3dtotal Com LTD Painting Creatures From Folklor
3dtotal Com LTD Painting Creatures From Folklor
Chapter 2 - Fairy
Page 10 | By Nykolai Aleksander
Chapter 3 - Siren
Page 26 | By Min Yum
Chapter 4 - Troll
Page 30 | By Simon Dominic Brewer
Chapter 6 - Ogre
Page 46 | By Richard Tilbury
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With this idea in mind, it’s time to start creating the finer details (Fig.01). old fashioned fantasy looking lamp and some
our image. We’re going to begin painting in light and glow on a separate layer. Use layer
black and white because it helps to set out the For the next step we’re going to use the guide modes to find which light looks best (Soft light,
composition, light and design. It also helps us called “golden section”. This shows the centre Overlay, Color). Fig.03 – 04 show a couple of
to imagine what the final piece is going to look of the image and helps us to identify where the the layer modes that I’m trying out. I think Fig.04
like. You can use some textured brushes at this main focus of the viewer will be (Fig.02). looks the best, so let’s go with that one.
lamp in black-white, then on top of this add two To create the light from the lamp, paint in two In the next step we’re going to carefully cut the
layers - I’m using Overlay and Color. On these layers of “hard light” under the lamp. Then goblin from the background and move it to a
layers then add a Create Clipping Mask layer create a layer mask for a few corrections and new layer so that we can start thinking about the
“Lamp” and then paint the lamp. alterations (Fig.13). background. I’m going to paint the background
Andrei Pervukhin
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I spoke too soon about being happy with what I’ve got, as here’s another down and makes things look very pasty, use a darker shade variation of
pose change. It’s the last one, promise! Of course, we continue to refine the color from the surface the shadow will be on. In this case, I used a
the overall appearance of the Faerie (Fig.21). You may notice a vague burnt orange on the yellow petal of the orchid at the top for the shadow
texture on its skin, which was done with a chunky rough speckled brush, under the arms, a slightly lighter orange for the one the leg crosses over,
with Angle Jitter set to 50%, and Opacity and Flow set to Pen Pressure. and a deep purple red for the shadow that grounds the left foot claw.
This texture won’t be very visible by the time we’re finished with it all, but it
may still shine through here and there and add an extra amount of… well, Once we are satisfied with how the Faerie looks - the pose, expression,
texture and depth. some hint of details, etc. - we can look at adding more colors.
Here’s a little tip for adding the shadows of the Faerie (or in fact anything The reason why I personally prefer to start off with a more muted palette
else you’re painting): rather than using black, which really dulls everything is it’s easier to build up to vivid and varied colors than toning them down
again, especially when working with red, orange and purple pinks - these
can get oversaturated very quickly. And right now, I am not sure yet just
how “in your face” I want this to be.
First of all, let’s adjust the contrast slightly. I prefer doing this by using
Levels, rather than Contrast (Image > Adjust > Levels), but whatever you
use is really up to you (Fig.22).
Now, to get some inspiration for patterns, we can again look at various
insects, such as caterpillars or beetles, as well as amphibians (especially
some of the tropical frogs which are stunning). But really, anything goes -
it’s a Faerie!
Now that we have a basic transparent set of colored wings, we can work out the
details. When doing this kind of work, I personally like to use separate Layers
for the details I add to have more control over adjustments, which can come in
very handy when painting transparent things that you wish to keep looking as
transparent as possible. Duplicating Layers and playing with Layer Modes can
have some great results (Fig.28)!
You may have noticed that I removed the obscured set of wings while working
on the ones in full view. That’s because there is no need to paint the other set,
as we can just duplicate the one we’ve got once we finish it, and then adjust the
perspective to work with the slightly different angle (Fig.29). If you have lots of
Layers for your wings that cannot be merged (some Layer Modes do not like
merging unless you have a solid colored layer to merge them with), put all the
wing Layers into a Layer Set and duplicate that, rather than all the separate
Layers.
With the wings done, we move on to the second Faerie. First of all, I want to
change this one, as it’s way too “Romeo and Juliette” for me. Turning the whole
“corrupting files” over in my head, I figured why not use that here. Can you guess
what the Phone Faerie just did (Fig.30)?
