In this digital painting tutorial we are going to finish the fantasy landscape we started in part 1 and part 2.
Step 9
Using the path tool, outline the arch and save it as a path. From the paths palette, you can select “make selection” and then on a new layer brush in the background colour for the arch.
Make a new layer, and do the same for the stones of the arch. It takes a bit of time, but outlining them and saving them as a path enables you to select them easily and apply colour, texture and effects.
Step 10
Using the paths to select the stones and and the arch, paint them in, remembering the direction of the light and adding highlights as needed.
I have used one of the bristle brushes with the smudge tool in order to roughen the edges a bit.
Step 11
Create a volumetric lighting effect, with the beams coming from the light source through the arch. On a new layer, use the polygonal lasso tool to outline a beam shape. Fill with a very light yellow/gold. Deselect the area and then add a Gaussian Blur effect until the edges are nicely blurred. Set the layer to “soft light” and drop the opacity until you have the required effect. Repeat this, making several beams.
Step 12
Continue painting and adding detail to the foreground rocks and foliage. I have used the blend and the mixer brush to add highlights and blades of grass here.
For the foreground rocks, we are going to overlay a rock texture you can download here.
Using the same techniques as overlaying the sea texture in lesson 2, apply the rock texture the foreground rocks. Set the layer to “soft light” or “overlay”.
Step13
Now use the dodge and burn tool on the highlights and lowlights to create a more dramatic lighting effect. It is best to copy any layer you are working on in order to compare your enhanced version with the original.
Load the moon brushes and position a moon in the sky.
Now, use the keyboard command shift+ctrl+alt+e OR shift+ctrl+apple+alt+e to copy all visible layers into a new layer on top. To add a soft glow, with this layer selected go to Blur>Radial (zoom blur). Set the blur to 10 – 20 and then set the layer to a low opacity for a misty glow effect to your composition.
You are finished! I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and learned some useful techniques. Check back soon for more Photoshop Tutorials and Digital Painting techniques.
