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Contents
Daniel Ljunggren016
Chapter 02: Steam Powered Mechanical Destroyer
Nathaniel West008
Emrah Elmasli003
Emrah Elmasli012
Emrah Elmasli021
Chapter 01: Alien Hot Air Balloons
Rich Tilbury026
Rich Tilbury038
Chapter 03: The Slave Caravan crossed the Desert
Mike Corriero032
Mike Corriero052
Chapter 04: The Beast was poised ready to strike!
Robin Olausson057
Chapter 06: The City Centre looked
like a Jewel amongst the surroundings
Daniel Ljunggren048
Ignacio Bazan Lazcano042
Chapter 05: Man-Eating Plants
Marc Brunet066
Nick Oroc062
Chapter 07: It was a long way up but they
had no choice but to continue climbing
Serg S074
Robin Olausson069
Chapter 08: Once a Thriving City now
deserted and taken over by Vegetation
Ignacio Bazan Lazcano 083
Joel Carlo078
Chapter 09: Robot Scrap Yard
by Emrah Elmasli & Nathaniel West
chapter 1“Alien Hot Air Balloons”
page 4www.2dartistmag.com Chapter 1
Alien Hot Air Balloons Speed Painting
Introduction:The topic is “Alien hot air balloons”. When they
first told me about the topic, the scene that I’m
going to paint was already in my mind. So, I
feel comfortable about what I’m going to do. I
did some thumbnail sketches and those were
enough for me to start.
Step 1:I want to finish this painting in 90 minutes
– maybe less than that, but not more. Before
starting to paint a “speedy”, I suggest you set a
time limit for yourself. This helps you not to over
detail your work and lose time.
I’ll use Photoshop CS3 for the entire painting
process. I open a new 2200 x 1200 pixel
canvas and create a new layer. The scene that
I’m going to paint will be an alien-ish world, but
I don’t want it to be so different from earth. So,
some minor changes will do. First thing to do
is to determine the colours. Green and yellow
sounds cool. Now, let’s block them in. I always
use large, textured brushes when I’m blocking
colours, so I’ll do the same this time. By using
yellow, green and grey, I quickly create the
background and foreground. I want to have two
light sources in the scene so I put two suns in
the green, alien sky. So that’s it for this step!
Let’s now go more into detail (Fig01).
Step 2:I open a new layer and set it to “Color Dodge”
from the blending mode tab. Now I grab a soft
page 5www.2dartistmag.com Chapter 1
Speed Painting Alien Hot Air Ballons
anything you want by opening a new layer and
setting it to “Color Dodge” or “Linear Dodge”,
then painting in with a dark saturated colour.
My alien balloons are now hovering and glowing
(Fig04).
Final:For the final step I just paint some more details
in and add more contrast by “Curves”, again.
For the final touch, I paint in two figures with red
staffs in their hands. I think they are aliens too,
but I don’t care because the speedy is finished!
90 minutes!! Thank you for reading!
Emrah ElmasliFor more work by this artist please visit:
www.partycule.com
Or contact them at:
emrah@partycule.com
round brush and glow both of the suns with a
saturated, dark orange colour. This gives the
soft atmosphere I need. Now I can start putting
some details in. I use some textured and
scattered brushes to create the water effect on
the background, and some hard brushes for the
rocky feel in the foreground (Fig02).
Step 3:For this step I continue to add details with my
custom brushes. I also need some contrast in
my painting, so I open a “Curves” adjustment
layer and bend the curve to gain some contrast.
I do this a lot when I’m painting. I always
start with light colours and darken them in the
process. I also made some changes on the
colours by opening a new “Color Balance”
adjustment layer. I added some blue to the
shadows, which makes the painting even richer
in colour (Fig03).
Step 4:I can hear you asking, “Where is the balloon
dammit?” Well, it’s time. I start painting in the
alien balloons with a hard-edged brush. I want
them to have arms like squids and glowing from
inside. Keep in mind that you can always glow
page 8www.2dartistmag.com Chapter 1
Alien Hot Air Balloons Speed Painting
Step 1: For this speed painting I began to sketch freely,
with no preconceived notions, and waited to see
what would come out about. After a short time
of messing around with different shapes and
values, I began to see a vision of a large balloon
coming towards a foreground destination. In my
mind, I view air balloons as very tranquil, so the
scene began to take on that quality.
When first starting a piece I begin by laying in a
rough greyscale sketch. It is very important to
have a good value structure first and foremost,
with values grouped together to create a graphic
and dynamic piece. I would say that this is the
single most important stage in a painting, and
should be worked out before beginning with
colour. If your value structure works, then the
rest of the painting will follow easily, but if your
value structure is off then you will find the next
stages of the painting to be hopeless efforts until
the value structure has been corrected. Many
times, a painting is not dynamic simply because
the lights and darks are not pushed enough,
thus resulting in a ‘flat’ appearance (Fig01).
page 9www.2dartistmag.com Chapter 1
Speed Painting Alien Hot Air Ballons
Step 2: Now that my values are worked out, I proceed
on to glazing colour over the entire painting.
This can be subtle or extreme, but either way
I glaze the whole painting with one colour
to keep the palette unified. Then I begin to
add additional colour variations and levels of
saturation to develop the piece further. I am
always careful to maintain the value structure
throughout this stage (Fig02).
Step 3: Now that the overall palette of the painting has
been established, I begin to further develop
some details. I add in the balloon portion of the
hot air balloon, and then mirror it with the same
colour and shape in the upper right corner. I
also add a couple of figures and decide to add
in that same colour and shape language. This is
all in efforts to tie the balloon and the foreground
together, from a story standpoint.
At first I had indicated some trails of smoke
coming off of the ground, but decided to get
rid of them so as not to disrupt the landscape
too much. The sky begins to get tightened up,
along with the mountains (Fig03).
Step 4: I continue detailing the landscape further,
introducing textures and colour washes to
achieve the desired effect. The air balloon
changes quite a bit, and its design begins to
take shape. I also introduce additional colour
shifts into the sky, as well (Fig04).
Step 5: I now focus solely on the balloon, as that is our
main focus. I give it a bit of loose detail, and
blend it into the environment with some ambient
lighting on the outer edges of the balloon
(Fig05).
Step 6: I now add in additional details to the landscape
and foreground. Once done with all detailing,
I put some rays of light coming through the
clouds, hit a couple areas with some highlights,
and push the contrast in some areas to make
the scene a touch more dramatic. I add in some
highlights on the edge of the foreground to help
separate it from the landscape, and call this
painting done (Fig06).
Nathaniel WestFor more work by this artist please visit:
www.nathanielwest.net
Or contact them at:
nathaniel@nathanielwest.net
by Emrah Emasli & Daniel Ljunggren
chapter 2“Steam Powered Mechanical Destroyer”
page 13www.2dartistmag.com Chapter 2
Speed Painting Steam Powered Mechanical Destroyer
Created In:Photoshop CS2
Step 1The first thing to do is to decide what you’re
going to paint before starting a speed painting.
My topic is “Steam powered mechanical
destroyer”, so it’s a good idea to draw
something huge. I decided to paint a six-legged
steam powered spider kind of mechanical
device with big weapons. The environment is
going to be set in a cave, or something. I start
by blocking the colours in with a bold brush. I
also paint in the silhouette of the destroyer and
the other stuff around of it. I use warm colours
because I want a nice dusk-hour feel (Fig01).
Step 2For the next step, I can start to put in some light
sources, like the sun and some other artificial
lights, to ‘pop out’ the forms a little. To do
this, I generally open a new layer and select
“Color Dodge” or “Linear Dodge” from the layer
options, then paint in with a saturated and
darker colour (Fig02).
Step 3
After determining the light sources I start
detailing with bold brush strokes. I don’t zoom
in at this stage, I just apply the necessary
general details (Fig03).
Step 4This step is the same as the previous step. I
start to add the minor details now, like the grills
of the destroyer and the rock columns at the
back, and give some more form to the objects. I
also add a few more minor light sources (Fig04).
FinalFor the final step, I zoom in at last and tweak
some details, add bouncing lights, and so on.
Finished! Approx. 1 hour with PS CS2
Emrah ElmasliFor more from this artist visit:
http://www.partycule.com
Or contact:
emrah@partycule.com
page 16www.2dartistmag.com Chapter 2
Steam Powered Mechanical Destroyer Speed Painting
Created In:Photoshop
Introduction After thinking about the topic for a while I
started imagining something that would be
suitable for a younger audience... maybe a toy
commercial with figures you could play with, with
one of these toys being the “steam powered
mechanical destroyer” (or so the description on
the back of the box would have you believe!).
I then thought that it would be more fun if it was
a big robot, yet still friendly. The “destroyer”
part was the main issue which I would have to
turn into something not so violent, to keep the
positive mood that I still wanted to achieve.
I could’ve gone another route – towards
something more serious, dark and violent – but,
personally, it wouldn’t feel very original. I’m
not saying a friendly robot is original either, but
maybe a bit more of an unexpected approach
to the subject title. I have interpreted the theme
more like a concept artwork than a painting, so
please treat it as such.
