< Return to Video

INSANE Digital Painting Technique - Photobashing Concept Art Tutorial Photoshop

  • 0:00 - 0:02
    This video is sponsored by Envato
  • 0:02 - 0:04
    Elements.
  • 0:04 - 0:05
    Hey guys, how's it going? Hope you're
  • 0:05 - 0:07
    having a wonderful day! In this video
  • 0:07 - 0:10
    tutorial, I'll create this digital
  • 0:10 - 0:12
    illustration from start to finish
  • 0:12 - 0:14
    while also showing you an incredible new
  • 0:14 - 0:16
    photobashing technique which will
  • 0:16 - 0:18
    really help you add photographic
  • 0:18 - 0:20
    detail in your artwork quickly and
  • 0:20 - 0:22
    effectively. You'll also learn how to use
  • 0:22 - 0:25
    images in 3d to help you in your digital
  • 0:25 - 0:27
    painting or concept art workflow.
  • 0:27 - 0:30
    So without wasting any more time, let's
  • 0:30 - 0:30
    do this!
  • 0:30 - 0:33
    So the first thing I do is to drop a
  • 0:33 - 0:35
    base plate image onto the canvas.
  • 0:35 - 0:37
    This is really helpful because now I can
  • 0:37 - 0:39
    build stuff on top of it,
  • 0:39 - 0:41
    and I can take color reference to this
  • 0:41 - 0:43
    base image.
  • 0:43 - 0:45
    After that, I added a photograph of the
  • 0:45 - 0:46
    sky because
  • 0:46 - 0:48
    right now i'm looking to establish some
  • 0:48 - 0:49
    sort of horizon
  • 0:49 - 0:52
    and get the basic sky and water done. I
  • 0:52 - 0:53
    chose a dramatic sky
  • 0:53 - 0:56
    to create more interest in the artwork.
  • 0:56 - 0:58
    Next I selected a blue color and started
  • 0:58 - 1:00
    painting some rock shapes.
  • 1:00 - 1:03
    These rocks are at a distance, so I used
  • 1:03 - 1:04
    a lighter value of blue for them.
  • 1:04 - 1:07
    Then i moved on to the bigger rock shape
  • 1:07 - 1:08
    in the middle ground.
  • 1:08 - 1:10
    i used a darker value of blue for this
  • 1:10 - 1:13
    one, because it's closer to us as viewers.
  • 1:13 - 1:16
    I also added a little rock to accompany
  • 1:16 - 1:18
    the big one, just to add some contrast in
  • 1:18 - 1:20
    terms of size.
  • 1:20 - 1:22
    Now the area in the middle is too empty,
  • 1:22 - 1:24
    so I created some more shapes there.
  • 1:24 - 1:26
    Again, these would be at a distance, so
  • 1:26 - 1:27
    comparatively
  • 1:27 - 1:30
    lighter value is used for them, They are
  • 1:30 - 1:32
    also taller and pointier at the top, so
  • 1:32 - 1:34
    we have a combination of three types of
  • 1:34 - 1:36
    interesting shapes.
  • 1:36 - 1:38
    On the very left we have some shapes
  • 1:38 - 1:40
    that look like distant mountains.
  • 1:40 - 1:42
    On the right side we have some big
  • 1:42 - 1:44
    blocky shapes closer to us.
  • 1:44 - 1:46
    And in the middle we have some really
  • 1:46 - 1:47
    interesting taller
  • 1:47 - 1:49
    rocks that almost look like a man-made
  • 1:49 - 1:51
    structure just to balance these shapes
  • 1:51 - 1:53
    out in the composition.
  • 1:53 - 1:55
    We can of course tweak some shapes here
  • 1:55 - 1:57
    and there, view the artwork at a distance,
  • 1:57 - 2:00
    and see what looks best to the eye. Now I
  • 2:00 - 2:02
    darken the sky at the top left create a
  • 2:02 - 2:04
    vignette effect and to keep the viewers
  • 2:04 - 2:06
    interest in the middle of the
  • 2:06 - 2:07
    composition.
