For the floor, I gathered some photo textures of cracked concrete and stone and made some simple texture brushes. Using a Multiply layer and some trial and error, I started applying texture and then erased some areas to break up the repeating cookie-cutter effect. Because adding the texture darkened things a bit, I used an Overlay layer to revitalize the green and brown color and then, using a Screen layer, I reapplied the general lighting. Afterwards it was just a matter of smoothing things out following what I had already painted as a guide. As a final step, I reapplied some more texture with lower Opacity to add that finer detail and then a little more painting on top again to avoid that slapped on texture look (Fig.09a – 09f).

Final Touch Ups

Before I finished up, I made sure to apply all of the final highlights. The next stage for me involved a lot of experimentation, basically trying anything that could help enhance the final image as a whole, including Multiply layers, adjusting levels, Color Balance and Contrast. One of my final touches, for example, was to use a Multiply layer and a Soft brush with low Opacity to darken the rims of the painting to further accentuate the lighting of the piece (Fig.10).

Reflection

Overall, I was quite happy with how this piece turned out. As a general rule, I try to incorporate things I have never done before in each of my paintings. In this particular artwork, I had never attempted stone or this perspective and as always, fabric and the human figure are a big challenge for me. However, having been self-taught, it's nice to see that my constant practice has paid off over the last year in comparing the final product (Fig.10) to my original (Fig.01).