content issue 06/2010

cover artist – interview

Vince Fraser 4
Vince Fraser is a freelance digital illustrator based in London who
has worked for various clients including British Airways, PC World,
BBC and T-mobile. He has ten years experience in the field of
digital arts.

photomanipulation Medieval battlefield

Greg Kaperski 40
In Bloom
Natalia Voloshyn 8 Autumn
Alena Lazareva 46
Mystery of Nature
Benjamin Delacour 12

interview
Inverview with Benjamin Delacour 18

creative class Dearest Readers!

Enhancing 3D renders in Photoshop
Summer is here and it’s hot so we take these high temperatures down with some Ice
CS5 – this is the title of the cover image prepared by Vince Fraser. See his other works in
Digital-Tutors® 24
our magazine and read the interview with him in which he tells us about becoming a
Editor’s Choice digital illustrator.
As you can see, the themes connected with summer dominated most of our tutorials. It
Gallery of Eric Rosner 30 had clearly inspired Natalia Voloshyn to prepare her In Bloom tutorial, Benjamin Dela-
cour’s work was influenced by the beauty and mystery on nature and Alena Lazareva
workshop decided to take a step ahead and show us the end of this time full of sun and heat.
Antique sign Enjoy these and the other tutorials and articles. As it’s holiday time, I hope you will
Bert Monroy 32 have a great pleasure in making your own version of summer!
digital painting Magdalena Mojska
Mother Nature magdalena.mojska@psdmag.org
Mair Perkins 36 Editor in Chief
FREE go o d
^

ST O CK
PHOTO S
It can be hard to get past
the “free” part.
Get over it. Our photos are high-res, high quality
and licensed for commercial use.

We share ad revenue!
Photographers can participate in
our Google-approved AdSense
revenue sharing program.

We now offer revenue sharing Good Photos. Free.

blogs as well.
www.freerangestock.com
 interview

Always be one step ahead -

interview with Vince Fraser

Vince Fraser is a freelance digital illustrator

based in London who has worked for various
clients including British Airways, PC World, BBC
and T-mobile. He has ten years experience in the
field of digital arts. Having originally come from
an interior design background, the progression
to digital arts was a natural one. Specializing
in digital illustration ranging from 2d vector
work, photomontage, image manipulation and
3d modelling, Vince's work has continued to
develop and inspire creating vibrant, innovative
and evocative artwork. He describes his style
as contemporary with various influences from
the 70s and urban culture. Vince's highly
versatile work can be found anywhere including
mobile phones, VIP lounges through to luxury
apartments and is starting to get the recognition
it highly deserves.

Describe our readers your profession. Tell us what

do you like about it and what do you find the most
difficult.
I’m a freelance digital illustrator with over 10 years
experience in the illustration industry, currently been
working on an array of different projects ranging from
designing ski boards, I-PAD cases, 3d installations
and Interior graphics.
I think the most difficult part is finding a steady
amount of work which can be a problem at the begin-
ning. A lot of artists expect to start their freelance
careers with a dream list of clients but the reality is
far different from this. I remember my first job was an
editorial illustration for a finance magazine which was
pretty boring to be honest but I did it on a regular ba-
sis for a few years which helped me gain experience
and move onto bigger and better projects. The fact on
the matter is the first 3-6 months freelancing will be
very hard because you have to adjust to a completely
new way of working and thinking which can be men-
tally and physically demanding. On the upside to that,
if you work hard, your work will eventually get recog-

4 .psd Photoshop
 interview with vince fraser

nized and hopefully clients will start coming to you rather than you
chasing them.
With the creative market being very saturated at the moment
you have to always be one step ahead of everyone else, constantly
reinventing yourself.
Also, I think that illustrators don't get the recognition they de-
serve: we're perceived as people who just draw pretty pictures!
The best part of my job however, is that you don’t have anybody
who's kicking you out of bed every morning! Being your own boss
does have its advantages and being able to do something you love is
a great feeling too.
Why did you decide to become an illustrator and how did it
happen? Tell us your story.
I came across digital illustration purely by accident. I was working
as an Interior Designer for an architectural company in London and
noticed I enjoyed the graphic part of my job the most which involved
rendering elevations, plans and perspectives in Photoshop. At the time

.psd Photoshop 
 interview

I was still pretty much new to Photoshop and everything I learnt was
self taught through experimentation. I decided to pursue a career in
this instead. I spent most of my lunch breaks looking at magazines
like Computer Arts (which in 1997 was the one of the only digital art
mag available) trying to recreate the artwork shown in the magazine
with no avail. The thought of working for myself was both daunting and
exciting, whilst the freedom to work from home was a big attraction.

What do you think is the most important to become successful

on this field?
Be original, stay focused and do what you do best. Try not to follow
trends and stick to developing your own style. If you put in the hard
work you will eventually get recognised.

 .psd Photoshop
 interview with vince fraser

Having a good eye for detail, good imagination (which is some-

thing you can’t really teach I think) hunger too succeed, profession-
alism, enthusiasm, motivation, passion, dedication and commitment
all rolled into one also helps.

Is there anything you can advice to those who would like to

become digital illustrators as well?
The advice I would give to any upcoming artists would be to continu-
ously push the envelope to keep your style fresh and evolving. Try
keeping a sketchbook. It's so easy to forget a thought that could
have led you onto a great idea, this is why you need to write things
down, and sketch out your concepts whenever possible. Keeping
a small sketchbook & pen with you at all time is great for gathering
inspiration around you. Throwing an idea down, even if something’s
rough, it’s so much easier to visualize and explore. Plus you don’t for-
get it. It is amazing how one original thought can lead to several oth-
ers, and how from one simple sketch through subsequent changes
can become very detailed very quickly.
Try to learn something new everyday and apply those skills with
your own ideas to create new artwork in future projects.
Finally The idea is king. Once you have a strong idea, everything
else just flows along behind it.

.psd Photoshop 
medium | 3 h.
adobe photoshop CS4
 in bloom

In Bloom
As the summer has finally kicked in, I decided to create my own vision of it – an
archetypical girl with wild grass hair and a big poppy. Mysterious, adventurous,
free. For this piece you will need a portrait photo of a female model, a texture
background, a photo of poppy, hair and floral brushes.

01

Model
Start with editing the photo to make it brighter:
Image>Adjustments>Curves output 67/input 73. Make
the photo slightly warmer (Image>Adjustments>Color
balance. Color Levels: +11, +7, -24). To make the eyes
and lips stand out more, go over their contours with
a Burn Tool set to Shadows range with 15% Exposure.
For aesthetic reasons I decided to remove model’s
piercings. I used Clone stamp tool set to 57% Opacity
and Airbrush. NOTE: for further painting/drawing, cre-
ate separate layer for each element.

