Jacquelin Vanderwood
January 2005
In this tutorial I'd like to teach you how to use the airbrush effectively. It is the same method used as a real airbrush so let's get started. Begin with a 5 x 7 composition. Select a large soft round brush for the beginning of this lesson. I'm using a Soft Round 200 pixels.
On a new layer, use the airbrush and create three sections of color as I have done below. Use the brush as though you are using a hose and spraying the car to wash it.
Apply Motion Blur at this point set to an angle of -90 and a distance of 533 pixels.
This technique will give you a nice gradient effect.
Create a new layer. Select a hard edged round brush and then increase it's size to 190 pixels.
Stipulate a Flow rate of 56%. Use an off white and spray in the formation of clouds.
Apply color on top of the cloud formation.
Select Fade Brush Tool.
Change the opacity to 50%. Continue to use this method until you have the basic format of the clouds complete.
Reduce the size of the brush and change it's opacity to about 27%. Add in more detail to the cloud.
Use the Burn tool set to Highlight and approximately 25% Exposure and add in some darker areas.
Lock the layer and use Gaussian Blur set at about 4.4 pixels.
Select the Scattered Maple Leaves brush. Begin with a dark green and a new layer. Place in dark leaves. Add highlights with a lighter green. Do this twice more.
Use the Pen tool on a new layer to create the building. First draw the red base of the building. Create a layer below this layer and add the top roof and highlight. Create a new layer above the red part and create the lower roof part.
Use the Rectangle tool set to Paths and create the following rectangles on the red layer. Make active by hitting Enter.
Right-click the layer and choose Layer via Copy.
Choose Layer Styles at the bottom of the Layers palette and select Drop Shadow.
Set the shadow parameters as shown below.
I then apply a Texture and a Pattern to the wood slats. After completing this step and pressing OK, right-click the layer and choose Copy Layer Style. You'll want to apply the style to the red boards and the roof slats.
To achieve the roof slats, use the Pen tool instead to make the outlines, hit Enter and follow the same procedure as above. Select the Burn tool set to Highlights and apply shadows and dirty marks to the roof and building pieces. And there we have either the beginning of a more complex scene or a finished piece. You can follow through by adding a window, power lines, maybe a partial door, birds flying, even a bird nest in the roof eaves. You can use this as a backdrop for an animation scene as well. It's all up to you as to how you want to use your imagination.
Copyright (c) 2005, Jacquelin Vanderwood, All Rights Reserved