Before going any further with the arm, let’s see about making the screen come to
life with a fuzzy brush in an almost white color. I employ the Noise Filter to make
it a bit more convincing, then duplicate the Layer and set it to Overlay (Fig.31).
Happy with that, I go back to the arm and refine it, using various shades of
electric blue and turquoise (Fig.32).
Great! I think that’s pretty much it on the active painting side of things,
and it’s time to look at the very last overall adjustments.
I’ve started the habit of making a copy of my work (Image > Duplicate),
so if I don’t like what I do in the end, I can re-open the original file and
start over.
Now it’s time for the reflective blue glow I mentioned earlier around
the Phone Faerie’s arm. For this, I add a new Layer and set it to
Linear Glow, then take a fuzzy round brush, pick a bright blue,
and carefully paint the light. Duplicating the Layer and setting it to
Overlay, and then adjusting the Opacity of both Layers will give you
some nice results. - I don’t want the glow too strong, just a hint. If
you want it stronger, remember to add some actual highlights to the
items closest to the glow. I put a little on the Orchid Faerie’s face
and hands (rather, claws) for subtle effect, as that lifts its face off the
book in the background (Fig.41).
and nudge them further to the left (Fig.37). Linking all the affected
Layers before doing that is advisable here, as it saves you having to
shift them individually. Then I crop the canvas, using the Cropping
tool, and also resize the Orchids and Faerie a little, making them
bigger (Fig.38).
Next up, add some more details to the background. Where the
Phone Faerie’s arm is, I blur the bits behind it, as whatever is behind
it would probably not be as clear but rather like looking through a
frosted or smudgy glass.
I also want to add a little more detail to the grass. Using a custom
brush that looks and acts a bit like a palette knife, with Size and
Opacity set to Pen Pressure, I randomly paint grass stalks here and
Nykolai Aleksander
For more from this artist visit:
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Or contact them at:
[email protected]
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chapter three siren
Chapter 3
Painting Creatures From
Folklore: Chapter 3 - Siren
Software used: Photoshop
Introduction
I sometimes start a picture without a strong idea
in mind, especially with subjects I haven’t dealt
with before, and it quickly leads to a research
session for a small collection of reference
images. Because of this my process usually
begins with research. I think it’s important to
prepare right at the start rather than late in the
day as it can save so much time and trouble
later on. Good research can also lead to ideas
and inspiration as well as help you get all the
facts right about your subject matter. It turns
out that my initial ideas about sirens were
slightly incorrect when I began my research.
I’ve always pictured them more like monsters,
ready for battle but they were usually described
as a beautiful seductive bird-like women or like
mermaids luring men to the sea.
Rendering
With all the elements in the right places, the
rendering begins. This process is probably
the most time consuming part. I usually start
with the focal point, in this case the figure. My
workspace in Photoshop usually consists of two
document windows. One zoomed out at around
25% and the other with a close up view so that I
can work on the details and check how it works
overall in the other window. Digital painting has
the advantage of being able to zoom in, but
also at the same time it can lead to overworking
an area which may lead to inconsistency
throughout the image. Opening up another
window can be done by going to Windows >
Arrange > New Window for xxxx.psd (Fig.05).
Adding details
I started adding the details and worked on the
features like her face. I tend to avoid using
textured brushes at this stage as they don’t give
you finer controls. Blending with a low Opacity
brush can often lead to muted colors as you are
painting over semi transparent colors over and
over again. It’s good to select the original color shadow starts, shown here with a red arrow
again once in a while to bring back the original (Fig.07). This area is darkest because of the
colors. Another method I use is Overlay brush reflected/diffuse lighting in the shadow region.
blending modes to put back some of those One thing I do tend to do is accentuate this area
vibrant colors that were lost during the blending with more saturated colors, usually from the
(Fig.06). warm colors in the surrounding environment.
This works really well with rounded forms but
Rendering Form also with edge of the shadows. A soft edged
If you’ve tried rendering a simple sphere or brush with Overlay Blending mode does the job
cylinder, you may have heard of the term “core well (Fig.07).
shadow”. This refers to the region where the
Finishing up
After adding the final touches and a couple
of colour adjustment layers, the painting is
wrapped up. I am satisfied with the overall
feel of the image and the fact that I haven’t
completely lost all of the bold colours I begun
with (Fig.10).