02
Hair
Hair painting is quite simple in its essence but it re-
quires some practice. Here are some of useful tips:
choose appropriate brushes for hair painting. They
will make the whole thing much easier. Don’t be afraid
to experiment with brushes. Try them all, then choose
the ones that work best for you. Brush settings: Brush
tip shape>Spacing 1%; Other dynamics>Fade. For dif-
ferent layers use different figures. Always start with
basic colour. Don’t get upset if it doesn’t resemble real
hair, you’ll get to it. Remember that hair is always mul-
tilayered and consist of different shades. The roots are
a bit darker, the ends are more highlighted. Draw the
hair starting with darker shades, then move to brighter
ones. You can correct your mistakes using Burn/Dodge
tool. If the hair looks slightly rough and unnatural in
some places, especially around the roots, use Smudge
tool. It will make it look sleeker. Paint each layer of hair
on a separate layer. This will help you in case you make
a mistake and need to erase something.
.psd Photoshop 9
 photomanipulation

03

Eyes
There is a visible contrast between hair and face
as hair is painted and face is photographed. We’ll
draw facial features too. For eyeshadows use
Color picker to get the same colour of shadows as
the model’s. Use default Soft brush set to 20-40%
of Opacity and Airbrush. I painted the eyelashes
with hairbrushes. Look for the ones that consist of
a couple of dots situated almost on the same line.
Use dark colour (dark brown is the best, although
it doesn’t always look natural) and high Opacity.
Set the other Brush dynamics to Fade from 20 to
50. Dodging/burning: Exposure ~15%. Burn the
shadows and dodge the highlights. It will make
the eyes brighter and more expressive.

04

Lips
As model’s lips are quite bright, we’ll only have
some minor work to do. Go over the lips with
Airbrush set to low Opacity. Make the colour
brighter. Burn the contours, it makes the lips
seem more full (Burn tool>Shadows, Exposure
15% or more). Draw the highlights on the lower
lip. Use Airbrush set to 40% or higher Opacity and
white colour. Use Smudge tool to make the painted
highlights look natural.

05

Face
To add glow to the face and make it look more
doll-like, paint it with nude colour. Use the soft
Airbrush, Opacity 40% and more. Choose slightly
darker colour using color picker. Paint slight
shadows under the eyes, nose and cheeks to add
more relief to the face. Set the Opacity of the layer
to 68% to make it blend with the original picture
nicely.

10 .psd Photoshop
 in bloom

06

Flower
Paste the poppy picture as a new layer. Remove
the background with the Eraser. Paint a flower
over the picture. It’s easy to draw a poppy – darker
colour is always in the centre, and it goes lighter
to the edges. Draw small dark lines in the centre of
the flower. The flower is supposed to cast shadow
on the hair. Use Burn tool to achieve the desirable
effect. Experiment with floral brushes.

07

Background
Paste a texture background as a new layer. Add more
yellow in Color balance to match the background
with the picture itself. Image>Adjustments>Color
balance. Merge visible. And your picture is ready!

By Natalia Voloshyn

Stock credits:
Hair brushes http://ario-asten.deviantart.com/
Floral brushes http://summerair.deviantart.com/
Poppy http://godsmonster.deviantart.com/
Model http://tripperhippy.deviantart.com/
Background texture http://darkrose42-stock.devi-
antart.com/

.psd Photoshop 11
Mystery
of the Nature
In this tutorial, I’ll explain you how to create a dark atmosphere with luxurious vegetation
surrounding my main character to create a relevant and beautiful contrast/atmosphere.

advanced | 45 min.
adobe photoshop CS4
 mystery of the nature

Basics
Once you’ve chosen your picture, zoom in on the
scene to gain more space when adding elements.

02

Trimming
The most important in your work is the quality of
trimming, the slightest imperfection makes visible
any takedown. Start trimming the character and
then the chair. By doing so, you will be able to
quickly manipulate all the objects of your scene.

03

Putting it all together

We are now going to focus on the wall behind our
model. Select all elements from background wall,
then copy-paste the content on a new layer (zoom
up to 20 or 30%). Rework the borders to iron out
imperfections.

.psd Photoshop 13
 photomanipulation

04

Drawing new elements

With a broad brush and the Eyedropper Tool you
can add some content on a new layer by reusing
colors from your illustration. This will give you
a basic design to apply on floors and walls.

05

Textures
To restore ground’s appearance, you must use
textures (concrete, paint, textiles) and place
them over our drawings (i.e. our paintings). This
will give a depth effect to the ground. You can also
play with Layer modes and Opacity to find the
appropriate effect.

06

Wall textures
We’re going to do the same steps as above for the
wall textures. Pick one or two textures, and set
overlay on existing wall. Then copy the finalized
wall on the left panel and use Transform Tool to
give a touch of perspective. Finally copy a piece
of border and create a frieze by duplicating bottom
lines of the walls. Straighten the brightness of the
frieze with the Dodge Tool + / -.

14 .psd Photoshop
 mystery of the nature

07

Shadows
Now we'll specify the lighting of the room so that
it fits with the model. Create a white layer over
the stack of layers and adjust the slider Amount
to -100, and put the layer in Product Mode. Create
another layer with a large brush (20% Density)
and make some shadows behind the model.

08

Mirror
Use the basic image and cut-paste the mirror on
a new layer over the walls we just made, realize
a slight drop shadow, and with a picture of broken
glass placed above the mirror in Screen Mode.

09

Vegetation
We now need pictures of ivy and vines that will
dress our walls. Trim the pics by selecting and
cloning the most contrasted layer. You must reuse
this copy, the plant must be painted black and the
background removed (white). Instead of using the
pen you use for trimming layers (once selection
done), grab the selection of the layer ([Ctrl] +
click) and copy the trimmed vegetation behind
the model.

.psd Photoshop 15
 photomanipulation

10

Make up
I took time to review the brightness of the
character and I made some changes on its body.
To add brightness, you can do so with a white
brush (10% Gradient) applied on a new layer.
Duplicate the layer model, apply a slight Gaussian
blur and add a layer mask. Invert the layer mask
to make the blur disappear and go through with
a brush over the skin of the model to blur the
desired parts. Last step: change Opacity of
adjustment layers.

