Add the simple chest sketch into Photoshop
Added reference images of wood and gold for the chest colours and textures. Then took three sample colours from both images, (Light, mid-tone, dark). Created a colour palette on the upper left to use as later reference so we can keep using the same colours.
Create a layer beneath the others so that we can colour underneath the black lines. Our light source is going to be coming from the top right, so this makes us consider where the shadows will be on the chest and where the points of highlight will be. The chest would also be casting its own shadow.
We added all of the wooden sample colours to the chest appropriately, using the pen tool to carve out our colour area similar to the shield we textured. The side of the chest is darker as it is casted in shadow and being blocked from the angle of the light.
Next we need to add the same block colours to the gold parts of the chest, keeping up with what areas should be darker than others.
Here is the chest with all of it’s block colours, darker shades to resemble shadowing and brighter shades to represent where the light hits the chest. We also used the pen tool to add the block colours to the chest. We can also use the paint brush tool, though difficult with a mouse.
We put the different tones of gold on their own separate layers and added a mask. We created a new layer called highlight and moved it beneath the chest layer.
We used the brush tool to add areas of lighter and darker tones to the chest, such as whites and darker browns. The brush has to be soft or blended into the colour. This layer goes about the colour layer so that the highlights and shading will appear on top.
Using a smaller brush, we added an element of self shadowing or ambient occlusion to some corners of the chest. Added some further highlights to the chest, especially the golden areas as they are more reflective than the wood.
Going through the process, gradually adding more shading and lighting to create the illusion of depth and further third dimension…
Here’s an example of how we could add more detail and texture, painting rivets to the gold edges of the chest.
Furthermore, if we double click the rivets layer and use the Layer Style menu we can change the effects of the rivets, where the light hits them etc.
Add more rivets around the gold edges of the chest to give it more depth and texture. Next, we used the internet to find an example image of a gold padlock and dragged it onto our Photoshop project. Then used the pen tool to replicated the shape of the keyhole to fit into our gold centerpiece of the chest.
Cut and move into position:
Then we had to distort the shape of the keyhole so it fit better in the chest’s lock.
Then after we found the right scale for the keyhole, we need to add some dimension to the keyhole. We can do this by adding darker block colours to create the illusion of shading.
After, we needed to give the chest itself some texture so we took a simple image of wooden texture like wooden flooring from google and dragged it into Photoshop.
We moved the wooden image below the colour layers and line art layers of the chest and set the mode type to multiply. Then we erased/added the wooden texture to the areas of the chest that need it.
We needed to make sure the shading recently done on the block colour layer transferred over onto the wooden texture layer. So this means the wooden texture had to be below the shading layer.
Adding an image of gold foil/textured sheet to the chest and adjusted the shape of it to fit on the face of the chest. Use the select tool to delete the gold sheet in the middle of the chest, so it should only be visible on the gold framing around the chest to provide it with more texture.
Conclusion
This Photoshop workshop was a little more difficult than the others as we had to learn it from home and not everyone had access to Photoshop. However I like the use of Photoshop and how it can be used to colour and texture a two-point perspective concept, which is something I wouldn’t see Photoshop being good at. The end result is a lot more polished and detailed than I imagined, though I feel like this workshop would’ve been easier to complete on a software made primarily for drawing.
Leah Morrell Games Designer 