Step 01Before starting to draw or paint the full-sized
concept with details and all, a great and quick
way to find your design is with a few small
thumbnail sketches. This allows you to focus
on the general shape, the silhouette, and the
overall feeling of the concept. After a short
while of thumbnail sketching, I see something
that shows potential (Fig01). I also put in a
sloppy human figure to get a feeling of scale.
Working a bit further with it I find a design and
feel that I want to see a fully rendered version of
(Fig02).
page 18www.2dartistmag.com Chapter 2
Steam Powered Mechanical Destroyer Speed PaintingStep 02Using the thumbnail as a reference image, and
keeping the main subject and the background
on separate layers, I start to sketch the robot
from a more interesting angle and in higher
resolution. I’m still working in greyscale
because then I can focus on what I want to
prioritise for the time being: design, proportions,
pose and perspective. I find that the main
challenge in this part of the process is to
achieve the same feeling in the perspective
image as with the thumbnail. If I would go on
with the next steps before nailing that feeling,
I know I would probably abandon it later on
because it didn’t turn out the way I wanted, so
being persistent in this step pays off (Fig03).
Adding some more volume and details to
the robot, and some brushstrokes to the
background, I try to find the kind of lighting
and contrast I want for this image. I add some
highlights just to remind myself where the main
light source will be (Fig04).
Step 03I set my brush to ‘Color’ mode and paint some
big chunks of colours on the background, as
well as on the robot (Fig05). Sometimes I don’t
find the colour I’m looking for when using this
method, because of the values of the painting
underneath, but it’s a quick way of deciding what
general palette the image will have.
I pause here, thinking about the impression I
get from the robot. I figure that I really need to
kill those highlights soon, as well as change the
colour to what I’m looking for. Creating a new
layer (normal mode), I start painting directly with
colours, and soon I see something closer to
what I had in mind (Fig06).
page 19www.2dartistmag.com Chapter 2
Speed Painting Steam Powered Mechanical Destroyer
better with the description of “destroyer”, too).
After that was done I felt ready to start working
on more detailed shapes and texture (Fig08).
Adding more details and rendering (Fig09).
Here I’m trying to make it look a bit more
realistic, removing a lot of the black from the
underlying sketch, as well as thinking of cast
shadows and bounce lights from the ground. I
put a few strokes on his head as well, trying to
figure out what I want that part to be like.
I did some more work on the background, made
a clearer sky, and redesigned some of his
firebox and his chimneys at the back, as well
as giving a warmer ground. I still wasn’t sure at
this stage what to make of his head (Fig10).
Step 06Finally I approach the face of the robot. I
considered having the robot being driven by a
man for a while (with the head as the cockpit),
but with the current scale of things I had
trouble making the chauffeur read clearly, so I
dropped that idea and went for a kind robot face
instead. This also helped strengthen the overall
positive feel. I put down some more work into
the firebox, showing more clearly that it was
something that could open and hold burning
Step 04While developing the concept for this robot I
came up with the idea of having it working in
a junkyard, where he would be “the destroyer”
of metal scraps. This would go well with the
overall positive feel I was trying to achieve, and
the background would be where I could suggest
it (Fig07).
Step 05During the previous steps I wasn’t quite sure
what to make of the robot’s left arm and hand,
but as I tried a few shapes I knew it would gain
visual interest instead of having two similar
arms. After a few quick designs I decided to
go for some kind of drill (this makes the robot fit
coal. Background details were also added, as
well as some stripes on the robot, and then he
was done! (Fig11)
Daniel Ljunggren For more from this artist visit:
http://darylart.com
Or contact:
daniel.ljunggren@bredband.net
by Emrah Elmasli & Richard Tilbury
chapter 3“the slave caravan crossed the desert”
page 22www.2dartistmag.com Chapter 3
The slave caravan crossed the desert Speed Painting
Created InPhotoshop CS3
IntroductionHi everyone! The topic for this chapters speed
painting is “The Slave Caravan Crossed the
Desert”. So we have a good excuse to paint
a cool environment! I didn’t have anything in
mind this time; I wanted it to be a random one.
There will eventually be a desert, but the rest is
a mystery for me as well. So, let’s start…
Step 1I don’t know how long it’s going to take this time,
but I want to keep it short. Let’s say 2 hours
maximum!
Anyway, the software I’m going to use is
Photoshop CS3, again. The canvas size is
2200x1200 pixels, again. Let’s start blocking
the colours in. I generally use a textured round
brush for this step. I paint with fast brushstrokes
until I get a nice mixture of warm and cold
colours. It soon starts to look like dunes in
daylight (Fig01).
Step 2I open a new layer and set it to “Screen” from
the blending mode tab. Then I start to paint
in some light on the foreground. I want some
strong lighting there, as if it’s under a very bright
sun. Just using orange and yellow would be
boring, so I use purple and pink to achieve some
richness in the colours. I apply these colours by
opening a new “Overlay” layer, so I can blend
them in really nicely (Fig02).
page 23www.2dartistmag.com Chapter 3
Speed Painting The slave caravan crossed the desert
Step 3Okay, so what if I add some hovering vehicles in
the scene? Sounds like a nice plan... but what
kind of vehicles? I want to keep them simple, so
let’s paint some chrome, toaster-like caravans.
Well, maybe they won’t look like actual toasters
but hey, they’re my caravans! Just some quick
brushstrokes on a new “Colour Burn” layer
will do the trick. Some nice silhouettes of the
vehicles (Fig03).
Step 4Now, I’ll try to give some form to these boys.
A fair amount of bouncing light from the
environment would be nice, to achieve a chrome
look. I continue painting on a new layer until I’m
happy with it (Fig04).
Step 5Well, I’m not happy yet so I’ll continue to detail
the painting: some clouds in the background; a
nice green mist, maybe? A cool-looking distant
planet is a good idea, too! Wait, what am I
missing here? Oh yeah, the slaves of course!
Let’s paint in some poor slaves under the
caravans, walking on the blazing dunes of hell.
Just a few little touches with a simple brush will
do (Fig05).
FinalYou know what? I don’t like the result! I think
I want a night scene instead of a day scene.
So, I duplicate the canvas and flatten it. Then
I go to Image > Adjustments > Exposure and I
tweak the colours until I achieve this look on the
final image. I also make some slight touches to
achieve a textured look – and that’s it! Here’s
our final scene. I hope you like it! (Fig06)
Thank you for reading!
Emrah ElmasliFor more from this artist visit:
www.partycule.com
Or contact:
emrah@partycule.com
page 26www.2dartistmag.com Chapter 3
The slave caravan crossed the desert Speed Painting
Created InPhotoshop CS3
IntroductionFor this speed painting I decided not to make
the actual subject of the picture the focal point.
I liked the idea of making the caravan seem
almost incidental, in order to emphasise the size
of the desert which I wanted to almost consume
them. I wanted to put a figure in the foreground,
gazing upon the caravan from afar and whose
intentions remain unknown. Perhaps he is there
to rescue the slaves, or maybe he is a scout for
some war party?! Either way, he will serve to
add scale and depth to the scene, as well as
help the composition, essentially.
Colour Base
The first stage is to establish the overall colour
scheme and main features in the image. I
chose to use the Gradient tool (Foreground to
Background) as it’s very effective at creating a
blended land/sky starting point, especially when
you are dealing with a dusty or hot scene, such
as this (Fig01).
The next step was to create the distant sand
dunes, which in this case I did on a new layer
for the purposes of swift and easy editing later
on. In Fig02 I used a slightly darker tonal
version of the sand colour and simply painted in
the shaded areas to suggest the dunes.
Again, on another layer, I then painted in the
foreground, which can be seen in Fig03. I used
a couple of textured brushes and the standard
Hard Round airbrush to paint some palms
and the suggestion of a rock outcrop on the
page 27www.2dartistmag.com Chapter 3
Speed Painting The slave caravan crossed the desert
right. You can see that, at the moment, things
are very roughly sketched in without any real
attention to detail. Having crude marks and
mistakes at this stage is not an issue as they
can be tidied up very quickly later on if need be.
These three layers make up the most important
components in the image and already describe
a desert scenario.
Focal PointsThe picture now needs to be “tightened” up
and the key elements put in place. The first of
which is the foreground character, which I will
put in the left to balance the palms and rock. In
Fig04, you can see the rough shape of the man
with a cloak that is being blown by the wind. I
wanted to keep him almost as a silhouette, so
that he reads more as a shape against what will
eventually be a sun-bleached background.
With our main character blocked in, it was time
to add some detail to the sky. I think you could
almost get away with it in the current state, but
some subtle clouds will add interest and a little
drama. Again, on a new layer, using a paler
version of the sky blue, I swiftly blocked in some
shapes, remembering not to be too worried
about things looking wrong (Fig05).
It was then time too add in the subject of this
challenge: the slave caravan. As I said, I
wanted this to almost appear incidental, so I
decided to have them trailing from the middle
distance off into the background. The other
thing that needed addressing was the contrast.
At this stage, it looks as if there is a bit of a
sandstorm as the tonal range is somewhat
limited.