11

Ambience
To create a stylish ambience, add a Hue/Saturation
adjustment layer. Increase saturation without
touching the brightness slider. Pitch on adding
a set of adjustment layers with some contrast.

12

Foreground foliage
With the Warp Tool, add vines around the legs of
the model and with a layer mask delete areas
that you don’t want to display. Apply a light drop
shadow to highlight the plants from the legs of
your model. You can blur and enlarge plants on
edges of your image with a strong Gaussian to
give a nice depth effect.

16 .psd Photoshop
 mystery of the nature

13

Leafs
Select some leafs and do the same manipulation
as the foreground foliage previously described
by enlarging and playing with the blur effect.
This time you can use Motion blur to give them
movement. Vary the sizes and distort them, don’t
forget to blur the foreground leaves.

14

Hummingbirds
Find pictures of birds, butterflies and trim them
down with layers. This way you can keep the
transparency of the wings with embezzling
a low opacity brush you'll have a semi-transparent
selection.

15

Final step
Leave your work aside and get back to it later.
You’ll have a better overview of changes that
need to be done, For example changing colors and
brightness if needed.

by Benjamin Delacour

.psd Photoshop 17
 interview

Interview with
Benjamin Delacour
Benjamin Delacour is a graphic designer with over
ten years of experience. Passionate in graphic
design and photo retouch, he works currently as a
freelance designer for well-known organisations.
His spare time is devoted to Photoshop - one of his
favourite tools!

Why have you decided to become

a graphic designer?
I always liked the illustration and the
drawing. I’m not a very good drafts-
man but thanks to Photoshop and
Illustrator I have fount tools that give
me a possibility to express myself.

How did it happen? What were

your beginnings?
I began to work over 10 years ago. At
first I realized mainly catalogs, adver-
tisements, and photo retouch. 3 years
ago I decided to set up my own busi-
ness, and I took advantage of it to keep
improving my Photoshop knowledge.

Tell our readers what this

profession is about, what are the
advantages and difficulities.
Today my work is highly varied, I
always make some communication

18 .psd Photoshop
 interview with benjamin delacour

work but I also offer my

services in photomontage
and in photo retouch to
communication agencies
and photographers. The
most important advantage
of this profession is that
you become your own boss
and you are able to man-
age on your own. But you
need to prepared to spend
sometimes the whole days
in front of the computer
screen to be able to follow
the deadlines imposed by
the customers. I also think
that the hardest for an artist
is the part of the business
that is not connected with
the creation: accounting,
management of the custom-
ers and their orders.

What do you think is

the most important to
become successfull on
this field?
The most iportant thing to
succeed is to keep the spirit
up at the begining. It is
necessary to have enough
money to survive before the
commissions are sufficient
to be able to take out a sal-
ary. It is necessary to take
Digital Love: Personal work realised using the same technique as Digital pixel image advantage of the slightest
(a tutorial in one of the previous .psd issues). spare time after the regu-
lar work to realize personal

.psd Photoshop 19
 interview

‘Of Ground’
Photography; Chris Knight
Illustration: Justin Maller
Year: 2010

20 .psd Photoshop
 interview with benjamin delacour
Incandescence: Colaboration realised with help of my friend Thomas Kim:
www.adequate1.com and http://www.behance.net/ThomasKim

projects which will fill your portfolio. It will show your clients what you
can do basically. It is also necessary to try to find a particular domain
that is the most interesting for you and make it your main skill. As a
freelance I think that agencies look rather for experts in particular do-
mains.

Is there anything you can advice to those who would like to

become digital illustrators as well?
I can only recommend you to be patient and to keep up with everything
that concerns your domain. It is also necessary to know how to con-
stantly evolve, as our job which changes and evolves every year. And
you should never forget to put your ideas on paper before beginning to
work, whether it is for the illustration of the retouch or the creation of a
website.

Works Mermaid, Paris and Viennas were made with the Factory 311
agency for Nineteen74.com
For each one of these works they provided me with the basic image and
I made all the montage, light effects and ambience. In case of the Paris
works I had just a basic photo and the photos of the models, the rest
was a photomontage. In case of Viennas I got a composition of 50 pho-
tos and models photos separately.

Post production: Delacour Benjamin @ Factory311

Relic: Personal work, photomontage and matte painting
Idea/Creative Direction Calling Project / Raoul Keil @ nineteen74.com
Creative Direction / Nicholas Hardy @ Factory311
Mermaid Photographer: Felix Dasilva @ felixdasilva.com
Paris Photographer: Valentina Frugiuele @ valentinafrugiuele.com
Viennas Photographer: Jürgen Knoth @ juergenknoth.com

.psd Photoshop 21
 software review

Alpha Plugins’ Engraver 2

This is a review of Engraver 2, a Windows and Mac plug-in filter for Adobe
Photoshop and compatibles (including CS3/CS4/CS5 (also 64bit)). This plug-in
enables you to create stylized photographs or images transitioned to beautiful
vintage engravings allowing effortless creation of fascinating digital art. Engraver
2 cuts through images, thin lines forming  geometric patterns. Thickness of lines
change depending on the image beneath.  Engraver 2 enables display of images
as stylized black-and-white or color prints.

E njoy an adequate selection of geometric patterns and variety

of lines for illustrations as well as creating distinctive fringe
patterns by overlapping layers. To achieve the right thickness
of lines, correct spacing, pattern displacement and degree of relief,
adjust the plug-in controls. Adjusting and fine tuning in Engraver 2 is
extremely easy, patience and practice creates realistic and convinc-
ing effects.  http://www.alphaplugins.com/
Creatives who prefer to enhance photos with engraving effects
are advised to purchase this effective plug-in.
Installation: Installation is extremely easy.  Directions easily
understood and easy to follow.  If you use the programs this Plug-in
is designed for you can readily install and utilize this utile tool. Dur-
ing installation the target folder can be selected. If you wish to use
the Engraver 2 plug-in in multiple applications, copy and paste the
installed *.8bf file,  the preset and help files into the appropriate pro-
gram plug-in folder. I also successfully tested Engraver 2 in Corel-
Draw Suite with expected results.
Review: The plug-in user interface is well structured but a bit
tedious for testing the available effects. The existing presets are
suitable as starting points for attaining the desired result with
adjustment of a variety of settings.  Where there is light, there are
appropriate shadows. Preview boxes cannot be zoomed makes
it very difficult to judge the adjusted settings in effects in detail.
Nevertheless this is a great plug-in. Patient effort and practice is
required.
Engraver 2 offers two approaches:

• You can start with a black layer and a duplicate of the back-
ground layer. The engraved result is then stamped out and ap-
pears black thanks to the layer underneath.
• or, filter can be directly applied to the image. The procedure is
provided in detail on Alpha Plug-ins website http://www.alphapl-
ugins.com/tutorials.php?tut_id=2
It is well known engraving effects can be represented as lines,
points, curves or other line combinations. Engraver 2 offers all imag-
inable points, lines and curves. At http://www.alphaplugins.com/tu-
torials.php?tut_id=2 you can find a variety of example images which
give a very good overview.
Existing articles onsite offer complex works of commercial usage,
in which the model and part of the background were modified using
Engraver 2. Various layers, brushes and techniques were used. My art-
work illustrate multiple uses for this versatile plug-in.  It is very effec-
tive in easily effecting photo-real effects.  Mark Ruiz and I have utilized
the plug-in transforming our photo’s into zombies to illustrate the fac-
ile with which this plug-in fit within our workflow with positive results.
My recommendation: Download the demo version. It is worth
a test.

by La’Dene Bean

Pros: Cons:
• well structured window, • previews cannot be zoomed
• useful presets,
• offers many points, lines and
curves
• easily inserted into workflow

22 .psd Photoshop
 Now Available!!

FORwww.SMART PHONES
tony deslandes.mobi
Enhancing
3D Renders in Photoshop CS5
When creating and rendering objects from a 3D application, artists tend to focus on making
everything look perfect. 3D artists often get frustrated due to the fact that no matter how
perfect they make an image look, it can still seem fake. The problem is that sometimes 3D
art looks fake because it is actually too perfect! With this tutorial, Digital-Tutors will teach
you how Photoshop can be used to incorporate a number “imperfections” typically found
in real-world cameras, giving your renders an appearance that is much closer to that of
a photograph.

medium | 25 min.
adobe photoshop CS5

M any 3D applications will render out images that are clean, crisp and
devoid of any imperfections. However, when trying to render images
that are absolutely photorealistic, this can be something of a disad-
vantage. Take a look at a photograph from any real-world camera – there are
lighting artifacts, lens distortions, film noise and other flaws that are almost
always present. By using Photoshop to incorporate these real-world imperfec-
tions into your 3D renders, the end result will be much more natural and much
more realistic.
One of the most impactful ways of adding realism to your 3D renders is
to incorporate depth-of-field. Human eyes and real-world cameras have the
ability to focus on objects at a certain distance – anything in front of or be-
hind the focal object is blurred and out of focus. Most 3D applications have
the ability to simulate depth-of-field by enabling a few simple render options,
but there are some major drawbacks to rendering depth-of-field effects. One
drawback is the impact on rendering performance – incorporating depth-of-
field effects can easily double or triple the amount of time required to render
a single frame. Another drawback is a lack of control – if you are unhappy with
the depth-of-field effect, you will need to make the necessary adjustments
and re-render your entire image again to see the new result.
Both of these problems can be alleviated by rendering a sort of depth
pass from your 3D application and using the Lens Blur filter in Photoshop to
apply highly realistic depth-of-field effects almost instantaneously. A depth
pass is typically a simple grayscale image with objects closest to the cam-
era being shaded white, and gradually getting darker as they get further and
further from the camera. By utilizing the Lens Blur filter and depth passes,
you can create gorgeous depth-of-field effects with a much higher level of
control, accuracy and speed than you could ever accomplish within a 3D
app. Most 3D packages have the ability to output a depth pass – you can
refer to the software documentation for your particular application for more
information.
By using the Lens Blur filter in Photoshop, you can control much more
than just the focal point of your image. You can also incorporate several real-
world camera behaviors including bokeh. When looking at a photograph you
may notice that very bright, out-of-focus areas are not simply blurred and
01
.psd Photoshop
enhancing 3D renders
these highlights typically have a more hexagonal shape to them. This bokeh
effect is created as a result of lens distortions and the aperture shape of the
camera, and is an effect that is frequently missing from 3D renders. You can
adjust the Brightness and Threshold sliders in the Lens Blur filter to control
which blurred pixels will receive this bokeh effect and how strong the effect
will be in those areas. By mimicking the lens and aperture distortions of a real
camera, it becomes much easier to “fool” the viewer into believing that your
3D render is actually a real photograph.
Image and film noise is another type of real-world imperfection that
you can use to your advantage. Tiny variations in the image sensor of
a digital camera or imperfections in the film stock of traditional cameras
are unavoidable sources of noise for films and photographs. Photogra-
phers put a great deal of effort into minimizing the amount of noise seen
in an image, but it is impossible to eliminate it completely. When you ren-
der an image from a 3D application, it is completely noise-free, which can
give the image an artificial feel. By using Photoshop to introduce subtle
amounts of noise into your 3D renders, you can get results that feel more
like a real photograph.
Photoshop can allow us to incorporate another flaw of real-world cam-
eras known as chromatic aberration. This effect is caused when the camera
lens fails to focus different wavelengths of light to the exact same point
resulting in a rainbow-like fringing of colors in certain areas of the image.
Chromatic aberration is usually an undesirable effect in photography, but
due to the nature of light and refractive lenses, it is almost impossible to
eliminate entirely. By using the Lens Correction filter in Photoshop, you can
introduce subtle chromatic aberration effects into your 3D render, adding
yet another level of slight imperfection that makes it seem as though this
image came from a real camera.
By using Photoshop to easily incorporate many of these very subtle
imperfections into your 3D renders, you can give your images the look of an
authentic photograph taken with a real camera. Your 3D application may be
able to directly incorporate many of the features that you’ve discussed here,
but by using Photoshop, you can perform these same functions with a much
greater level of speed and flexibility.
Render a depth pass from your
3D application
Within your 3D application, you will need to render
out a color pass and a depth pass. You may need
to refer to the documentation for your 3D software
in order to learn how this is done. This depth pass
is a critical component to using the Lens Blur filter
in Photoshop.
25
 creative class

02

Ensure passes are 8-bit depth

Some 3D applications have the ability to render
images with 8-bit, 16-bit or 32-bit color depth.
Photoshop’s Lens Blur filter will only work with
8-bit images. By rendering your depth pass as
something like a .TGA or .BMP image, you can en-
sure that is in 8-bit color depth.

