It is now time to hone what we have so far by painting in extra detail and fixing the lighting aspects.

Colour Adjustments :

The picture at the moment looks very green, which is something I am going to change using an Adjustment Layer. Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Colour Balance; I have shifted the overall colour scheme to create warmer tones (+33 towards the Red and -16 towards Yellow (Fig.21).

Before applying the adjustment layer I flattened the file to keep things simple. Some extra detail I added at this stage was the suggestion of a corridor in the background by putting in some wall lights as well as some light filtering across the statue base (Fig.22).

I painted in the sunlight on a separate layer so it could be blurred slightly in order to evoke a bright highlight.

Adding Detail :

The next step was to address the vaguely defined walls by adorning them with some ornate panelling and arches. In Fig.23 you can see where I began to block these in and you will also notice that I have added some highlights along the stone column and corrected the perspective along the bottom section.

The scene looks a little more interesting but the statue and platform are still lacking, and the scene as a whole appears too monochromatic.

The next stage involves adding three new layers, which can be seen in Fig.24.

The first layer is set to Soft Light and introduces some colour variation to the image, namely the platform and the flags in the upper right. The second layer incorporates the four spotlights poised above the statue. I applied a Layer Effect - Outer Glow - to these using an orange colour, in the same manner as the plinth lights below. The third and final layer (set to Screen mode) adds further clarity and highlights to the gilded panels in the background. I also made some refinements to the sculpture as it is the focal point. The platform has now been adorned with a decorative motif that helps emphasize it in the room, but to make it appear more impressive it requires some polishing...

In Fig.25 you can see how it now shines above the statue, almost like a halo. The other changes I have made are concentrated mainly around the back wall where I have added some more definition to the pictures, and panelling as well as the left wall where the light is focused. I also painted in some diagonal lines - dissecting the spotlights - which I then “motion blurred” a little to help increase their intensity.

One last aspect which needed addressing was the contrast between the light and dark areas in the image which seemed a touch too strong. In order to give the scene a sense of age and of strong light filtering through a dusty space, I added a new Curves adjustment layer - the result of which can bee seen in the image below.

Final touches:

The picture is almost complete, but there are a few more minor improvements that could finish the picture... The column and lamp still look somewhat sketchy compared to the statue and plinth, and the arch above the door also looks rather unfinished.

I will now flatten the file and add one more layer which will contain all the extra details which should improve things.

Fig.26 shows the final picture with some tidying up around the lamps, and numerous subtle highlights which do not appear too obvious at first but collectively help bind the scene together more. If you compare this image with the previous version you can hopefully see the differences and how they have helped.

Conclusion:

I hope this exercise has been interesting to those of you who have not used 3D as preparation for a 2D piece, before. It is true to say that the picture could have been done without using 3D software, and that some may argue that it may have been more dynamic by way of a less concise and accurate approach. However, I hope what I have proved is that the application of 3D packages does not necessarily create better images, but can at least be a useful tool in constructing and experimenting with perspective and establishing quick solutions, in the case of the floor.

Simple textures could also have been mapped along the walls to provide stonework and so on, and placing lights in the scene could also have been exploited to provide realistic effects if need be.

The use of 3D is not to everyone’s taste, but in this digital age when so much painting is done on computers, the rift between the two disciplines is getting far closer. It seems as though more people are finding themselves embracing both in order to achieve better results, no more so than in the world of matte painting.