Min Yum
For more from this artist visit:
http://www.minart.net/
Or contact them at:
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For this piece I create half a dozen sketches, Next I create a new layer and draw a few rough
each depicting a different type of troll (Fig.01). perspective lines to an imaginary vanishing
Sketch Detail
I increase the size of my canvas to about half
the intended final dimensions. This will allow for
more detail to be laid down. To compensate for
this I also increase my pencil Nib Size to around
200%. I reduce the Opacity of my line work layer
to 30% and create a third layer on top. Using
the low opacity line work as a guide, I create a
detailed sketch of my character (Fig.03).
Clean Up
The first two layers – the perspective lines
and the line work sketch – have served their
around his waist, and also on the monstrous to the background. I increase my brush size
staff he’s leaning on, as a result of the wood to around 30 pixels for this stage. In order to
being worn smooth over time. depict bark on the tree I cross horizontal and
vertical bark textures so that the tree’s bulk is
evident in three dimensions and it doesn’t look
flat. By easing up on the pen pressure I can
blend certain areas so that the texture doesn’t
overpower the main character. I also darken the
area under the troll’s feet. This is to anchor the
character with the background. If I didn’t do this
the character would look pasted and it would
flatten the image (Fig.12).
Painting Leaves
Selecting low saturation colors from my palette,
I dab at the ground plane, creating flecks that,
Detailed Texturing
With my small, Round brush set to between 5
and 12 pixels, I move over the character and
boost the detail level. Because our troll is a
forest dweller, and likely a bit of a thug too, I add
a few areas of scuffing, staining and dirt on his
clothes (Fig.15).
The Hands
The troll’s hands, resting on top of his staff, are
an integral part of this piece, and they need to
look just right to make the piece believable. That
means particular attention needs to be paid to is wrapped around the head of the staff. The
the light and shadow, which, broadly speaking, shadows are therefore placed to be consistent
define the form (Fig.16). Here we can see the with our light source. Where the fingers of
troll’s left hand is covering his right, which in turn the right hand grip the wood I use a slightly
shapes quite rough. I use a selection of lighter, leaves at the periphery of the piece, to create main character. Keeping it loose, and still
desaturated colors for the leaves themselves exaggerated focus on the main character. I don’t using the Artists’ Oils brush, I dab in darker
and dab deep purples and black at their use overlays or layers to achieve this effect, lines which run vertically up the tree trunk. At
periphery, to suggest the shadow and dark earth rather choose the appropriate color for each leaf irregular intervals I sketch small, rough arcs
beneath (Fig.21). and take advantage of the blending function of perpendicular to these lines to give the subtle
the brush (Blend increases as Pen Pressure appearance of bulk. This helps gives the trunk a
Focus decreases). I also want the troll to appear like 3D appearance and avoids the “stage set” look
When painting the leaves it’s easy to get he’s standing on the ground, not floating in front (Fig.23).
caught up painting one leaf after another and of it. For this I darken the area below him and
forget the overall image. If you’re not careful to his right, to simulate shadow. Again, I try and Final Detail – Leaves
this can flatten the image due to each leaf pick the correct color from the palette or color I’m almost finished now so I move around the
being basically the same value and saturation. wheel rather than using layers. You’ll see here painting adding some final detail with the Round
Zooming out from time to time helps you see that I’ve also flipped the image, which I do from brush. I don’t want to refine the leaves too
how your leaves are becoming part of the time to time to check composition and anatomy. much so I just spend a few minutes tweaking
scene. Here, I want the leaves in the immediate the brush strokes into more leafy shapes. I
foreground to be larger, brighter and more Tree Bark don’t obsess over each leaf because it’s more
colorful than those at the side of the troll, For the tree and the rest of the background important to suggest the impression of leaves
or behind him (Fig.22). I also fade out the I’m careful to use only low saturation colors rather than to painstakingly render each one
of mid- to high-value. This is to give a sense (Fig.24). I also extend the length of the troll’s
of depth and so they don’t compete with the cloak a little, for aesthetic value if not modesty.
