This underused Photoshop layer is key for adding atmosphere to fantasy art

This piece is called Oiran Summoner. It’s a passion project that was created in my free time, and I’m currently working on a world based on the Oiran who summon monsters with their musical instruments. I started by sketching in Procreate, then painted in Photoshop.

I would often go back and forth with parts of the piece by using the exclusion layer over it. This allowed me to attempt something a little different every time. The exclusion layer is also great for atmosphere, resetting your values and unifying your colour a little bit if you feel you went too far on your contrast range too early (if you need to build your own art setup, see our guides to the best drawing tablets or the best laptops for drawing).

01. Character sketch

(Image: © Christian Angel)

After concepting my character, I made a couple of thumbnail sketches and ended up going with this one. I knew I wanted the light source to kind of hit her lap and not her face directly. It’s important to your character design so you can use any outfit parts for the flow of the image

02. Refining the design

(Image: © Christian Angel)

At this point my character was somewhat fleshed out, but not high fantasy enough. I felt that it was getting way too literal, with only the beast that she’s riding not in my vision. I needed to make this fantasy version of an Oiran read while still keeping the theme I was going for.

03. Finishing details

(Image: © Christian Angel)

After changing the hair, I wanted her guitar to have a lacquer finish, and for her ‘uchikake’ outer robe to feature lots of designs. I painted some orbs with subtle colours and contrast shifts, then sampled them with the mixer brush to paint the embroidery designs onto the fabric.

This article originally appeared in ImagineFX. Subscribe to ImagineFX to never miss an issue. Print and digital subscriptions are available.

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