  • 2:07 - 2:09
    This also washed out some details on the
  • 2:09 - 2:10
    sky and added a cool
  • 2:10 - 2:12
    dark cloud effect which I'm really
  • 2:12 - 2:14
    enjoying. I also made a selection around
  • 2:14 - 2:16
    the cloud in the middle,
  • 2:16 - 2:19
    copied it, rescaled it, and transformed it
  • 2:19 - 2:20
    to the point where it looked
  • 2:20 - 2:22
    good. I also want to mention that
  • 2:22 - 2:23
    sometimes using a photo
  • 2:23 - 2:26
    as it is in your artwork might limit
  • 2:26 - 2:27
    your creativity
  • 2:27 - 2:29
    when it comes to composition, so you can
  • 2:29 - 2:32
    either change the photo significantly or
  • 2:32 - 2:33
    you can first
  • 2:33 - 2:35
    paint the shapes just like I did for
  • 2:35 - 2:37
    this artwork. After you paint the main
  • 2:37 - 2:39
    shapes and compositions, you can add
  • 2:39 - 2:41
    photographic details
  • 2:41 - 2:42
    later. Let me show you the technique
  • 2:42 - 2:44
    through which we're gonna add those
  • 2:44 - 2:45
    photographic details.
  • 2:45 - 2:48
    We'll do that using something called the
  • 2:48 - 2:49
    layer mask. So let's say I want to have
  • 2:49 - 2:51
    this rock in my painting.
  • 2:51 - 2:53
    I'll fill this rock with a solid color.
  • 2:53 - 2:55
    We'll name this layer as
  • 2:55 - 2:58
    "rock shape". Now I have this picture of a
  • 2:58 - 2:58
    rock here.
  • 2:58 - 3:01
    I'll just put it over my rock shape
  • 3:01 - 3:01
    layer.
  • 3:01 - 3:04
    Now it's very important that our rock
  • 3:04 - 3:06
    shape and the photo texture image both
  • 3:06 - 3:08
    are on separate layers. The photo texture
  • 3:08 - 3:10
    layer should be on the top
  • 3:10 - 3:12
    of the painted layer. Now here's what you
  • 3:12 - 3:13
    gotta do. You gotta move your mouse
  • 3:13 - 3:16
    cursor between these two layers
  • 3:16 - 3:18
    then press and hold the Alt key and then
  • 3:18 - 3:20
    click see what happens.
  • 3:20 - 3:22
    The photo texture layer is inside the
  • 3:22 - 3:23
    rock shape layer.
  • 3:23 - 3:26
    You can move it, transform it, warp it,
  • 3:26 - 3:29
    experiment with it as much as you like
  • 3:29 - 3:31
    until it looks good. Once you're happy
  • 3:31 - 3:32
    with it, here's what you need to
  • 3:32 - 3:35
    do. Click on this icon which says "layer
  • 3:35 - 3:35
    mask"
  • 3:35 - 3:38
    right at the bottom of this Layers menu.
  • 3:38 - 3:40
    It will add this white box next to your
  • 3:40 - 3:41
    texture layer.
  • 3:41 - 3:43
    Now click on that box and with the black
  • 3:43 - 3:44
    color selected
  • 3:44 - 3:47
    use your Paint Bucket tool to fill that
  • 3:47 - 3:48
    black color
  • 3:48 - 3:49
    on your rock. See what happens? The
  • 3:49 - 3:51
    texture is gone, But we're gonna paint
  • 3:51 - 3:53
    the texture back. So
  • 3:53 - 3:54
    choose the texture brush that you like,
  • 3:54 - 3:57
    and this time select the white color. Now
  • 3:57 - 3:59
    start painting on the rock and see the
  • 3:59 - 4:00
    magic happen.
  • 4:00 - 4:02
    So for this technique to work in this
  • 4:02 - 4:04
    artwork, it's very important that these
  • 4:04 - 4:06
    rock shapes are on separate layers.
  • 4:06 - 4:08
    Using the same technique that i just
  • 4:08 - 4:10
    showed, I inserted
  • 4:10 - 4:12
    a photograph of this mountain into the
  • 4:12 - 4:13
    shape of those
  • 4:13 - 4:16
    rocks I painted earlier. I transformed it,
  • 4:16 - 4:19
    resized it, moved it around until i felt
  • 4:19 - 4:22
    like it fitted better. Then I created a
  • 4:22 - 4:22
    layer mask,
  • 4:22 - 4:24
    filled it out with black so it
  • 4:24 - 4:26
    disappeared from the canvas, and then
  • 4:26 - 4:29
    selected the white color and painted the
  • 4:29 - 4:30
    underlying photograph
  • 4:30 - 4:32
    back into the artwork. I'm painting it on
  • 4:32 - 4:34
    the right side of the rock where the
  • 4:34 - 4:35
    light is hitting.