In Fig06 you can see that I have painted in the
caravan, as well as darkened the foreground
layer and character which helps add depth to
page 28www.2dartistmag.com Chapter 3
The slave caravan crossed the desert Speed Painting
the scene. This is where keeping the various
elements on separate layers is useful! I painted
some of the small slaves stooping as they walk
to help portray fatigue or hardship, perhaps
against driving wind and sand, and I also linked
them with a rope/chain.
Colour AdjustmentsThe picture was almost complete at this stage,
but a few small changes could make a huge
difference overall and tie everything together
nicely. In Fig07, you can see the layer structure
so far which will enable control over all the major
parts of the image.
First of all, I added some sunlight to brighten up
the whole picture. This was done using a Radial
Gradient blending from a pure white to a bright
orange. The layer was set to Overlay mode with
an opacity of around 35%, which you can see
in Fig08.
This has essentially injected some heat into the
scene and transformed it from a late evening
into a mid-afternoon. This layer, when set to
Normal mode and at 100%, looks like Fig09.
This layer was meant to depict the sunlight, but
I also added the actual sun on another layer.
This was done in a similar manner, except the
gradient was not stretched to the edge of the
page 29www.2dartistmag.com Chapter 3
Speed Painting The slave caravan crossed the desert
canvas and was to blend from white to pale
yellow, set to Hard Light at 70% opacity (Fig10).
You can also see that I added some highlights
on the foreground rocks and tweaked the main
character slightly, as well as giving his spear a
metal tip.
This all but concludes the tutorial, but there
is one more quick layer to add in the form
of another Gradient. It was set to Multiply
blending mode and composed of a dark brown
to transparent layer from the bottom edge to just
above the caravan train. This helped bind the
foreground and add a little more atmospheric
perspective. The desert is almost swallowing
the slaves now!
The final image can be seen on the following
page (Final).
ConclusionI hope that you have enjoyed this month’s
speed painting exercise as much as I have. As
always, it was a challenge to do, but one that
was fun. I have always been keen on deserts
and so enjoyed this particular one!
I hope that I have showed how powerful colour
adjustments can be and how they can transform
an image. When the picture is broken down into
key layers it also proves how variations can be
achieved almost immediately, which is vital in
this day and age when producers and directors
require quick changes!
Richard TilburyFor more from this please contact him:
ibex80@hotmail.com
by Mike Corriero & Richard Tilbury
chapter 4“The Beast Was Poised Ready To Strike!”
page 33www.2dartistmag.com Chapter 4
Speed Painting The beast was poised ready to strike!
Introduction:The key to speed painting is textures; unique
patterns and shapes; the suggestion of forms
without too much detail, and a good sense
of light and direction. If you’re going to try to
communicate an image without rendering out
forms in detail, the use of custom brushes and
textures will help sell the conceptual idea of an
object. You need to captivate the viewer with
interesting details that don’t have to be hand-
painted one by one. These details don’t have to
be your conventional method of thinking and can
quite often be more abstract or intricate.
Quick SketchA quick line sketch, which doesn’t need to be
detailed, will help keep you on track but will
also leave enough room for creative changes.
I’m not even going to bother worrying about getting the anatomy down
correctly or adding things like eyes or defining the forms; I’m just laying
down a quick gradient fill on a Multiply layer (Fig01).
Separation of Planes and ElementsSticking to the Multiply layer so the sketch will still show through, I’m
separating the main elements which exist on a couple of different planes
with varying colours and values. The suggestion of a light source is
thrown into place. It can often give you an interesting effect if you paint on
a new layer and, instead of trying to fill in the elements, you use the eraser
to carve them out after painting over the lines. Leaving a couple of specks
which aren’t fully erased is okay and will just make the image a bit more
interesting and gritty! (Fig02)
Texturing with Custom BrushesWith the use of custom brushes, I’m taking a bit of creative leeway to
make some areas a bit more interesting with suggestive abstract patterns.
page 34www.2dartistmag.com Chapter 4
The beast was poised ready to strike! Speed PaintingIn the foreground and background I’m using some brushes to lay in texture
effects to the rocks and ground. Switching the size of your brush from
large to a very fine small point can also be effective in speed painting
details (Fig03).
Focal HighlightsHighlighting areas you want the viewer to focus in on, and muting areas
that aren’t important, will make the image much easier to read and more
interesting. The sky, although unconventional, has some added texture
that can be construed as light from the sun. A higher saturation of colour
and higher contrast in value will always draw more attention than areas
left in a dark shadow. This is why the two most important parts of this
image are either framed by a highlighted shape or located where a higher
concentration of saturated colours are. These two elements, being the
creature’s head and the unsuspecting prey (humans), are located on the
ground plane (Fig04).
Passage and CharactersI’m starting to define a few areas now to make a bit more sense of them.
Our two characters have been given a quick touch of highlights and colour
to suggest the light that is hitting the plane they are on. I’ve also opened up a passage-way
to suggest the path in which they are headed. This pathway helps ‘pop-
out’ the characters with some dark values against the highlighted values.
Specks of dust, leaves and some added break up to the ground, are all
done with custom brushes and the scatter option (Fig05).
Adjusting the ValuesA quick fix and change to the values helps give a better perspective of the
colours in use and how to define the shapes.
In duplicating the level, you can erase areas
that you don’t want to become too saturated or
areas you want to remain darker or more muted.
Sliding the black arrow to the right, and the
white arrow to the left, will give you a broader
range in values on the level adjustment table. In
doing this, you will also inadvertently pump up
the saturation of these areas (Fig06).
Making the Most of your LevelsThe layer options make it easier to adjust the
levels without completely losing the colour and
page 35www.2dartistmag.com Chapter 4
Speed Painting The beast was poised ready to strike!
details. First, make a duplicated layer of the
original. Next, desaturate the layer to greyscale
and choose the auto level adjustment option
under Image > Adjustments > Auto Levels. This
will automatically adjust your image to the most
compatible dark and light values located within
the painting. Now take the original layer, place
a duplicate on top of the greyscale version and
choose ‘Color’ for the layer option. Finally,
create another duplicate and place that at the
top of every layer, setting the layer option to
‘Darken’. Flatten the layers, copy and paste it
on top of the original, and erase out the areas
which are too dark/too saturated, and lower
the overall opacity a bit. These are all quick
adjustments to fix the colour, hues, saturation
and values to really bring out the best quality of
the image (Fig07).
Tightening the Key ElementsAfter having adjusted the values and saturation
I’ve started to define the silhouette of the
creature while adding some texture and details,
especially toward the head region. I’ve chosen
to make the eye a bright orange to compliment
the colour scheme and to tie in the colours of
the characters with the creature, while adding
some elements of floating leaves and petals
(Fig08).
Let There be Light!On two new layers I’m using the Screen and
Overlay options to boost the value and colour
of the Sun. I still want the patterned effect to
show through and I want the beast’s head to
be visible but obtain a warmer glow from the
light. Erasing out a couple of areas and carving
out the silhouette of the creature will set my
sunlight in place without covering the important
page 36www.2dartistmag.com Chapter 4
The beast was poised ready to strike! Speed Painting
elements. This is really going to help frame the
head of the creature and draw more attention to
this area (Fig09).
I had worked on adding some scaly texture
to the beast’s body, but the only area that
really needs a bit of extra attention is the face.
Zooming in I’m just adding some highlights on
the scales, fitting him with some teeth to make
him a bit more menacing and geared up to
attack his prey. I’ve also provided him with a bit
of a pattern again, using the green and orange
colour scheme. A lot of these little details are
often painted on their own layers for quick
adjustments and editing options (Fig10).
Foliage and Fine-tuningOnce again, on a duplicated layer, I’m making
another adjustment that will be lowered in
opacity and portions erased. Under the Image
> Adjustments > Auto Contrast option I’ve given
the saturation and values one last tweak to bring
out all the colour and highlights. The characters
have been fine-tuned a little to make their
bodies a bit more easy to read, without detailing
them too much. Using some custom brushes
created by another artist I’m providing some
flowers, extra foliage, falling rocks, trees and
branches. These little elements are suggestive
and help complete the environment with some
lush additional life (Fig11).
The FinalTaking a look at the final image as a whole,
I’ll probably make a few last minute additions
and minor changes, but I think the important
details are defined in the focal points and the
overall colour and textures are working to the
advantage of the concept. The warm tones
and direction of the elements, as well as the
strong complimentary colour scheme, really
provide the look I was going for which brings
out a lot of drama and mood. That’s all for
this piece; most of the custom brushes I used
were created by Barontieri, Daarken and M@
(Fig12).
Mike CorrieroFor more from this artist visit:
www.mikecorriero.com
Or contact:
mikecorriero@gmail.com
page 38www.2dartistmag.com Chapter 4
The beast was poised ready to strike! Speed Painting
IntroductionFor this month’s tutorial I did not have a clear
picture in my mind before starting. I usually
have a vague notion as to how the image
may look, but in this case I really did not know
what I was going to do. I had imagined a few
compositions but was not happy with any, and
so I literally started without any idea as to how
the image would evolve. It was an interesting
experiment as I started to put down random,
large sweeping shapes in a purely abstract
fashion. It was within minutes that I saw a
composition and the concept was born (Fig01).