03

Incorporate the depth pass

Within Photoshop, select your depth pass and
press [Ctrl]+[A] to select the entire image, then
press [Ctrl]+[C] to copy the image to the clip-
board. Now select the color pass image, select the
Alpha 1 channel located in the Channels tab and
press [Ctrl]+[V] to paste the depth pass informa-
tion into the Alpha 1 channel. By default, the Lens
Blur filter will look at Alpha 1 for the depth infor-
mation.

04

Apply the Lens Blur filter

Apply the Lens Blur by going to Filter>Blur>Lens
Blur. Make sure the Depth Map Source is set to Al-
pha 1. You can specify the area of the image to be
focused by adjusting the Blur Focal Distance slid-
er, or by simply clicking on the area of the image
that you want to be brought into focus. By adjust-
ing the Radius slider, you can increase or decrease
the overall strength of the blurring effect.

26 .psd Photoshop
 enhancing 3D renders

05

Blur the depth pass

You may notice some unusually sharp lines in
certain areas of the lens blur effect. This effect
can be minimized by slightly blurring the depth
pass. Close the Lens Blur window, select the Al-
pha 1 channel containing the depth pass and go
to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. You can now set the
Gaussian Blur to the desired level. In this example,
we use a blur amount of 5 pixels. Now when you
re-apply the Lens Blur Filter, the results should
look much more natural.

06

Add bokeh highlights

Bokeh highlights can be added to the blurred por-
tions of your image by adjusting the sliders found
under the Specular Highlights section of the Lens
Blur. Adjusting the Brightness slider will increase
or decrease the intensity of the bokeh effect. In-
creasing the Threshold slider will limit the effect
to only the brightest portions of your image. In
my image, I have set the Brightness to 50 and the
Threshold to 250.

07

Adjust the Lens Blur iris options

This is the area that will allow you to control the
shape of the bokeh highlights. In the Shape pull-
down menu, you can set the number of sides on
your camera iris which will change the number
of sides on your bokeh highlights. Increasing the
Blade Curvature value will give bokeh highlights
a more rounded appearance while the Rotation
slider will allow you to change the orientation of
the bokeh shape. Once you are satisfied with the
blur result, press OK to apply the Lens Blur filter to
your image.

.psd Photoshop 27
 creative class

08

Add chromatic aberration

To add realistic lens distortions to your image, go
to Filter>Lens Correction. Increase the Red/Cyan
Fringe slider to a positive value and set the Blue/
Yellow Fringe to a negative value. The values that
you decide to use will depend largely on the artis-
tic look you are trying to achieve. Adding more ab-
erration will give the image a much more grungy
appearance. In this case, we set the Red/Cyan
Fringe to -100 and set the Blue/Yellow Fringe to
+100. To fix the edges of the image, set the Edge
pull-down menu to Edge Extension. Press OK to
exit the filter.

09

Apply film noise to the image

The Lens Blur filter has the ability to add noise
into the blurred portions of your image, but for
more realism, you may choose to add some very
subtle noise effects to the entire image. Go to
Filter>Noise>Add Noise. Even a small amount of
noise can have a significant effect on the image.
This example only uses a noise amount of 2% for
this render.

10
Introduce slight vignetting to the
image
Certain cheaper lenses will sometimes allow more
light to enter through the center of the lens com-
pared to the outermost areas resulting in slightly
darkened corners in the photograph. To add this vi-
gnetting effect to your render, go back to the Lens
Correction filter, and set the Vignette Amount slid-
er to a negative value in order to darken the edges
of the render. Here we use an amount of -22 for
the render – just enough to add a very subtle dark-
ening effect in the corners of the render.

by Digital-Tutors

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28 .psd Photoshop

Alena Lazareva
My name is Alena. I am 29 years old. I live in Russia. I have been
drawing since childhood. I studied at the School of Art. First I
drew pictures in oils and watercolor and now I’m more interested
in graphic design. My first acquaintance with Photoshop was
in 2006. Then I went to the graphic design courses, and began
to paint in Photoshop. Now I use it all the time and improve my
skills. I like to draw mythical creatures, fairies, elves, mermaids.
In my artworks I use a lot of effects of light, it gives them a sense
of magic. I think that the artist should strive to learn new skills,
get acquainted with the artwork of other artists. And most im-
portantly, the designer must think creatively!
Visit: www.alenalazareva.com
Benjamin Delacour
I’m a graphic designer with over 10 years experience. Passion-
ate of graphics design and picture alteration (retouch), I work
today as a freelance designer for widely renowned organiza-
tions. My spare time is devoted to Photoshop, one of my favor-
ite tools by far!
Mair Perkins
Mair Perkins is 22 years old and currently employed as a graph-
ic designer and digital design study advisor whilst studying a
postgraduate degree in Animation. She also does freelance il-
lustration and event caricatures. Her animated work has won
awards and been commissioned for TV and film. Mair has been
hooked on digital art since getting Photoshop 5.5 and a tablet
when she was 14. However her first introduction to digital art
was Mario Paint for the SNES. Drawing fantasy, horror and anime
pictures has been a lifelong hobby and is a fun alternative to the
graphic design and animation work.
Special thanks to Bert Monroy, Charlie McDonald and La’Dene Bean.
In the last issue we’ve made a mistake: on page 21, the author is not Marcia Gaudencio but of course Ylenia
Peronti. Ylenia, please accept our apologies!
Editor in Chief:
Magdalena Mojska magdalena.mojska@psdmag.org
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Art Director: Agnieszka Marchocka
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contributing writers
Greg Kaperski
Greg Kaperski is a conceptual artist, character animator and
software developer working out of Chicago, Illinois. For a full
gallery and contact information please visit http://www.gk-
concepts.com
Digital Tutors
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30 software applications, please visit: www.digitaltutors.com
Natalia Voloshyn
I’m a 21 years old master student from a beautiful city of Lviv,
Ukraine. Though my occupation (I’m a linguist) can hardly be
called arty, I’ve been madly in love with Photoshop and photog-
raphy for nearly 3 years. Being an artist is an amazing feeling.
You can find more of my work at
http://voloschka-photo.deviantart.com/
http://voloschka.deviantart.com/
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02/2008 53
 These are buildings from the famous NoMad area of NYC. In the 1880’s this was the furniture capital of the world. Today,
its mostly t-shirt companies and custom jewelry.
Editor’s Choice Eric Rosner

.psd Photoshop

These flowers symbolize the coming of Spring.

