Finishing:

You can see in the next image the picture is already cleaner, with a better definition of detail and also colour (Fig.06). It is now almost ready, with the only job remaining to make the soldiers, effects and do the colour correction. I now add a new layer to make the soldiers. This was perhaps the fastest part of the painting. The knights are modified copies of one soldier (indicated with the arrow). After each was copied and slightly modified in an individual layer, the were merged into one (Fig.07). Soon after, I added two more layers, one for the fire and another one for smoke (Fig.08).

Here are the last layers I created for the final image (Fig.09). Dark: I filled layer with black, after which I used the Lens Flare filter, defined its centre for the same position as the main sword, changed the Layer Mode tor ‘Colour Burn’ and the opacity to 30%. I added a Layer Mask to remove the dark tones from some of the regions, mainly from the central part of the image. You can achieve practically  the same result using a ‘Radial Gradient’ with the colours white and black, in  place of the Lens Flare. With this layer I obtained a more uniform result for the image. Photo Filter: I added a Photo Filter Cyan, density at 70%, then added a Layer Mask and painted mainly the low part of the image to obtain a colour similar to green/blue.

More Details: I made this layer to add some details, for example an orange brightness in the horn and hand of the dragon corresponding to the fire that is located below it and also some dust around the horses. Sword Power: This Layer was to create the energy light of the sword. I modified the mode of layer for Hard Light. Photo Filter: I added a Photo Filter Deep Yellow, density of 50%. With this layer I obtained a better contrast to the image. I also Sharpened and Sharpened More to better enhance the brush marks. (Fig.10). Thank you for reading, hope you find this ‘making of’ useful.