 250

Painting the Neck Rings 256

Creating the Neck Rings 256

Turning the Neck Rings Silver 259

Using Liquid Metal to Paint Jewelry 260

Accessing the Liquid Metal Plug-In Layer 261

Painting Jewelry Using the Liquid Plug-In Layer 263

Creating Another Piece of Jewelry Using Liquid Metal 265

Using a Custom Brush to Paint Decorative Shapes 268

Creating the Custom Brush of Feathers 269

Adding Beads 272

Creating an Amazing Background 273

Finishing Touches 277

Final Thoughts 277

Index 278