Building the StructureYou can hopefully see in Fig01 that there
are some architectural structures and the
silhouette of a lone figure wearing a robe. The
diagonal shape intersecting him was to be
a raised walkway upon which I would paint
my “beast”, who would eventually be about
to leap onto the character and do whatever
beasties do – ATTACK!! The robe suggested
a religious figure and so I gave him a hat in
the manner worn by a high priest or bishop, for
example. You can see that, as I was forming
page 39www.2dartistmag.com Chapter 4
Speed Painting The beast was poised ready to strike!
the composition, I was intuitively developing
a narrative. This is not a necessary part of
the artistic process but it can help structure
the image in terms of mood, colour schemes,
perspective, etc. As the character was to be
of a religious nature, I imagined that the beast
was an assassin sent by an unknown assailant
– maybe someone of a different faction or
faith, or perhaps a politically motivated person.
Whatever the reason, the idea was now tangible
enough to illustrate the title.
In Fig02 you can see that I have now refined
the initial shapes and developed the tonal
range. I decided to make the foreground dark,
maybe in the shadow of towering columns or
buildings, and the background would show
tall buildings bleached out against a bright
sunlit sky. I have painted in the beast, who is
ominously shadowed by the architecture around
him, almost camouflaged. Its gaze is aimed
downwards, focusing on the target below; its
knees slightly bent and ready to leap. The
priest has his arms crossed in an authoritative
manner, unaware of his impending doom.
Colour SchemeThe essential components of the image have
now been established and it is time to add some
colour to the scene. I added a warm brown
across the foreground as a Soft Light mode on
a separate layer, and added a similar colour
across the background but this time setting the
blending mode to Hard Light. The result can be
seen in Fig03 where the towering buildings in
the background now appear faded and warm in
the distant sunlight. The overall palette is warm
and I decided to echo this in the foreground
also, to help bind the different spaces and
suggest a strong source of light.
Adding Detail and TextureThe picture now has some colour and so it is
time to start putting in a few details to suggest
some of the textures in the materials. I decided
to use a standard Chalk brush and focus on
the near doorway and wall supporting the priest
(Fig04). You can see where the textured brush
has been used to help describe the stonework,
and I have also defined the background
buildings as well as increasing the intensity of
the sky. The doorway in the near foreground
still looked a little undefined at this stage so I
suggested an entrance, and for interest I placed
a light above it which would softly illuminate
some detailing down the right side. I used a
white with the Layer Style ‘Outer Glow’, and
then applied a green colour on a new layer set
to Overlay to show the reflected light on the door
frame and interior wall (Fig05).
These small areas of textured canvas help
page 40www.2dartistmag.com Chapter 4
The beast was poised ready to strike! Speed Paintingsuggest details without the need to illustrate
them, but at this point the image needed a more
clearly defined beast as this was the subject
of the title. I kept this on a separate layer just
so I could make quick alterations if need be. I
painted a more defined silhouette to start with
and then added some subtle highlights to add
volume, as well as some demonic green eyes
(Fig06). I painted a purple colour across the
priests robes to also help make him a focal
point. At this point, whenever I looked at him, I
kept seeing Admiral Ackbar from Return Of The
Jedi (I think it must have been the shape and
colour of his head!).
Time for a costume change: I added some
definition to his robe, toned down the colour
scheme and turned him into a human (Fig07).
Final StagesThe priest now at least looked more human
and so, with the overall image at semi-finished
stage, it was time to tie-up any loose ends and
add some final refinements before calling it a
day, so to speak.
You can see in Fig08 that the background
buildings have been made less orange and
instead I have focused the more saturated areas
around their tops, as though the sunlight was
just clipping them. I also swapped the warmer
foreground colour to a cooler hue, leaning
towards the green and blues, but this just did
not seem to work somehow and neither did
the support struts under the raised walkway –
changes were therefore needed!
First of all, I changed the perspective of the
struts because they were clearly wrong, and
then I set about unifying the picture a little
more. I added a further warm tone set to
Multiply across all the foreground objects and
then erased into it around the doorway light. I
also moved the creature right and scaled him
down a tad, so as to keep the perspective more
accurate – this is precisely why having elements
on separate layers can be valuable sometimes!
One final adjustment was a Soft Light highlight
under the priest, so as to differentiate the space
between this and the near foreground. The final
image can be seen here (Final).
ConclusionThis has been yet another enjoyable learning
experience, as are most paintings/drawings.
This time around I started without any defined
idea in my mind and so improvised from the
very beginning. The interesting aspect about
working in this way is that the chances are you
will arrive at a destination you could not have
foreseen beforehand, which makes the process
exciting. I am happy with the overall result and
like the composition in this one, although, as
always, I am keen to explore this further and do
a more detailed version in the future. However,
I think next time I will choose different eye
shapes as I think my beast does unfortunately
look somewhat like a ‘ninja turtle’!
Richard Tilbury For more from this artist visit:
http://www.richardtilburyart.com/
Or contact:
ibex80@hotmail.com
Intro Text
by Ignacio Bazan Lazcano & Daniel Ljunggren
chapter 5“Man-Eating Plants”
page 42www.2dartistmag.com Chapter 5
Man-Eating Plants! Speed Painting
Created In:Adobe Photoshop CS2
First of all, you must decide what to do with
your picture. This is the most important thing
to do, because it’s not very often that the best
idea comes out – magically – from a unique
brushstroke. If it were like that, then our whole
history would be different! The best thing is to
make several sketches – at least four – to give
yourself a variety of options and to help you get
a better composition and cover different styles
(Fig.01).
Here, I worked my sketches using black ink, a
pen-nib and a paintbrush. My idea was to give it
a more traditional stamp and to take advantage
of natural textures one can obtain when using
a paintbrush. Sometimes it’s good to combine
several techniques in order to get unique results
(Fig.02).
Once I had several options, I chose the one I
liked most, which was the one I felt had more
action and dynamism (Fig.03).
page 43www.2dartistmag.com Chapter 5
Speed Painting Man-Eating Plants!
I opened a new file, at 3000 x 1800, and pasted
in the sketch. First of all, I tried to analyse the
composition. I realised that objects weren’t
arranged in the ideal way (Fig.04); I therefore
selected the “plant hunter” with the loop, turning
it from the middle of the picture to the right
side of it (Fig.05). Finally, I added some more
hunters to give the composition more drama
(Fig.06).
To get depth in my picture, I accented the
contrasts by adding vegetation and better
defining what was placed in the foreground. For
this purpose, I created several paintbrushes.
As my idea was to go on with the traditional
technique used to make my sketches, I decided
to set my paintbrushes using the spots you get
when pressing a paintbrush against the wall. I
used black watered-down ink and a paintbrush
to spot a paper sheet, testing different pictures
on it. To save time, you can also use Photoshop
to draw them directly (Fig.07).
The following step was to choose the spot I liked
most, turn it into a new paintbrush, and then cut
it and paste it on a new document (CTRL + C +
N + V) (Fig.08).
In Fig.09, you can see how the paintbrush looks
in my picture. I then touched the whole picture
up, especially the hunters and the flesh-eating
plant (Fig.10).
With the subject being a plant, I already knew
what the leading colours for my picture were
going to be, and I knew that green and orange
would match better.
page 44www.2dartistmag.com Chapter 5
Man-Eating Plants! Speed PaintingI selected the whole canvas and then applied
copy merged (Fig.11). Once I had joined the
whole image together in one layer, I changed its
colour to green scale (CTRL + U + COLORIZE)
(Fig.12). I achieved a contrast by creating a new
layer and painting it orange at 100%, changing
the layer to the Color Dodge option. I did this
on the grass and on half the hunter’s body.
Remember that to create distance amongst
objects and make them stand it, it’s best to use
“warm” colours for the foreground and “cold”
colours for the background (Fig.13).
I selected the principal lights with a loop to
focus points of attention better. I used the loop,
selecting strongly lit areas, and filled them with
blue colour using the bucket tool (Fig.14). I
changed the layer to the Overlay option, 100%,
and then used the eraser to brush 30% of the
mask’s border in order to get a better fusion of
colour in the background.
Continuing with the lights, I used a lot of green
colour on the flesh-eating plant to make it stand
out. I opened a new layer and painted the moss
colour on the plant’s surface green, using the
Overlay option at 100%. Thus, I obtained a vivid
green colour (Fig.15).
To add cold tones to the background, I opened
a new layer, selected the bucket from my tool
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Speed Painting Man-Eating Plants!
bar on the “gradient” option, chose a blue-green
colour, and finally used the Vivid light option at
70% on the same layer (Fig.16). To separate
the plant from the bluish background, I made a
new layer and used an orange colour, opacity
30%, in the Screen option at 100% (Fig.17).
The next step was to add all the remaining
details to the flesh-eating plant (Fig.18). To do
this, I used one of the textured paintbrushes I
created for this picture, and the basic rounded
paintbrush. I gave the plant more definition,
added palm trees behind, and improved the right
hunter’s anatomy and position. The background
had too much white colour, so I added blue to
get a better contrast between the plant and the
back (Fig.19).
To finish, I placed a pair of spears over the plant
to make the scene more violent. If you wish
you could also use a new layer with a textured
photograph, to make it more realistic.