  • 4:35 - 4:38
    If I want to paint back the details I
  • 4:38 - 4:40
    have to select the white color, and if I
  • 4:40 - 4:42
    want to erase what I painted I select
  • 4:42 - 4:45
    black. I also adjusted the levels and
  • 4:45 - 4:47
    erased the photo where it's not needed.
  • 4:47 - 4:49
    Now, using the same brush tool, if you
  • 4:49 - 4:51
    paint it with black color
  • 4:51 - 4:53
    it will erase the texture layer, and if
  • 4:53 - 4:54
    you paint it with white
  • 4:54 - 4:57
    it will add that underlying texture. This
  • 4:57 - 4:59
    is a really, really useful technique.
  • 4:59 - 5:01
    I'll be using the same method to create
  • 5:01 - 5:03
    photographic details on all of the other
  • 5:03 - 5:04
    shapes that I painted,
  • 5:04 - 5:07
    starting with the one on the left. This
  • 5:07 - 5:09
    technique saves us a lot of time.
  • 5:09 - 5:11
    Now some artists might want to hand-
  • 5:11 - 5:14
    paint all those details using custom
  • 5:14 - 5:14
    brushes
  • 5:14 - 5:17
    instead of photos, and that's fine too.
  • 5:17 - 5:19
    But that would take a lot of time, and
  • 5:19 - 5:21
    mostly for concept art jobs, you don't
  • 5:21 - 5:22
    have much time.
  • 5:22 - 5:24
    You are required to produce results fast
  • 5:24 - 5:25
    and generate
  • 5:25 - 5:28
    ideas very quickly, so you gotta find
  • 5:28 - 5:29
    ways to speed up the process.
  • 5:29 - 5:32
    That's where these photos and 3D come in.
  • 5:32 - 5:34
    They really add a ton of detail in a
  • 5:34 - 5:36
    very little time.
  • 5:36 - 5:38
    Also, it happens very often that you
  • 5:38 - 5:39
    create two to three artworks,
  • 5:39 - 5:42
    send it to the client, and to them only
  • 5:42 - 5:43
    one is usable
  • 5:43 - 5:45
    and the other two might be discarded. So
  • 5:45 - 5:47
    if you put hours and hours working
  • 5:47 - 5:49
    on that excruciating detail in an
  • 5:49 - 5:52
    artwork, and the client just discards it,
  • 5:52 - 5:54
    it'll hurt more compared to something
  • 5:54 - 5:55
    you spent
  • 5:55 - 5:57
    a few hours on. You wouldn't worry about
  • 5:57 - 5:59
    that. But this reveals a true fact:
  • 5:59 - 6:02
    the client doesn't give a damn about how
  • 6:02 - 6:04
    long you have spent on the details of
  • 6:04 - 6:06
    those rocks. He doesn't care if you have
  • 6:06 - 6:08
    used custom brushes or photos or 3D. What
  • 6:08 - 6:11
    he's interested in is the final result,
  • 6:11 - 6:12
    the whole artwork
  • 6:12 - 6:14
    Does it solve a problem for the client?
  • 6:14 - 6:16
    Does it convey the mood?
  • 6:16 - 6:18
    Does it give direction to the 3D artists
  • 6:18 - 6:19
    to work from?
  • 6:19 - 6:21
    If it does, all of the other stuff is not
  • 6:21 - 6:22
    important.
  • 6:22 - 6:24
    So here as you can see, I've used photo
  • 6:24 - 6:25
    texture on
  • 6:25 - 6:27
    all of the distant mountains. And I've
  • 6:27 - 6:29
    added another rock shape in the middle.
  • 6:29 - 6:32
    So we have the basic composition ready.
  • 6:32 - 6:33
    We have the sky,
  • 6:33 - 6:35
    and the sea, and the distant mountains.
