Refining the portrait

Lighting the equipment

Once I paint in the general form and lighting of the character, I duplicate the colour layer and bump the highlights using a Levels adjustment to bring out stronger highlights. I can control where they show using the Layer Mask. With this light layer, I paint in the sunlight hitting the diesel generator on her back.

10

I refine the portrait many times over the course of the painting. Here I decide to tint her hair and eyes a light green to complement the orange and red tones in the rusty metal and skin. I also zoom to work on the eyes, nose and mouth, being careful not to overwork them to stay in balance with the rest of the image’s level of detail.