I hope you enjoyed reading this as much
as I enjoyed the experience of making it.
Remember, no matter how much time you have,
you must pay great attention to your original
sketch to get the best results! (Fig.20)
Ignacio Bazán LazcanoFor more from this artist visit:
http://www.neisbeis.deviantart.com
Or contact:
i.bazanlazcano@gmail.com
page 48www.2dartistmag.com Chapter 5
Man-Eating Plants! Speed Painting
Created In:Software Version Information
IntroductionIn the previous speed painting tutorial that I
wrote for 2DArtist, I used a rather methodical
approach (thumbnail sketching to greyscale
painting to colour painting), so I thought I should
do quite the opposite this time. Starting the
actual painting directly with colour is, personally,
riskier because there is more to deal with at the
same time. On the other hand, I think it’s a lot
more fun, and I can skip the actual “greyscale to
colour” step, which can be painful sometimes.
PAINT!I started by just throwing down some colours and contrast onto the empty
canvas. I used large texture brushes, trying different colours together and
going for a somewhat warm palette (Fig.01).
I had a vague idea for the composition; I knew I want a human character
standing pretty much in the centre of the lower half of the image, looking
up at some nasty carnivorous plants. I created a new layer and painted
in some big shapes which suggested the foreground plants were looking
down on an imaginary character (Fig.02).
Because I didn’t like the colours at this stage, I tried a more reddish
palette using the Hue/Saturation settings. Along with that I refined the
page 49www.2dartistmag.com Chapter 5
Speed Painting Man-Eating Plants!
shapes a bit more, pushing the left plant back a
bit and adding a dark silhouette representing the
character (on yet another layer). The feeling of
water splashing against the rocks (or whatever
it is the character is standing on) was all by
chance, but this gave the idea of having the
plants emerge out of a swamp (Fig.03).
At this point I was thinking that the foreground
should receive a local light, but I wasn’t sure
about the rest of the painting.
The huge head of the main plant was taking
up too much space and focus, and the way
the stalk was shaped made it feel like it was
bending, trying to fit inside the painting. I wasn’t
happy with this, so I used the Lasso tool around
the plant, and scaled it down. To free up even
more space I made the canvas larger at the top,
and added some paint to that area (Fig.04).
I added some lighter hues to the ground,
suggesting reflections, which made the
swamp water look more realistic. On top of the
background I created a new layer for some
distant plants and trees. I painted some light
behind the trees, and added a few design
elements to the foreground plants and the
character.
It was now time for more refining and detailing
(Fig.05). I worked on the main plant, trying to
find a decent design. The background plants
were defined and some hints of vegetation on
the ground were added.
Because I felt that the image needed more
colour variation, I added more Cyan/Blue to the
background, which made the painting a lot more
interesting to the eye.
I added more design elements in an attempt to
make the plants look more interesting (Fig.06).
page 50www.2dartistmag.com Chapter 5
Man-Eating Plants! Speed PaintingI wasn’t sure about the plant on the far right; as I
feel the placement and the side profile made for
a stiff and obviously planned composition. The
plant would probably have attacked already if it
was such a short distance from the character,
so I removed it completely.
Now I wanted a more unified palette again, so
I added a warming photo filter, which felt better
(Fig.07).
I started to move things around a bit; the closest
plant was shifted so that the head was in line
with the golden ratio, which made for a better
composition. I tried moving the character around
as well, to see if it added to the composition, but
because it didn’t work with the alignment of the
plants, I let it stay where it was.
I added more vegetation to the background to
give it more of a forest feel and I refined the
details of the ground and the foreground plants.
Because I felt the shape of the main plant was
rather boring, I gave it a more interesting look
(Fig.08). Not as “evil” as the one before, but
more creepy!
Adding a “black & white” adjustment layer on top
of all other layers enables you to quickly spot
any values that don’t quite work. The closest
plant and the left plant further away had values
that were too similiar in Fig.08, so I adjusted the
values to pull the foreground plant closer to the
viewer.
I began working on the character, giving him a
more dynamic pose and readying him for the
coming attack.
The left foreground plant should focus more on
the character so I fixed that (Fig.09). I gave the
closest plant a longer stalk and a more sinister
look, with sharp teeth and lots of tentacles.
I used some big brushes to apply contrast in
certain areas, making the painting slightly more
comfortable to the eye. A few vague rays of
light in the top left corner were added, then
some final levels adjustments and the painting
was done!
Daniel Ljunggren For more from this artist visit:
http://darylart.com
Or contact:
daniel@darylart.com
by Mike Corriero & Robin Olausson
chapter 6“The City Centre Looked Like a Jewel Amongst the Surroundings”
page 53www.2dartistmag.com Chapter 6
Speed Painting The city centre looked like a jewel amongst the surroundings
Created In:Adobe Photoshop
IntroductionThe key points behind successful speed
paintings are textures, unique patterns, shapes,
the suggestion of forms, without too much
detail, and a good sense of light and direction.
If you’re going to try to communicate an image
without rendering out forms in detail, the use
of custom brushes and textures will help you to
sell the conceptual idea of an object. You need
to captivate the viewer with interesting details
that don’t have to be hand-painted one by one.
These details don’t have to be your conventional method of thinking and
can quite often be more abstract and indicate intricate details through the
brush strokes.
Base LayerAfter laying down a quick base colour with the paint bucket tool, I decided
to throw down some quick suggestions of shapes with a simple, square
brush. I’ve used the brush tip shape and dynamics option to adjust the
brush a bit, also giving the brush some spacing so the quick strokes will
create a bit of a pattern. At this point, although I’m working with a topic,
I’m not quite sure what’s going to come out of this yet so I’m just playing
with random abstract strokes (Fig.01).
Choosing the focal pointI’ve quickly chosen where I want the focal point to be and, in keeping
with the same square brush, I’m just laying down a quick base of lines
and shapes for what will be a type of shrine. The steps, the square tile
patterned lines for the wall, and the arch above, all help to push the viewer
towards this area – the hot spot of the painting. A quick splash of a bright
value and a saturated gold instantly draws your attention to this spot. I’m
going to stick with the square brush throughout the entire painting, but
I’ll be switching the tip shape and adding dual brush and textures to it for
a gritty appearance later on. The textures will give the painting a more
detailed look without any real extra effort or work (Fig.02).
Quick lighting and FormsWith darker and lighter values of the same colour tones, I’m starting to
define the arch with some added strokes of detail, although still very
quick and rough. I’ve also reinforced the steps and angled walls with
page 54www.2dartistmag.com Chapter 6
The city centre looked like a jewel amongst the surroundings Speed Painting
stronger and more saturated hues, once
again drawing your attention to the main focal
position. Without too much thought the design
is taking on some Asian architectural and object
influences, so the jewel of this painting will be a
golden statue; something similar to a Buddhist
figure but it will be left very rough and allow
the viewer to really interpret what it is they are
looking at (Fig.03).
Cool Shadows and Shining ThroughDuplicating the layer allows me to make a quick
adjustment to the colour of the overall image.
An Auto Levels adjustment changes the colour
scheme to blues and purples, which is perfect
to offset the warm golden hues radiating from
the jewel of the city. In lowering the opacity
of that level a bit, I decided to go in and erase
out the areas where the focal point is situated,
letting the original colours shine through. At this
point I can start to throw in some refined details
and bright hot spots on the statue, and the arch
above. In order to have the square brush follow
the form of the arch I just set the brush shape
dynamics to initial direction (Fig.04).
Rows of Beams, Bricks and RailsOnce again, just by adjusting the brush options
of the square brush, I’ve slimmed down the
shape, adding more spacing with some opacity
and flow jitter, and have begun suggesting
some different materials. The size, shape and
angles alone will determine what they are meant
to portray. In this case, I’m using vertical lines
to just give the steps some texture while also
providing the base of the railings. Above the
shrine and the arch much larger and thicker
squares give off a rough impression of bricks.
The reason this square brush was chosen
for the topic is because it can be adjusted in
so many ways and used to show something
of structure, while also allowing me to paint
highlights and shadows on a lower opacity and
pen pressure setting (Fig.05).
Adjusting the LevelsA quick adjustment to the levels brings the
main attraction forward. This levels adjustment
darkens the shadows and brightens the
highlights, whilst also increasing the saturation.
page 55www.2dartistmag.com Chapter 6
Speed Painting The city centre looked like a jewel amongst the surroundings
So now the cooler shadows fall back and the
jewel really begins to pop out and give off the
golden vibe I’m looking for (Fig.06).
Majority of DetailThe majority of suggestive detailing is going to
be given to the focal point of the image. Some
textures have been added to the tiled walls
surrounding it, but I want to make sure that
smaller and tighter shapes are located within
this jewel. I’ve very lightly gone in and defined
some of the shapes by shading around the
highlights and suggesting that the statue is
holding something of value. The bright violet
really draws your attention in now and it makes
you curious what this glowing object is. They
could in fact be jewels, diamonds or perhaps
something of a more ethereal nature. This
is once again left up to the viewer to decide
(Fig.07).