 Eric Rosner is a fresh and exciting artist
making his name in the world of art. This
New York native has been illustrating for
over 20 years. His bold and expansive
imagination which he puts forth into each
piece is inspired by his profound love for
the New York culture and architecture.
He uses an ink marker to create stun-
ning iconic structures from a golden age.
This process is combined with digital en-
hancements that completes a singular vi-
sion to showcase New York City’s most eloquent inhabitants.
In regards to the process, Eric says: I get lost in the moment
when a piece comes to life. I find myself thinking of all the people
who have graced this grand Metropolis and these buildings have

This is an old department store near the famous NYC library on 5th ave. In its
Chef Dog is ready to make mushroom risotto for his customers. heyday it was a famous destination for all things fashion. Today it is a bank.

This is a horse from the future.

housed them all. Whether it was epic business

transactions, stunning scientific discoveries or
grand entertainment showcasing, the city of New
York has a unique tale of histories. With my art-
work, I hope you can imagine a stunning time pe-
riod over a century ago when the imagination ran
wild and magnificent structures soared to the sky.
This international artist resides in New York,
from where he continues to grow professionally.

Visit his website at: www.erosner.com

This was an old hotel near the original theater district in Herald Square
around 1900. Vaudeville acts and unique comedy teams were the headliners
for that era. This building was demolished decades ago and a restaurant is.psd Photoshop 31
in its place.
Antique
Sign
Many different types of textures can easily be created by simply applying a couple of filters.
Rust is no exception. The right color and filter and you have a rusty texture. However, the
corrosion along the edges of an object that usually accompanies rust requires an extra
step. It is still the application of a filter but it is how and where it is applied that makes the
difference. With this tutorial, I want you to get the motivation for going beyond the obvious.
Filters were applied to layer masks as opposed to the layers themselves. Applying effects
in different parts of an image can have striking results. Experiment! It is a part of the fun of
working with Photoshop.

easy | 30 min.
adobe photoshop CS4
 antique sign

01

Step 1
The first figure shows the text that will make up
the rusty signage. The text was typed in using
Times Bold.

02

Step 2
To get the initial rust texture the Texturizer filter
(Filter>Texture>Texturizer) was applied. The Scale
was set to a low percentage and the Relief was
given a high value.

03

Step 3
Layer Styles added the next round of effects
needed for the rusty texture giving the sign
a three-dimensional appearance. Double-clicking
on the layer in the Layers panel brings up the
Layer Style dialog box. Drop Shadow was the first
style applied. The Opacity was increased to make
it darker. The Distance was adjusted to make the
drop shadow more prominent. The light source
was set to flow from above left. These made the
sign appear to be raised over the background.

.psd Photoshop 33
 workshop

04

Step 4
Bevel and Emboss was next Layer Style applied.
This gave the actual letters a three-dimensional
quality. The Technique was set to Chisel Hard. The
Depth was pushed up to increase the intensity
of the lights and darks. The Highlight color was
changed to a warm yellow with its Opacity
increased to 100%. The Opacity for the Shadow
was also increased a bit. The result was a hard-
edged chisel cut with yellow highlights.

05

Step 5
To add additional stains and texture to the letters
the Satin layer style was applied. The Ring - Dou-
ble contour was chosen under the Contour box.
The Distance and Size were played with until deep
patterns were generated within the letters. The re-
sult was the rusty textures The rust looked pretty
good at this point. Next we will add the corrosion
that will complete the look. To achieve this, we will
use a filter in a place most people would not con-
sider.

06

Step 6
The letters were made into a selection by clicking
[Ctrl] on the preview icon for the layer in the
Layer panel. A Layer Mask was then generated by
clicking on the Make Mask icon at the bottom of
the Layer’s panel. This made a mask like the one
you can see on the image.

34 .psd Photoshop
 antique sign

07

Step 7
Making sure the mask was still selected as the
target, you can tell the mask is selected when
there is a frame around the mask in the panel, the
Spatter filter was chosen by clicking Filter>Brush
Strokes> Spatter. Take note that you are applying
the filter to the mask of the layer rather than the
layer itself. Applying the filter to the mask is what
makes this technique a bit more unusual. You can
experiment on your own and see the difference
when you apply the filter to the layer as opposed
to the mask for the layer as you are doing here.

08

Step 8
The settings were set to roughen the edges of the
letter shapes within the mask. The result looks
worn and corroded. Note that the tones of the Bev-
el and Emboss layer style are following the new
contours, as is the drop shadow.

The Final
And now the final touch of attaching our rusty sign onto a wooden back. A rectangular shape was selected that surrounded the letters and,
in a layer behind the letters, filled with a warm beige color. The Add Noise filter (Filter>Noise>Add Noise) was applied with an amount of
100. This provided enough texture to simulate a wood grain. To achieve that wood grain the Motion Blur filter was then applied to the shape
(Filter>Blur>Motion Blur). A layer style completed the effect of a wooden plaque. Bevel and Emboss was applied to the layer with the motion-
blurred noise. Chisel Hard was chosen for the Technique to give the edges of the plaque the look usually found in signs.When the Motion Blur
filter did its trick it tends to pull in some of the edges outside of the selected area. In this case that edge consisted of transparency so when the
Layer Style is applied there appears some spillage along the edges. These unwanted areas were selected and deleted to make the sign com-
pletely opaque. The wood of the plaque needed to match the wear and tear of the rusty letters. The layer of the plaque was made into a selection
by clicking [Ctrl] on the preview icon for it in the layer’s panel. The Add Layer Mask icon at the bottom of the layer’s panel was clicked on to pro-
duce a mask that reflected the shape of the selection. To this layer mask the same treatment with the Spatter filter that was applied to the letters
earlier in this tutorial was applied here to create the final image that we see in the final figure.

by Bert Monroy

.psd Photoshop 35
Mother
Nature

There are many different ways to colour a sketch in Photoshop. Every artist has his own
work process and there is no right or wrong way. After all it’s the resulting image that
matters, not the digital techniques that were used. I find this method of colouring very
efficient and flexible so I hope it will also be useful to all of you. The textures add a lot
of depth and detail to the image quickly, so it doesn’t have to be created manually with
shading and painting.
medium | 1 h.
adobe photoshop CS4
 mother nature

01

Step 1
Scan your sketch and clean it
using Brightness/Contrast and
levels. Crop away any unwant-
ed border. Erase unwanted lines
and define others. Duplicate
the layer and set the blending
mode to Multiply. Erase the
background layer. Call this layer
line_art and lock it so it can’t be
edited.

02

Step 2
Use the Pen tool to make blocks of colour under-
neath the line art layer. You’ll see the paths are ac-
tually Pen tool vector masks on a layer of colour.