  • 6:35 - 6:37
    Now we need a pirate ship. I need to get
  • 6:37 - 6:39
    a photograph of a pirate ship exactly
  • 6:39 - 6:40
    for
  • 6:40 - 6:42
    this particular angle. I need it from the
  • 6:42 - 6:44
    back view and it needs to fit here on
  • 6:44 - 6:46
    the left side of my composition.
  • 6:46 - 6:48
    It should also be copyright-free, and
  • 6:48 - 6:50
    it's better if it's a PNG so that i\I
  • 6:50 - 6:52
    don't have to kill myself
  • 6:52 - 6:55
    making clean selections around all those
  • 6:55 - 6:56
    ropes and stuff.
  • 6:56 - 6:57
    Of course you can spend several hours
  • 6:57 - 6:59
    looking for the perfect photo to fit
  • 6:59 - 7:01
    into your artwork, but if you're smart
  • 7:01 - 7:03
    and want to save time
  • 7:03 - 7:05
    you can use the 3D asset from Envato
  • 7:05 - 7:07
    Elements, which is also the sponsor for
  • 7:07 - 7:09
    today's video. If you don't know what
  • 7:09 - 7:10
    Envato Elements
  • 7:10 - 7:12
    is, it's a must-have tool for artists and
  • 7:12 - 7:14
    creatives they have a huge
  • 7:14 - 7:17
    library of over 52 million assets that
  • 7:17 - 7:19
    you can use in your creative projects
  • 7:19 - 7:22
    which include royalty free stock photos
  • 7:22 - 7:23
    footage fonts
  • 7:23 - 7:25
    music templates graphics 3d and more let
  • 7:25 - 7:27
    me show you how it works
  • 7:27 - 7:29
    so i needed a pirate ship for my artwork
  • 7:29 - 7:32
    here on the search bar i selected 3d
  • 7:32 - 7:35
    and entered pirate ship it gave me a lot
  • 7:35 - 7:36
    of assets to choose from
  • 7:36 - 7:39
    i selected the one that i like rotated
  • 7:39 - 7:39
    it to
  • 7:39 - 7:42
    an angle that i needed and hit download
  • 7:42 - 7:44
    this photo was downloaded as png which i
  • 7:44 - 7:45
    can slap
  • 7:45 - 7:47
    right onto my composition in photoshop
  • 7:47 - 7:48
    it's that easy
  • 7:48 - 7:50
    no need to make selections around a
  • 7:50 - 7:52
    photo no need to waste your time
  • 7:52 - 7:54
    removing background of the image
  • 7:54 - 7:56
    just set it to the right angle download
  • 7:56 - 7:58
    it and use it in your artwork you can
  • 7:58 - 8:01
    download as many assets as you want with
  • 8:01 - 8:01
    just
  • 8:01 - 8:03
    one subscription which is really
  • 8:03 - 8:05
    affordable and worth every dollar so use
  • 8:05 - 8:07
    the link down in the description to get
  • 8:07 - 8:08
    your subscription
  • 8:08 - 8:10
    now you won't regret it trust me on this
  • 8:10 - 8:12
    one so now we have the ship in
  • 8:12 - 8:14
    our artwork i made some color
  • 8:14 - 8:16
    adjustments to the ship
  • 8:16 - 8:18
    made a selection around it and on a new
  • 8:18 - 8:20
    layer filled that selection with
  • 8:20 - 8:23
    a dark blue color then i created a new
  • 8:23 - 8:25
    layer mask around this layer and
  • 8:25 - 8:27
    painted back the details of the shape
  • 8:27 - 8:29
    mostly on the right side where the light
  • 8:29 - 8:31
    should be hitting i also kept some of
  • 8:31 - 8:32
    the areas blue
  • 8:32 - 8:34
    and in shadow with less detail this
  • 8:34 - 8:35
    really helped the ship
  • 8:35 - 8:38
    fit in the environment better i also
  • 8:38 - 8:39
    transformed the ship
  • 8:39 - 8:41
    and tried to correct the angle which i
  • 8:41 - 8:44
    felt was slightly off then i painted
  • 8:44 - 8:45
    shadow just
  • 8:45 - 8:47
    underneath the ship with a darker color
  • 8:47 - 8:49
    of blue and also some waves and water
  • 8:49 - 8:52
    splashes using one of my favorite
  • 8:52 - 8:52
    brushes
  • 8:52 - 8:54
    by the way if you want to get this free