Finalising what is ImportantTowards the final stages I’ve just made sure
that the surrounding environment is in perfect
contrast to the jewel, in both colour and detailing
as well as design. The surrounding shapes are
more haphazardly thrown together; they are
more gritty and of less importance. It’s indicated
that there are forms of walls, bricks, tiles and
random objects of unknown design. These
remain in the darker and cooler toned values
so that the main attraction comes forth without
effort. Some detailing is made to the railings,
warmer red orange tones are added where light
transitions might take place, and the structure of
the stairs is reinforced.
Overall, the most important aspects of this
painting are complete; there is enough texturing
and detail to keep your interest and to describe
what you’re looking at, while still remaining
rough and open to interpretation. And that’s
it! Just remember that the key to a focal point
is through the contrast of values, saturation of
hues and the direction of shapes (Fig.08).
Mike CorrieroFor more from this artist visit:
www.mikecorriero.com
Or contact:
mikecorriero@gmail.com
page 57www.2dartistmag.com Chapter 6
Speed Painting The city centre looked like a jewel amongst the surroundings
Created In:Adobe Photoshop
Introduction:Speed-painting, for me, is about capturing the
most essential elements within an image in
the least possible time, whilst still keeping as
much detail as possible. Form, light, values,
composition, contrast, colour, edge quality, and
so on, are all really important elements in order
to get the results you are looking for. I don’t
have any particular order in which I build up my
images, since different methods work better for
me with different types of images. Sometimes
I go for textured work with a lot of custom
brushes, and even stamps made out of photos,
whereas other times I just go for simple custom
brushes and standard ones to keep things more
simple and practice pure painting speed.
Blocking-in:Since I was going to do a landscape type of
image with a town, meaning lots of man-made
objects, a good foundation of a perspective grid
was really important. To get the imagination
going I needed some kind of shapes going on
and not just a simple white background with
a stiff perspective grid, so I made a “stamp
brush” of a texture and then used it as a custom
brush to paint in some random background
noise (Fig.01). While following my perspective
grid I distorted and added another stamp of
an architectural structure to fit my perspective,
and with a big brush I painted in some values
to define more hints of structures and a ground
plane (Fig.02).
The next few steps are about the same
procedure, adding some stamps and more
page 58www.2dartistmag.com Chapter 6
The city centre looked like a jewel amongst the surroundings Speed Paintingbrush strokes to indicate form and value
changes. Keep in mind your composition and
contrast and don’t go too dark or too bright with
your values since we want to save this for later!
Colouring:I’m not too concerned with which colours I
start out with, because if I don’t like them I can
always change them pretty easily if things are
backed up or on different layers. It’s pretty
much all about having fun, and what can be
more fun than playing around with lots of
different colours? After all, isn’t that what every
child finds most enjoyable about painting?
When I first started to colour this piece I made
some new layers and set the mode to either
Multiply, Dodge, Screen, Overlay, etc. It really
doesn’t matter though, as long as you find
a combination that feels good for you! After
you get something you’re happy with, it’s time
to get more serious! Think about what your
light source is, where it’s coming from and
what temperature that light would have, and
then counter the shadows with the opposite
temperature.
page 59www.2dartistmag.com Chapter 6
Speed Painting The city centre looked like a jewel amongst the surroundings
Adding details and depth:
With some customised edgy spacing brushes
I tried to emulate the feeling of foliage. The
important thing to remember here is to have a
nice sharp brush that produces crisp edges.
After you get the basic silhouette done, it’s time
to add dimension to the objects, working from
big brushes to smaller ones and adding a light/
dark side to the objects. Another good way to
get crisp edges is to use the Lasso tool to select
an area and then, with a large brush, paint
inside of it (Fig.06 and Fig.07).
Levels and highlightsOK, so another fast way to paint in lighting
is with the Dodge tool, although it’s too often
the entire image a bit and added more lighting
to get the mood I was looking for. And that’s it
(Fig.08 and Fig.09).
Robin OlaussonFor more from this artist visit:
http://www.robin.reign.se/gallery
Or contact:
tv1000@spray.se
overused so be sure to use it wisely! Think of
where your light source is coming from and what
type of a surface the object you are dealing with
has. Is your object wet, metallic, translucent?
All of these different types of surfaces will make
a difference in how the light reacts with the
object. I personally felt that the image was a
bit greyish or dusty, so to correct the contrast I
used Ctrl + L to access the Levels. I darkened
by Nick Oroc & Marc Brunet
chapter 7“It Was A Long Way Up But They Had No Choice But To Continue Climbing”
page 63www.3dcreativemag.com Chapter 7
Speed Painting It was a long way up but they had no choice but to continue climbing
Created In:Photoshop
The idea behind this subject matter came to me
reminiscing my childhood in the Mediterranean.
I remember as a little venturer playing with a
type of vegetation on which some kind of fragile
cherry would grow. These delicate cherries
would explode with a mere touch and splatter
me with what ever liquid they contained. Luckily
for me they weren’t poisonous.
My main thoughts behind this speed painting
consisted of: exploding cherry, team work,
amplitude, and especially humour. I wanted to
create a team effort of 2 venturers climbing from
one vegetation platform to another using nothing
but rope, a spear and exploding cherries. My
main focus was to create a directional focal
point depicting the altitude they had to travel
from each platform.
In Fig.01, I roughed out a composition. I
personally don’t like working on a white canvas
so a simple grey tone gradient solved that
problem. Doing so also helps me gage my
values. Using a freehand perspective guide,
I blocked in some silhouetted shapes. This is
the stage where I don’t think about detail...only
composition. It’s fast and easy and can be done
in a matter of a couple minutes.
Fig.01-A displays the six brushes I used to
create this painting. Brush A is a standard
hard edge round brush and the rest are part
of my collection of custom brushes that I’ve
created over the years. As you can see I’ve
selected a small range of organic looking
brushes that appealed to me and will facilitate
rendering out my scene in no time. Creating
the brush settings is a very personal thing.
What’s important to keep in mind is simply to
experiment and save the brushes. Create a
folder with a library of these brushes for easy
access and just load them up in Photoshop
depending on the subject matter you will paint.
When I’m unsure of a color palette, I start off
with a value painting. It’s a safe and quick
approach that allows me to knock out an image.
This allows you to not have to worry about color.
Fig.02 illustrates this step. This stage took me
about 40 minutes to produce. With my base
sketch underneath and composition set, all I had
to worry about were four things: textures created
by my custom brushes, character posing, depth,
and mood lighting
Once I was content with the value painting, it
was time to add color. I try to keep my layers
very minimal to maximize desktop speed and
also to not get lost over loads of layers. I
page 64www.3dcreativemag.com Chapter 7
It was a long way up but they had no choice but to continue climbing Speed Paintingcreated a new layer over my value painting and just started painting some colors using some texture
brushes. (Fig.03). Notice how the colors are darker and warmer on the bottom left, and brightens
and gets cooler as I worked my way up to top right. My reason for doing so is simply to create more
contrast between the foreground and the background (warm vs cool). I then set the painted texture
in overlay mode (Fig.04). This then tints my background without losing too much detail in my value
painting. The only problem I have with using the layer overlay mode is that the colors get pretty dull
and washed out. But it’s a good base to start with. Fig.05 is the stage where I start to bring back
to life those colors that got very dull by simply color picking them, increasing the saturation, and
glazing lightly over the colored areas to liven them up.
Fig.06 is the final stage where I started to add
some particle effects, finishing details, and
sharpening up the image.
I hope you enjoyed this tutorial as much as did
creating it. Always keep in mind to have fun
with every piece and to makes lots of happy
mistakes. Keep things simple without deviating
to far from your main goal.........illustrating an
idea.
Nick OrocFor more from this artist visit
www.nickorocart.com
or contact
nickoroc@gmail.com
page 66www.3dcreativemag.com Chapter 7
It was a long way up but they had no choice but to continue climbing Speed Painting
Created In:Photoshop
IntroductionAs artists, one question we often get is “Where
do you get ideas for your pieces?”. Normally I
always have something in mind when I start a
piece and that idea itself it triggered, most of
the time, by something I will see browsing the
internet as I think it is one of the best sources
for inspiration. But when it comes to speed
painting, things are not quite the same. At the
very start of the process, I will skip a key step
which is “building and defining my idea”. I think
that is what makes speed painting really interesting, you just go and start,
having absolutely no clue where you’re going.
Shaping things upHaving no idea what to do normally forces me into painting very abstract
shapes as a start. I then build upon those shapes and ideas will start to
flow. In this particular case, I know at least two things; I want to have a
sky in there somewhere and I want to draw rocks. Call those self imposed
guidelines or whatever, I’m just feeling that way today I guess. After
only a few couple of brush strokes normally I start to get a clearer idea
of where this is all going and it became clear after only a few minutes
into the painting that the subject would be a mountain of some sort. The
theme being “It was a long way up but they had no choice but to continue
climbing”, I am now kind of going in the direction I told myself I would not.
page 67www.3dcreativemag.com Chapter 7
Speed Painting It was a long way up but they had no choice but to continue climbing
I wanted to come up with something a little out
of the ordinary, so that when people look at it
they would tell themselves “Well I wouldn’t have
thought about that!”. I’ll have to do something
about that! (Fig.01)
Then there was light!Light is always a very important part of any
painting I do. It helps set the mood of the piece,
determine the time of the day, the temperature
but is also a double edged sword: if you screw
it up, the whole piece will end up looking like
an ugly butt. At this point in a speed painting,
you just live with what you have so far and try
to make it look like something interesting. So
far two things are already decided, the light is
coming from the left and it’s a very sunny day.