03
Step 3
Once all the layers of colour
have been masked out, the
vector masks can be raster-
ized. In the layer’s panel right
click each layer’s vector mask
thumbnail and select Rasterize
vector mask. Make sure you
don’t rasterize the left thumb-
nail layer otherwise you will
lose the mask. They are now
normal masks and the shape
can be easily altered. Painting
white onto the mask reveals
more colour and painting black
hides areas. Touch up any gaps
or areas out of the line art using
the brush tools on the masks.

.psd Photoshop 37
 digital painting

04
Step 4
There are many ways to obtain tex-
tures to use in your images. Search for
free, royalty free Photoshop textures
in a search engine or join an online art
community. You can also create your
own by scanning and photograph-
ing whatever takes your fancy. Firstly
select a texture. Here a photograph of
water is applied to the hair/water. Cre-
ate a group folder in the layers panel
named hair_water. Move the texture
and mask layer into it. Now drag the
vector mask (the thumbnail on the
right) onto the group folder. The tex-
ture layer and colour layer are affected
by the same mask as they are in the
same group folder. New layers can also
be created inside this masked group.

05
Step 5
Change the blending mode of
the texture layer to overlay, mul-
tiply or hard light or any other
mode depending on which you
prefer. Then play with the levels
and opacity of the texture layer
until you’re happy with it. On the
hair_water layer start painting
it blue using a large soft brush.
I find it easier to make the tex-
ture layer invisible while doing
this but you don’t have to. For
more precise shading use the
Lasso to select an area then
paint inside it. Continue doing
this to build up shadows and
highlights on the water.

06
Step 6
Another useful way to add colour
quickly is with the gradient tool.
Here I used a white to transparent
gradient on a layer over the sky tex-
ture. Continue the process of mak-
ing group folders, moving the masks
onto them and adding texture and
shading layers inside those groups.
For the background, place a texture
on a layer above the background
layer but underneath all the oth-
ers. For some parts of the picture
(the corn, dragon fly, butterfly etc.)
I want to apply all the same texture
to them. Select the layers, duplicate
them and move them into a new lay-
ers folder called misc.

38 .psd Photoshop
 mother nature

07
Step 7
Now merge the originals into
one layer. It should now be
a normal layer. Use the Magic
wand tool to select the trans-
parent area then right click and
select Inverse. To turn this se-
lection into a mask, click on the
group folder misc and click on
the mask icon on the bottom
of the layers panel. Now that
group folder has been masked
the original layers inside it can
be rasterized. I’ve selected
a leaves texture for these mis-
cellaneous picture elements
and dragged it inside the group
folder.

08

Step 8
Now textures have been applied to all the
grouped and masked image areas, the shadows
and highlights can be added. In the branches
layer group I have 4 different layers. One for the
base colour, one for the texture, one for the soft
gradient shading and a top layer to pick out colour
and highlights such as the wheat tips and leaves.
Continue colouring and shading all the other
groups using the brushes, Gradient tool and Lasso
tool. It shouldn’t take long as the masks keep the
colours inside a defined area and layers are easily
edited.

09
Step 9
Once all the shading is completed, the background
can be altered. I decided it was overpowering the
foreground image so I applied a mask to the back-
ground texture then began masking out the edges
using rough textured brushes. This softened the
background and gave it a desirable torn paper ef-
fect. This could have been done with the eraser brush
without using masks. However using a mask allows
an erased area to be “un erased” without having to
use the history tool or repainting the area. When the
image is finished just tweak the levels, Hue/Satura-
tion, Colour balance and Brightness/Contrast until
you are completely happy. I find this colouring meth-
od very useful when I have a lot of illustrations to co-
lour in a short amount of time. The freedom and flow
of digital painting without masking and photographic
textures yields amazing results but sometimes
a quicker digital colouring technique is needed.

by Mair Perkins

www.mairperkins.co.uk
www.tifachan.deviantart.com

.psd Photoshop 39
Medieval
Battlefield

advanced | 45 min.
adobe photoshop CS2 | painter 9.5 | wacom tablet
 digital painting

01
THE SKETCH (PHOTOSHOP)
I always begin working on a gray (non-white) can-
vas because it gives a more accurate perception
of color once it's time to paint, whereas the bright-
ness of white canvas tricks the eye. The size of the
canvas should be at least double the size of your
final image, there are two reasons for this. The
main is that it's always easier to work on a larger
surface, as it allows you to get in closer and be
more precise in your detail. The second reason is
that once we complete the painting, we will down-
size it to it's desired resolution and doing so will
create a lot of detail for us automatically. I start
my sketch on a new layer, and I'm very rough with
it because in the end it will get covered up by the
paint anyways. Just make sure you have enough
information in your sketch to lead you along the
way.

02
UNDERPAINTING
With the sketch in place we are ready to paint.
Create a new layer under your sketch layer and
begin to lay down washes of color. Be rough but
at the same time make sure not to oversaturate
the canvas with too much color at this point. The
main goal of underpainting is to enhance your
sketch and fuse it with the canvas. You should
now have washes of color with your sketch above
them. Now create a new layer above the sketch
layer, using the Color picker/Eyedropper tool, pick
up some of the color off of your canvas and paint
over the sketch lines you don't think you'll need.
We use the Color picker because we don't want to
incorporate any new color into our painting at this
point. As you can see in the image, I painted over
the sky sketch lines as well as some of the moun-
tain sketch because I felt that I really didn't need
them there anymore. After you are done, flatten
your image (Menu>Layer>Flatten). This should
leave you with one base layer.

03
DARKNESS
In this step we are going to darken up our image and
lose a lot of the detail that we've put in place in the prior
steps. The reason for this is that it will blend a lot of the
colors that we implemented in the underpainting as well
as allow us to add a more natural light to the scene. You
can darken up your image by dropping the brightness
of it (Menu>Image>Adjustments>Brightness/Contrast).
Once you have it looking like a night scene, make a du-
plicate copy of your layer and choose a large airbrush.
If you are using Photoshop, change the brush mode
to Color-Dodge, if you are in Corel Painter take out the
Glow brush out of the FX category. Lightly brush the
sky area of your canvas which will begin to brighten up.
Don't worry if you go over any of the ground elements,
because we do have a copy of the original layer under-
neath which we will use to re-implement any areas we
happened to paint over accidentally. Erasing any area on
the top layer will show the bottom layer underneath, it's
like an automatic undo. You can see an example of this
in the accompanying image, where the sky behind the
horsemen is bright , yet he is not effected by it. This is
done by simply erasing out the area and letting the origi-
nal layer shine through.