  • 8:54 - 8:56
    brush pack please feel free to download
  • 8:56 - 8:58
    it through the link below
  • 8:58 - 9:00
    i don't think you'd need any other brush
  • 9:00 - 9:01
    if you have this brush back
  • 9:01 - 9:04
    it's massive after that i'll just be
  • 9:04 - 9:06
    tweaking some levels correcting some
  • 9:06 - 9:08
    edges and painting some light and shadow
  • 9:08 - 9:08
    on the ship
  • 9:08 - 9:11
    mostly i use only one brush to do that i
  • 9:11 - 9:13
    call it the father of all brushes
  • 9:13 - 9:15
    if you want to see that in action go
  • 9:15 - 9:18
    check out my other video on free brushes
  • 9:18 - 9:19
    and their use
  • 9:19 - 9:22
    i'll link it here that video did really
  • 9:22 - 9:23
    well by the way
  • 9:23 - 9:25
    you all seem to like it very much so
  • 9:25 - 9:27
    thank you so much for your appreciation
  • 9:27 - 9:29
    by the way if you haven't joined the
  • 9:29 - 9:31
    discord channel i'll put a link down in
  • 9:31 - 9:32
    the description for you
  • 9:32 - 9:34
    you can share your artwork and stuff
  • 9:34 - 9:36
    there i really enjoy looking at all of
  • 9:36 - 9:36
    your
  • 9:36 - 9:38
    artwork i also plan to do some paint
  • 9:38 - 9:40
    over videos in the future so make sure
  • 9:40 - 9:42
    you drop your entries and i might be
  • 9:42 - 9:45
    able to repaint your artwork there are
  • 9:45 - 9:47
    illustrations that i do for my freelance
  • 9:47 - 9:48
    clients
  • 9:48 - 9:50
    and commissioned work i can't post them
  • 9:50 - 9:51
    on youtube because
  • 9:51 - 9:54
    youtube is for videos right so i post
  • 9:54 - 9:56
    those artworks on instagram
  • 9:56 - 9:58
    if you haven't followed me there please
  • 9:58 - 10:01
    do you'll find so much exclusive content
  • 10:01 - 10:01
    there
  • 10:01 - 10:03
    alright so once i finished working on
  • 10:03 - 10:05
    the ship i moved on to the sky
  • 10:05 - 10:07
    i wanted the clouds to be a lot bigger
  • 10:07 - 10:08
    to kind of fill
  • 10:08 - 10:11
    the left side of my composition i also
  • 10:11 - 10:13
    wanted the whites of the clouds to show
  • 10:13 - 10:14
    behind the ship
  • 10:14 - 10:16
    it will make the ship's form re-better
  • 10:16 - 10:17
    after that
  • 10:17 - 10:20
    i refined the edges and i'll add some
  • 10:20 - 10:21
    highlights on the ship
  • 10:21 - 10:24
    mostly on our right side of those sails
  • 10:24 - 10:25
    the sails also look
  • 10:25 - 10:28
    very dark at the moment so i'll add a
  • 10:28 - 10:30
    lighter color at the bottom of them
  • 10:30 - 10:30
    after that
  • 10:30 - 10:33
    some more white splashes just underneath
  • 10:33 - 10:34
    the ship
  • 10:34 - 10:36
    and highlights on the water i added some
  • 10:36 - 10:37
    more splashes on those
  • 10:37 - 10:40
    rocks as well next it's time to work on
  • 10:40 - 10:41
    the big rock
  • 10:41 - 10:43
    on the front so i found a suitable
  • 10:43 - 10:45
    picture scaled it up
  • 10:45 - 10:47
    used the texture of the rocks within
  • 10:47 - 10:49
    that shape i painted i'll experiment
  • 10:49 - 10:50
    with it
  • 10:50 - 10:52
    move it around and see where it looks
  • 10:52 - 10:53
    good once i'm happy with it
  • 10:53 - 10:56
    i'll change some settings play around
  • 10:56 - 10:58
    with levels and color adjustments
  • 10:58 - 11:00
    to make it a bit darker and bluish so
  • 11:00 - 11:02
    that it fits better in the environment
  • 11:02 - 11:04
    then i thought i'd paint some highlights
  • 11:04 - 11:06
    maybe some greens at some of the places
  • 11:06 - 11:09
    on this big rock so yeah i'm doing that