Painting lights is always a challenge for the
brain; you have to put yourself in the sun’s point
of view and try to imagine what you see and
what you do not. Things you see will obviously
be lit, while the rest will be in the shades. My
composition being a little boring, I’ll use light to improve it and bring the
viewer’s eyes to wherever I want in the image. It’s like subtle mind control.
Genius? Yes. (Fig.02)
The paletteJust like lighting the scene is crucial, the color palette is even more. In this
case, like in most, the colors take their importance when the lights are set.
Only then you can tell from which direction are the backlights coming from,
how the ambient light is affecting the colors and so on. In this painting I
have a very bright sun hitting the left of the cliff, so I want to have some
colors on the other side to make sure I do not have too big of a bright/
dark contrast going on. This is all considering the cliff is not really the focal
point of the image. With the two characters I’m planning to add, I really
don’t want anything else to steal the show. Best solution in this case is to
boost the refraction from the sky on the rocks. If you think about it, those
rocks in the shadows are still being lit by the subtle blue light coming from
the sky. (Fig.03)
CompositionI like what the composition look like so far, but
I’m starting to think I might have a problem when
the characters are done. I want them to be the
focal point of the image, but I’m thinking at the
same time that I really want to give the image
the feeling they still have a long way to go,
emphasis the height of the mountain. Normally
at this point I any characters I was planning to
put in there should have been blocked in already
to prevent such composition tweaking that far in
the process. (Fig.04)
With the little men thrown in there finally, I’m
able to see my options better. All I had to add
to fix the compo were a few simple huts with a
really punchy red, leading the eyes all the way
to the top. (Fig.05)
ConclusionAll that is left after that is about 30 minutes of
tweaking and polishing to make it look a little
more decent. For the entire piece, I used about
4 custom brushes, no textures or anything else.
I like to be able to paint everything myself, at the
same time it helps develop speed without relying
on your custom brush sets too much. I also used
a single layer for everything, helps to give it that
“painted” look.(Fig.05)
About halfway in the process, I came up with
the idea something dangerous was chasing
them from the bottom, which is why they were
climbing. I fixed my mind only at the end,
imagining these were lava monsters coming
out of an overflowing lava river surrounding the
mountain. Being distracted, those two unlucky
folks got stuck in a bad situation trying to escape
to save their lives.
Now you’ll ask me “Why is the one in yellow not
helping his friend?”
I’ll tell you why... He’s not his friend alright!?
Mark BrunetFor more from this artist visit
http://bluefly.cgsociety.org
or contact
finalxii@msn.com
by Robin Olausson & Serg S
chapter 8“Once A Thriving City Now Deserted And Taken Over By Vegetation”
page 70www.2dartistmag.com Chapter 8
“Once a thriving city now deserted and taken over by vegetation” Speed Painting
Created In:Photoshop
The idea behind this image came from those
abandoned cities in movies like 28 Days Later,
Dawn of the Dead etc. I wanted to take one of
those moments and turn it into something really
beautiful, instead of dark and menacing. With a
standard squared brush, with the opacity set to
60%, I started painting in some basic shapes to
get my imagination going. My intention was to
create a back, mid and foreground relationship
as early as possible. Always keep in mind the
perspective you want to use; for this scene I
used a basic 1-point perspective, with some
minor vertical adjustments, for the simple reason
of keeping the process quick and easy (Fig.01)!
Here I defined the depth in the image by
darkening the foreground a touch and adding a
dark gradient from the sky downwards, to make
it feel like the city is emitting some light as well.
Some secondary details were added in the fore/
middle ground to boost up the imagination and
to get some more ideas of how the city was
going to look. These were just random lines
made without thinking about what I was doing
really. You need this randomness in order to get
variety into your images (Fig.02)!
More objects and refinements were made with
the intention of making the composition look
more interesting and trying to create a pathway
to lead the eye through the image. Up until
this point almost everything had been painted
with simple round/square brushes. I saved the
textures for later on (Fig.03).
Here was my first introduction of colour to this
image. To get some fast details and colours
going on, I took one of my recently painted
images and played with it a bit; duplicating,
flipping and cropping it; changing the layer
settings of it and then applying it over my current
image as an Overlay layer, just to get some
free details and colours going on. I altered the
perspective with the Transform/Distort tool to
convey a better feeling of scale. With custom
brushes set to Spacing, the windows in the
buildings were painted fast and loosely; no
details were added at all, I was just trying to
keep everything as simple as possible (Fig.04
and Fig.05).
The colours still needed more work, so here I
tried to add more interesting ones by duplicating
all merged layers (Ctrl + Shift + Alt + E) and
playing with the curves and layer modes.
The city was supposed to be abandoned and
untouched for quite a while, and what shows
page 71www.2dartistmag.com Chapter 8
Speed Painting “Once a thriving city now deserted and taken over by vegetation”
that better than overgrown vegetation? The
easiest and absolutely quickest way to paint
vegetation with a high level of detail is to use
custom brushes. You can use photographs as
well to gain lots of free and fast details, which
I have done for the windows and for some of
the cracks in the road in the foreground. Since I
lost a lot of the light whilst playing with the layer
modes, I reinforced the lighting in the image
with a brush set to Colour dodge. If you don’t
get the relationship values and the lighting right,
it doesn’t matter how cool the objects that you
paint are; it’s absolutely necessary to make the
image look 3D and not flat (Fig.06 and Fig.07)!
ConclusionStart loose and fast; keep in mind the fore/
middle and background relationships and where
the light is coming from. Try to think about what
you are adding to your painting in a simplified
way, and see if it enhances the composition
or not. Keep the most contrast in the area
where you want your focus to be and save your
highest contrast for that. Don’t be afraid to try
new things! Even if a thing you recently added
to your painting looks wacked, don’t worry
too much about it; try flipping/playing with the
Curves and layer modes and see what you
can come up with! Always flip your image in all
directions to get a fresh look on things and to
get new ideas as well. Sometimes when I flip my
image I see a new thing in it – maybe a monster,
a cool building or something else useful! Just
take the Lasso tool and copy it and reuse it in
your original, un-flipped image.
There are a lot of things I could improve in this
image, like upping the contrast and changing the
values, but overall I’m happy with the outcome.
Robin OlaussonFor more from this artist visit:
http://www.robin.reign.se/gallery
Or contact:
tv1000@spray.se
page 74www.2dartistmag.com Chapter 8
“Once a thriving city now deserted and taken over by vegetation” Speed Painting
Created In:Photoshop
IntroductionThe outcome of a painting cannot be
determined in the first stages of its creation; an
image usually evolves with the artist over time.
ResearchThe process that I used to approach this brief
started out with some research into interesting
shapes. It’s always a good idea to have some
kind of reference for what you’re drawing, but
this time around I wanted to see what I could
achieve from a two-hour speed painting without
using specific references!
Step 01So for this painting I started off with a standard
round size 13 brush, with pressure dynamics
page 75www.2dartistmag.com Chapter 8
Speed Painting “Once a thriving city now deserted and taken over by vegetation”
turned off and 75% opacity. The colours I went
with for this overgrown city were neutral and
earthy tones (Fig.01).
Step 02In the beginning stages I tried to focus on
shapes and the negative space of the image,
and tried not let the perspective of the piece
hinder my search for these shapes. At one
point I had a cityscape, but then it turned into
an interior shot after I put in the three vertical
structures, and so I decided to go with that
instead.
I try not to put in the perspective lines when
starting an image, as I like to be able to search
for shapes with a greater freedom. At this point I
decided on the composition and that the space I
was painting was going to become the base of a
building that had been taken over by vegetation,
as the brief suggests (Fig.02).
Step 03Once my composition had been decided, I
started to think about the lighting and shadows.
Adding a complementary light source from the
bottom left helped with the colour contrast and
I used red to indicate rubble and to introduce
some reds to the shadows (Fig.03).
Step 04At this stage, adding some perspective lines
helped me out with the repetition of objects, and
to define the shapes from Step 01. At this point
it was a good idea for me to check the values
in the image. The order of values I used were
a value of 10 for the foreground, a value of four
for the mid-ground (the area where the light hits
the floor), and six for the background (Fig.04).
A good way of thinking about this is: light, dark,
light, dark – it’s never ending! But when have
dark next to dark, you lose the edge (although
sometimes you may want that!).
Step 05After adding a figure to set the scale, I decided
that I wanted to create an uneasy feeling for
the character. Having verticals in your image
creates stability, and so angling them to the left
and darkening the value of image seemed to
help create the illusion that I was hoping for. I
then painted out one of the centre pillars of the
image in order to give it more hope, and to lose
the repetitiveness (Fig.05).
Step 06At this stage I started bringing it all together. I
added more detail using a standard brush with
the texture option checked, and I angled the
brush to the perspective of the image (Fig.06a).
