Practice – Class 02
Combining multiple layers and clipping masks plus the more painterly blending methods, like we used for the sphere, we can approach the next practice. Sketching and painting this duck.
50 min. challange: Try painting the duck.
Sketch, paint, refine. Give yourself no more than 45-50 min. for the whole thing. Save a jpg in your padlet.
Use this duck-starter.psd file (also in the Class 02 – Folder) and paint next to the photo (not on top!). Start with a sketch. Block in your colors, refine by blending and using the Mixer Brush and the Smudge Tool. Add more details then some high lights. Here is a brush that you can use.
Below are step by step videos. Try on your own before watching.
Sketching & Base Colour
We’ll start with a rough sketch and fine tune it with the Liquify Effect. Then we create a more refined sketch from this.
Next layer in the Base Colours for our Clipping Masks. Thus far it’s the same as with the TV.
Rough Colours, Blending, Details and High Lights
Painting inside the body and the beak is now easy with cliped layers.
First start with some rough colours and change to the Smudge Tool to mix them up. Every once in a while activate Finger Painting in the Top Bar to add some new colours.
For the eye it’s smart to use a separate layer, so you’ll be able to move it around a bit.
After painting the feathers and beak as detailed as wanted (if you want more detail work with ever smaller brushes and more zoomed in) add some highlights with a small brush to feathers, beak, feet, eyes, etc.
Fine Tune, Overall Light and Shadow
Now we can tweak the overll lighting a bit more and do some final fine tuning.
You can do this by grouping all of your previous work and then clip some layers to that group. Use Blend Modes that lighten up like Screen, Color Dodge,.. for lights and also work an the overall shadows if needed in a layer that is clipped an is set to darkening Blend Mode like Multiply.
A trick to get sketchy, stylised contours is to use your original sketch and set it to Linear Light and then clip a layer to it to paint different colours in it. Darker areas will darken your painting and lighter ones will lighten it
Practice – Class 01
This time we’ll take brushes we already created and try to recreate the following examples or something similar. Choose at least two.