  • 11:09 - 11:11
    the foreground looked too empty so i
  • 11:11 - 11:13
    painted some more rock shapes in the
  • 11:13 - 11:14
    foreground i
  • 11:14 - 11:17
    made them relatively darker i'll work on
  • 11:17 - 11:18
    it later but first
  • 11:18 - 11:20
    that distant pointy mountain doesn't
  • 11:20 - 11:22
    look very good to me it's too
  • 11:22 - 11:23
    distracting so
  • 11:23 - 11:25
    i just corrected that and then there are
  • 11:25 - 11:27
    some minor adjustments with the texture
  • 11:27 - 11:28
    of this front
  • 11:28 - 11:30
    rock i cut a little patch from that
  • 11:30 - 11:33
    photo and pasted it on top of the area
  • 11:33 - 11:34
    where it looked
  • 11:34 - 11:36
    weird and then corrected the brightness
  • 11:36 - 11:38
    and color temperature to
  • 11:38 - 11:41
    match everything i felt this rock lacked
  • 11:41 - 11:43
    shadows so i painted some darks where
  • 11:43 - 11:45
    needed i often use a soft
  • 11:45 - 11:48
    round brush with a low opacity to create
  • 11:48 - 11:50
    separation between things that are at
  • 11:50 - 11:51
    different distances
  • 11:51 - 11:53
    just like i did with these rocks it's a
  • 11:53 - 11:56
    really handy technique and helps a lot
  • 11:56 - 11:58
    in creating some atmospheric perspective
  • 11:58 - 11:59
    in your scenes
  • 11:59 - 12:01
    i also darkened the water just beneath
  • 12:01 - 12:03
    the big rock and painted some more
  • 12:03 - 12:06
    details on the water waves emerging from
  • 12:06 - 12:07
    the back of the ship
  • 12:07 - 12:08
    and now i'll be adding a photo texture
  • 12:08 - 12:11
    to the foreground rocks and match color
  • 12:11 - 12:14
    later on using levels saturation color
  • 12:14 - 12:16
    balance and brightness sliders i also
  • 12:16 - 12:18
    picked up some 3d trees from envato
  • 12:18 - 12:19
    elements
  • 12:19 - 12:21
    matched their lighting and color to our
  • 12:21 - 12:24
    artwork and put them on the foreground i
  • 12:24 - 12:26
    darkened the sky from the top left but
  • 12:26 - 12:28
    kept the clouds fairly lighter after
  • 12:28 - 12:30
    that i just made some quick little
  • 12:30 - 12:32
    adjustments here and there
  • 12:32 - 12:35
    and then i selected a light brownish
  • 12:35 - 12:37
    color set the layers blending mode to
  • 12:37 - 12:37
    color
  • 12:37 - 12:39
    dodge and painted highlights on
  • 12:39 - 12:42
    different areas mainly at the top edges
  • 12:42 - 12:43
    of the rocks
  • 12:43 - 12:45
    and even on the background lastly i
  • 12:45 - 12:47
    added some birds and made
  • 12:47 - 12:49
    minor adjustments overall i'm really
  • 12:49 - 12:51
    happy with the results
  • 12:51 - 12:52
    let me know what you guys think i hope
  • 12:52 - 12:54
    you learned something from this video
  • 12:54 - 12:56
    if you liked it please leave a thumbs up
  • 12:56 - 12:58
    i'd really appreciate that
  • 12:58 - 13:00
    also don't forget to comment down below
  • 13:00 - 13:02
    to write your thoughts and suggestions i
  • 13:02 - 13:04
    really enjoy reading your comments
  • 13:04 - 13:06
    and if you're new to this channel please
  • 13:06 - 13:08
    consider subscribing and hitting the
  • 13:08 - 13:10
    notification bell so you don't miss any
  • 13:10 - 13:11
    future videos
  • 13:11 - 13:13
    alright then i'll see you guys in the
  • 13:13 - 13:22
    next one take care
  • 13:45 - 13:47
    you
Title:
INSANE Digital Painting Technique - Photobashing Concept Art Tutorial Photoshop
Description:

more » « less
Video Language:
English
Duration:
13:46

English subtitles

Revisions Compare revisions