The main change here was to separate the
values of the atmospheric perspective of the
image, where the objects seem to become
closer in value as they reseed in the space
(Fig.06b).
FinalAt this point I was happy with the image
because it conveyed mood, environment and
scale. If this image was used as a piece of
concept art, it would give the 3D artist a good
starting point. If it was a matte painting then the
use of photographic textures would be the next
step, as well as cleaner edges and greater use
of the selection tool.
Serg SFor more from this artist visit:
http://deadlinestudios.com
Or contact:
sergdls@gmail.com
by Ignacio Bazan Lazcano & Joel Carlo
chapter 9“Robot Scrap Yard”
page 79www.2dartistmag.com Chapter 9
Speed Painting Robot Scrap Yard
Created In:Photoshop
When I was approached to create this speed
painting, I initially began with a slightly different
idea than what the final version turned out to
be. My original concept was to have a set of
characters digging through a pile of junk in a
scrap yard, in a somewhat typical layout and
setting. As with most of my illustrations, I usually
work things out as I do them, and most of my
images usually never turn out exactly the way
they’re started. While I didn’t deviate too much
from the original concept, I feel the final image
does have a bit more of a science-fiction flair
to it.
I began this image with an extremely rough
sketch done on paper (Fig.01). By my own
admission, I’m the absolute worst when it
comes to sketching! It’s not so much that I’m
necessarily bad at it, I’m just extremely lazy
and I like to work everything out as I paint. The
most important thing at this point for me, was to
establish a rough layout for the scene. Once this
was achieved, I moved on to laying down colour
and values. I did this by setting the properties of
page 80www.2dartistmag.com Chapter 9
Robot Scrap Yard Speed Paintingthe sketch layer to Multiply mode and creating
a new layer underneath to paint on (Fig.02).
Here I roughed out some colour ideas and some
quick values to gauge a little bit of what the
depth of the scene would look like. In this case,
I felt the characters were a bit too prominent in
the scene, so I adjusted their size in the sketch
layer and I added the crane silhouette from a set
of industrial cityscape brushes for Photoshop
(Fig.03).
Although I liked the way things were moving,
I decided to experiment a little with some
more colour ideas and the overall mood of the
image. I thought that maybe looking for robot
parts during a stormy night scene would really
emphasise just how crappy the characters’ line
of work could be (Fig.04). I knew sooner or
later I’d have to start working on details for the
scrap yard, so I turned to ZBrush for a little help.
The great thing about ZBrush (apart from being
an incredible modelling application) is it can
also be used to create “greebles” (Fig.05a and
Fig.05b). For those who don’t know what that is,
a “greeble” is a way of creating intricate surface
detail on an object without a whole bunch of
complicated modelling. In this case, I used some
simple cylinder shapes and added a default
texture to them. I then masked the object based
on the texture’s value intensity and extracted the
shapes using inflate deformation. From here,
I imported the greeble renders into Photoshop
and applied them to my image using a mixture
of layering and adjustment techniques. I also
began to work on additional details, including
the building to the left, crane lights, and metal
slab in the centre of the scene (Fig.06).
page 81www.2dartistmag.com Chapter 9
Speed Painting Robot Scrap Yard
At this point I felt the image was becoming a
bit too dark and muted, so I decided to work in
some colour, beginning with the sky (Fig.07).
The effect I was aiming for was along the lines
of the same lighting you would expect to see
during the magic hour of an evening. I liked
the way the brighter colours contrasted against
the silhouettes and also the way they gave the
image a less-claustrophobic feel. Satisfied, I
decided to stick with this new colour scheme
and worked it into the rest of the image (Fig.08).
I also added additional detailing to the crane as
I felt it looked a bit skimpy and a bit too modern
for the image’s overall theme.
Pausing for a moment to reflect on the work
I had completed, I quickly realised that there
were some issues with the positioning of the
silhouetted characters. It was apparent that
this part of the image wasn’t clear, so I decided
to shrink the characters down further and add
some sort of utility vehicle, which helped add
a bit more clarity to this section of the image
(Fig.09). I also realised that, at this point, the
image itself was completely void of anything
resembling an actual robot, and although it
appeared to look like a scrap yard I may not
have done the best job of translating the idea
of it being a “robot scrap yard” as I could have.
Adding the robot at the side of the building
(although admittedly last minute) was something
I felt brought the idea home a bit better.
From this point on, it was a simple matter of
refining the image. Detailing on the utility vehicle
as well as certain areas along the metallic slab
helped tighten the image a bit more (Fig.10).
After a few Level adjustments and some colour
correction, I considered this painting finished.
Overall, this image took roughly five hours
to complete... hardly a “speed” painting by
some standards, but extremely fun either way.
I thoroughly enjoyed working on this piece
as it did give me the opportunity to get out of
my normal painting habits and allowed me
to experiment a bit. I hope you enjoyed this
walkthrough and if you have any questions or
comments, please feel free to contact me any
time!
Joel Carlo For more from this artist visit:
www.joelcarlo.net
Or contact:
joelcarlo@gmail.com
page 83www.2dartistmag.com Chapter 9
Speed Painting Robot Scrap Yard
Created In:Adobe Photoshop CS3
The best thing about speed painting is that it
doesn’t limit your freedom. It also allows you to
put whatever comes into your mind first, rather
than thinking too much. It is pure energy and
movement, and it shows the artist’s mood! So
for this tutorial I had the intention of not being
so technical about showing the development
of the image, and to instead demonstrate the
advantages that this freedom offers.
As a first step I painted in greyscale with rough
lines to develop the general concept. At this
stage I paid particular attention to the light
and shade, focusing the image at the point
of reading. Everything has to fit in, little by
little; you don’t have to worry too much about
polishing things up – everything just has to flow
naturally (Fig.01).
Here I plunged into the colour! I already had
things defined well enough in my mind to start
working in colour at this stage, and I didn’t have
to worry about whether I’d made an accurate
calculation with the perspective or if I had the
shapes of objects right – I just threw myself into
the inaccuracy and vagueness of it all! I didn’t
want anything to stop me going onto the next
step (I believe that the best way to speed paint
is to learn rules well enough in order to break
them easily!). To colour the greyscale image I
use the “Colorize” option (Ctrl + U) (Fig.02).
In order to choose the colours for your scenes,
the main thing you have to consider is if it is by
day or by night; if you are in a closed room with
artificial light or if you just want to apply colours
as and how you wish. It all depends on the story
you want to tell through your image!
page 84www.2dartistmag.com Chapter 9
Robot Scrap Yard Speed Painting
subtly so that it goes unnoticed and adapts
better to your image (Fig.06).
In order to give a little more light to the whole
drawing I created a new layer, applying some
brightness and contrast (Fig.07).
Once I had the atmosphere and colour
established in general, I started with the step I
like most: “scraping”. I named it thus, because
With my basic colour established, I started to
define the space better by adding a touch more
light and a few more shadows. The drawing
leads you and tells you where to move along.
I believe that there is some sort of “chat” that
goes on between an artist and his masterpiece
(Fig.03)!
In order to brighten up the front light, I put a
yellow overlay layer all around the points of
interest. This is just like magic! What often
makes a drawing look beautiful and spectacular,
is its approach and brightness (Fig.04).
To give the drawing better texture, I used a
single photograph and then leaned it over the
whole canvas. I then de-saturated the photo
into greyscale in order for it to be later adapted
to any surface of the drawing. You only have
to place the texture layer wherever you need it,
and set it to Overlay (Fig.05).
I don’t usually use textures in my images, but
it always helps if you can add some additional
elements or tints to your paintings. Try not to
overuse textures and use them with an opacity
of 50%, or if not you can also erase the sides
to work with volumes you have to scrape each
element of the drawing (Fig.08). Doing this
gives me speed and, at the same time, a certain
amount of texture to objects.
So I started to work on defining the volumes of
each element. You might wonder why things
with spots and rays make drawings look better;
well to understand this it is necessary to know
values, materials and volumes. The ideal and
page 85www.2dartistmag.com Chapter 9
Speed Painting Robot Scrap Yard
perfect exercise for this is the study of geometric
figures. This is why, with only a small dot of light
and a spot, an object can be understood. The
incorrect application of light can distort or flatten
an object. The most common mistake is to put
the brightest light on the contour of the form,
flattening the object (this generally happens in
cylindrical forms) (Fig.09).
It was not necessary for me to use any other
images as references for this piece, as I wanted
everything to come out of my head – to feel free!
I also didn’t use too many layer effects either,
except for the Overlay of the light. My intention
was to make it more “plastic” (Fig.10).
When I noticed that I had almost finished my
work, I realised that it could be better. Therefore
I added an additional structure in the middle
to get some extra depth in the composition.
Finally, I made the spots that interested me the
most stand out, by using a higher intensity of
light (Fig.11).
The best way to apply this technique with
looseness, as well as accuracy, is to draw
untiringly (Fig.12).
I hope that you like this piece and have found
something useful from the tutorial walkthrough!
Ignacio Bazán LazcanoFor more from this artist visit:
www.neisbeis.deviantart.com
Or contact:
i.bazanlazcano@gmail.com
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