42 .psd Photoshop
 medieval battlefield

04

BACKGROUND
In this step we continue to slowly brighten up the
scene and using the newly created colors to add
detail and content. Really start using the Color
picker/Eyedropper tool here. If you take a closer
look at the image , you can see that the clouds
that are starting to form are nothing more then
dabs of color we picked from the brighter area of
the sky. Do as much as you can using the colors
already on the canvas because nothing can ruin
a painting faster then implementing new color.
Also make sure to be working from a distance at
this point. Don't focus on detail and let your mind
roam free for a while and see what happens. We've
given it enough direction where it will start pick-
ing up things subconsciously.

05

CHANGES
This step is pretty much in line with the previous
step, but I wanted to show that you are never
locked down to administering changes, even if
you are mid way through a piece. If you pay close
attention to the horseman in the accompany-
ing image, you can see that his silhouette has
changed to suit his action better. Never be afraid
to make a necessary change if it will improve the
painting. In this case I simply selected the area
around the horsemen and used Photoshops Warp
tool (Menu>Edit>Transform>Warp). I then painted
over any edge artifacts that were left over as a re-
sult using the local color.

06

TIME OF DAY
We now have a lot of content in our painting , but it
feels a little cold. We can quickly change the mood
by altering the colors. Make sure your image is
flattened and saved. Photoshop has a great tool
for this called Curves ([Ctrl]+[M]). You will now
have control over 4 curves individually, the first
one being RGB which controls all three color rang-
es. Play around with the curve of each channel
and see what possibilities you are able to achieve.
As you can see in the image, I decided to go with
a warm, morning type of mood.

.psd Photoshop 43
 digital painting

07

DETAIL
Now that we have incorporated a new color range
into our painting, it's time to hit the detail stage.
Do not incorporate any new color at this point,
just use the Color picker/Eyedropper tool , and
work with what is on the canvas. Take your time,
starting with the background and add details to
areas that lack it. Add just enough to where you
feel comfortable with it because once we size
the entire canvas down, a lot of hidden detail will
emerge.

08

MORE DETAIL
In this step , we do exactly the same thing as in
the last step, but we concentrate on midground
and foreground elements. Adding enough detail
to keep the entire composition feeling balanced.
I also introduced a new color to the blade of the
horsemen.

09

SECONDARY ACTION
I felt that the battle could definitely be more dra-
matic as well as help the viewers' eyes flow in the
right direction. The answer I came up with was
flaming arrows and projectiles. I added the glow
of the fire in the same way we brightened up the
sky in the beginning (Color-Dodge in Photoshop
or Glow brush in Painter). I then color picked in
order to grab the right color to paint in the trailing
smoke.

44 .psd Photoshop
 medieval battlefield

10

FINAL TOUCHES
AND COLOR CORRECTION
The final step is the most enjoyable. This is where
you prepare your piece for presentation and add
in final adjustments. A lot of time is spent on color
correction (Menu>Image>Adjustments). I pretty
much go through the entire list of tools and see
what works and what doesn't. Once you are done
with your adjustments, size the image down to it's
final size and start thinking of what you will paint
next.

by Greg Kaperski

a d v e r t i s e m e n t

Learn photography classes from the comfort of your home no matter where you are in the world.
www.ppsop.com
.psd Photoshop 45
medium | 1 h.
adobe photoshop CS3 | wacom tablet
 autumn

Autumn
I showed an Autumn as a wonderful girl with yellow and red leaves flying
around her. An Autumn is smiling and she is so beautiful that the image could
have been entitled Summer. But the leaves remind us that the Autumn is about
to come...

01

Step 1
For this painting I used a photo of the girl. I re-
moved the background from the photo, then I made
a green and brown color fill. I made the fill a shade
lighter than the girl's face and added a yellow
color, using the tools:Image>Adjustments>Curves
and Image>Adjustments>Color Balance.

02

Step 2
Using a tablet, I sketched the contour and hair
plume. The girl's hair should grow a little from the
wind, Autumn leaves and flowers should also fly
around the hair. The basic colors that I used were
yellow, orange, red , as well as various shades of
these colors - the colors of Autumn. Draw each
element of the picture on a new layer, so you can
change the colors and transparencies indepen-
dently.
.psd Photoshop 47
 digital painting

03

Step 3
I used a soft round brush for the hair. I painted
the base of the hair orange and drew bright broad
strands. More detail will be added to the hair later.
Next, I drew a white plume on a new layer and low-
ered the Opacity to 30%

04

Step 4
Next I drew the face and body. First, I paint over
the girl’s clothes. Then, using a Soft Round Brush,
I drew the girl’s face. I added more details on the
face. I focused on the eyes because I considered
them to be very important. I painted the eyes
green. I then enriched the face with some pinkish
shades and highlights. Finally, I textured the lips
and added the eyelashes and eyebrows.

05

Step 5
I began to draw the details on the girl's hair using
a Soft round brush. I painted curls of hair lighter.
I used several colors to draw hair, it gives the ef-
fect of more volume. In the setting of a brush,
I picked Shape Dynamics. On a new layer I drew
a yellow light plume. This layer I placed under the
layer with the plume. I made the layer's Opacity
20%.

48 .psd Photoshop
 autumn

06

Step 6
For the background I painted various abstract
shapes, in several layers, with an Opacity of
around 80%. I used dark green and bright colors
for an abstract painting of leaves. You can achieve
this look by using a variety of brushes at differ-
ent sizes and transparencies. I used the following
brushes: Oil Medium Wet Flow, Sampled Tip, Chalk,
Sampled Tip, Spatter, Scattered Maple Leaves.

07

Step 7
Using the tablet, I drew a rough sketch of leaves
and flowers. This is a sample sketch, later I will
copy ready to draw flowers and leaves and in-
sert them into the picture. According to my idea
of leaves and flowers, there should be plenty of
them. They should be bright and in many different
colors.

08

Step 8
I made a new layer on which the leaves will be
placed. I used three colors for the leaves: yellow,
green and orange. Later I'll make this layer slightly
transparent.
.psd Photoshop 49
 digital painting

09

Step 9
Once I had more leaves drawn, I added highlights
and made some of them slightly more transpar-
ent. Then using my tablet and a thin brush I paint-
ed small details on the leaves.

10

Step 10
At the last stage, I painted small blue, pink, and
yellow flowers around the figure. Most colors,
especially those in the background, I did with an
Opacity of 50%. Now the painting is ready!

by Alena Lazareva

50 .psd Photoshop