Final Color

I usually like to add another pass of color for my paintings. I love adding more saturated bits of bounce light into the shadow and a glow element to the highest brightest highlights to give the image more power and realism. To do this I add a new layer and paint an orange tinge around the areas I want. I then set the blend mode to Color Dodge and after toning it down with the eraser it's finished. I add my signature to complete the painting (Fig.11 – 12)

Conclusion

I hope that you have enjoyed this tutorial and have found it informative. I also hope that it will help someone or maybe inspire someone to study art.

On my artistic journey I've read a lot of tutorials on digital painting and very few have actually helped me. In fact, some confused me more than helped. That's why I've come approach digital art in the same way that I approach oil paintings, and only by following traditional techniques have I found opportunities to learn and improve.

I'm no authority on painting and am constantly striving for improvement, but I wanted to share what I have found so far. That's the main reason for doing this tutorial. You may find it's what you thought already and you are on the right path, or you may be surprised that it's not the fancy brushes that make the art but consistent repetition when you're painting. No magic wand, no shortcuts – just doing it whenever you are not sleeping.

Thanks for taking the time to read this tutorial and I wish you all the best in your future endeavours.