Final Detail – Tree shadowed areas and use the Artists’ Oils brush And that completes the picture. During this
Using the Round brush I refine some of the tree to dab in a low value ochre color (Fig.27). tutorial Painter has been creating backups of the
detail – the fungus and area of discolored bark file every time I’ve saved (Edit > Preferences >
especially. The level of detail remains much Resize and Save General – tick Create Backup on Save), which
less than that of the main character, so that If you recall from Fig.08, the image dimensions I do regularly. I also backed up my files onto a
the background does not compete for attention I’ve been working with are larger than the separate disk at the end of every day I worked
(Fig.25). specified print size. To obtain the print-spec on the project, using free backup software. For
image I save a copy of the main image and the sake of a minute or two per day this can
A Bit of Texture using Canvas > Resize, set the dimensions save a lot of hassle!
As a final touch I choose the Artists’ Canvas accordingly. Because the large image is the
Paper from the Paper palette (Window > Library same aspect ratio as the intended smaller one it I hope you found this tutorial useful and thanks
Palette > Papers) and using the Round brush isn’t distorted. for reading.
Final Tweaks
When I look at it next I see that the rear hanging
edge of the troll’s cloak appears too dark,
drawing the eye into an unintentional – and
somewhat undesirable – focus. I zoom into the
it wrong, undo it, and do it again and again? It In the story, King Zhou (in his later years) drinks,
is the same as traditional painting. It is always has sex, lacks morals, and ignores all the affairs
good to start heading in the right direction, so of the people. After thinking about these words,
you can just keep developing the image until is some faces start to appear in my mind, so I
completed. focused on the faces and tried to capture the
expression on them and play with values for the
The first stage is to define the characters. In composition.
this case it is based on existing characters so
research is very important, but don’t let the Strong contrast and value are two major things
story restrict the illustration and imagination, it I use to design everything. I also found some
is always good to add a little personal flavor to Western Zhou Dynasty 1046–771 BC pictures
it. In this illustration I could have illustrated an for design reference. Human anatomy is always
event, but I wanted to focus on the characters a big topic when people talk about art, and that
themselves, so the key to the whole process is is why people spend years and years learning
character design (Fig.01 – 02). it. There is no short-cut, the only way is to
important for this scene, once we nail down the empty space (Fig.06). This is extremely time When painting a complex scene with more
waves the water will looks good. The further consuming and the more you understand than one character in it the foreground and
away the waves are the smaller and flatter they lighting and the forms of objects the better you background can be very difficult. The difficulty
look. can do it. Painting still life and human figures is not the single subject or single character. It
will improve your rendering skills. At this point is the balance of everything. It is like a balance
A quick lighting test on the characters will give I decided the background and the moon were game, when we do too much on one side, we
me an idea of what the moon light looks like. over emphasized and I decided to take the need to decide to take it out or add more to the
The collapsed building is a good way to show moon out (Fig.07). Also at this point I start other side. I changed the skin tones so that
the empire falling and represent war. Color to tackle the contrast and value of the water. Daji would be the first to be seen, and I also
started to kick in to the painting, and since this Adding a couple more interesting structures in changed each individual element slightly to lead
is not a happy story and it is not a happy ending the far background will also help the painting the viewer’s eye a bit more (Fig.08). Detail is
for them, a cool color tone will suit the painting. I have more depth. Using the Overlay and Soft another thing that needs to be addressed. When
simply use “soft light” layer in Photoshop for the Light layer again and again is like glazing in painting on a computer we zoom in and out
initial color. traditional media. The more layers you apply to often and sometimes this will make us lose the
the painting, the richer color it will look. Again, sense of detail, and makes us over detail certain
This stage is all about rendering and adding as long as we keep the value the same, we can areas. You can balance this out with careful use
more details to the smaller areas to fill the put in almost any color we want. of the smudge tool.
Introduction
An ogre is described in literature as a humanoid
monster that is large, hideous and preys
on human beings. They often have a large
head and strong body, appear hairy, and are
disgusting, brutal and closely related to trolls.
The word “ogre” has its origin in French but they
have featured in mythology, folklore and fiction Fig.01 shows a series of grayscale portraits contrast, versions 5 and 6 looked more realistic,
alike. done using a Standard Hard Round brush. but had a distinct caveman quality which wasn’t
The notion that ogres are meant to feed on what I was after.
