Step-by-step: Give your creature realistic wings

1I create the wire structure of the wings. I paint it totally flat, then use the Transform command to achieve a perspective effect. I paint the wing in the foreground black because this is the side of the wing that isn’t facing the light. The rear- most wing is white because it’s the side that’s facing the light.

2Next I add the translucent element. I paint it using grey on a different layer (below the wire structure) on an Opacity of around 40 per cent, and then I add some colour variations on a new layer set to Soft Light using pink, purple and green to achieve a pearlescent effect. This adds visual interest to the wings.

3I paint the specular highlights on the bright wing, and some highlights on a layer under the wire structure of the dark wing to represent the side of the wire structure that’s facing the light (which we can see because the wing is translucent). Then I add some shadows to the creature’s body, and detail the scene appropriately.