When you research the topic you discover a humans was a trait that struck me as their most
broad range of depictions from various cultures fearsome aspect and so I drew some faces with Although sketch 1 was not really along the
and time periods, all of which look very different. their mouths open. A gaping mouth showing right lines I actually liked the mouth partly
I knew that my version should look hideous and a set of gnarled teeth seemed appropriate to open and so did a couple of variations on this.
although I imagined him to be a creature to fear, emphasize their cruel intent. As mentioned I liked the small eyes in version 4 but his face
I also felt he should be somewhat unintelligent – earlier, ogres have also been described as looked somehow kinder than some of the
more brawn than brains, so to speak. being hairy and so I added a beard to several other versions. His features looked softer by
versions. comparison and almost evoked the quality of a
Thumbnail Sketches gentle giant. I decided to make the face overtly
I had a vision in my mind of a monster that Having reviewed each of them I decided that asymmetrical and with more distorted features
should certainly look frightening and have giant version 1 reminded me of Rasputin and so was (7). This sketch certainly seemed to encapsulate
proportions, but I could not picture his face not suitable. I liked his eyes and furrowed brow a quality I was after and was the version I
which was the crucial aspect in portraying his but, ultimately, he looked too human. Numbers decided to settle on.
character. As a result I decided to create some 2 and 3 had less human proportions but seemed
thumbnail sketches to explore his appearance. too stylized, almost leaning towards cartoons. In Blocking In
With the decision made on which face to use I
started to block in a rough composition. At this
stage I was unsure about what I was going to
paint, but I imagined the ogre emerging from the
shadows towards an unsuspecting foreground
character. To have him creeping up on a
potential victim was a way of injecting a sense
of tension into the image and helping the viewer
feel a sense of danger.
settlements and villages. This gave me the idea At this stage the face now looked a little too Fig.07 shows the newly altered composition with
of a creature that would wait within the cover of bright compared to the previous version; the ogre occupying a more balanced position
a forest and snatch anyone straying too near however I knew I could tone this down later in the frame. I also decided to make the darker
the tree line. In this way I could keep him partly and so I deliberately left the ogre on a separate band in front of the forest into a pond or area of
concealed in shadows. layer. flood water. It made an interesting feature that
separated the forest from the foreground.
I added in some trees using a couple of custom Composition
brushes, which you can see in Fig.03. I used The ogre was very central in the composition The next stage was to re-scale the ogre and
a variation of the same brush to paint both the and so needed to be addressed as the distance integrate him into the background. Fig.08 shows
trunks and the foliage. either side of his head was similar with respect his new position. I experimented by having him
to the canvas boundary. This doesn’t make for a leaning out behind some cover, watching the
Using the same brush I started to add in some particularly dynamic composition and so I opted goat, possibly waiting to rush out and grab it!
definition to the foreground as well as adding to extend the canvas as opposed to moving
some volume to the trunks (Fig.04). the character. I added a section down the right The smaller scale certainly helped the
hand edge as I preferred the idea of more space composition, but his leaning posture looked a
Adding Color devoted to the forest. little awkward. I tried having him stand upright,
Adjustment Layers
Although the ogre is sheltered by the forest
I thought it would add drama to have some The Curves adjustment layer was used to add (inset). On the right you can see the Curves
dappled sunlight cast across his body through a shadow to the left side of the character, which adjustment and the mask below this (in red),
the tree canopy. To do this I created two new faces away from the light. In Fig.11 you can see which restricts the shadow to the left side of his
adjustment layers: Curves and Color Balance. the ogre before this is applied in the bottom left torso and arm.
Final Refinements
I wanted the ogre to look imposing and have
a powerful stature, but I was starting to see
a resemblance to the Hulk and so scaled his
waist and shoulders in a bit. I used Image >
Adjustments > Color Balance to cool down the
color by adding some blue and green to reflect
the forest shade (Fig.14). I then duplicated the
character layer, added some highlights across
his right shoulder (1) and also darkened his
left side (2). I finished by using a Soft Eraser to
bring back some subtle highlights down his left
arm (3).
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