*--------------Course Details--------------*

## Instructor: Melody Nieves

## Difficulty: Intermediate

## Source Files Location: https://github.com/tutsplus/something

## Topic: Digital Painting

## Categories: Adobe Photoshop, Digital Painting

## Software/Languages/Frameworks (include version): Adobe Photoshop CC, English

## Course Rate: 

## Free Course: 

*--------------Course Outline--------------*

# Course Name: 

Fantasy Digital Portraits

# Course Description:
Anything is possible with fantasy art. You can transform yourself into a beautiful goddess or a fierce warrior using Photoshop's versatile tools.  In this course, explore your creativity with Melody Nieves and create two beautiful fantasy portraits.  Develop solid painting concepts while learning the simple tips and tricks to help you get to your final result. Take your portrait art to a whole new level, and embrace these lessons to improve your overall knowledge. 

# Source Files Description:

Within the source files you'll find two .psd files for both the male and female fantasy paintings. You'll also find links where you can download the references photos for free from Pixabay within the readme file. 


*--------------Course--------------*

# 1 Introduction

## 1.1 Introduction

Welcome to Fantasy Digital Portraits, my name is Melody Nieves, and in this course you'll learn how to create two beautiful fantasy portraits. First, we'll tackle the tools you need, how to develop the concept for your art, and create two photo manipulations that will help us with our compositions. Afterwards, we'll jump right into Male and Female versions of our fantasy digital portraits. 

# 2 Set Up

## 2.1 What You'll Need

In this lesson we'll cover everything you need for this course. Learn how to set up you work space for the best painting experience, and dive into the preset brushes we're using from Photoshop CC. 

## 2.2 Developing Strong Concepts

Before starting any conceptual painting, you’ll first need an idea. Let's take a look at using a simple diagram method to help you in developing solid painting concepts.

## 2.3 Manipulating Your References: Male Portrait

Now that you have your ideas all set, let's learn a quick tip for drawing compositions. To ensure your painting is composed just as you would like it, we’ll manipulate photos by combining them all in Photoshop. And with the photo manipulated result, we’ll be able to use it as a reference for the sketching process of the male portrait.

## 2.4 Manipulating Your References: Female Portrait 

We'll use the same photo manipulating techniques from lesson 2.3 to create another painting concept for our female fantasy portrait. Using free pictures from Pixabay, this new photo manipulation will help us know exactly what to sketch for our final drawing. 

# 3 Paint a Male Fantasy Portrait

## 3.1 Sketch

In this lesson, we'll draw sketches for the male fantasy portrait using Photoshop's Brush Tool. Starting with a rough sketch, we’ll use this as a base to create a much cleaner sketch before moving onto thumbnails. 

## 3.2 Thumbnails for Light and Shadow

Learn how to use thumbnails to fully understand your composition and experiment with it prior to painting. Practice several potential lighting scenarios before committing to one. 

## 3.3 Creating a Base Painting

After you've finished experimenting with thumbnails, learn how to set up the base colors for your painting. Once your base layers are in order, you can move onto developing the light and shadow using a purple monochromatic palette. 

## 3.4 Shading

Time to add more colors! Transition out of your monochromatic palette and continue developing the shading and overall lighting of your portrait by incorporating layer blend modes into your work. Watch your painting transform to a color scheme similar to the original photo manipulation.

## 3.5 Final Touches

Add the final details of your painting, including the highlights and smoke for intense realism. Finish it off with adjustment layers to improve the overall color balance.

# 4 Paint a Female Fantasy Portrait 

## 4.1 Sketch 

We’ll start the second fantasy portrait by sketching the photo manipulation we created earlier. Use Photoshop's preset brushes for the perfect sketching brush, and improve your line work by following these simple tips for clean drawings.

## 4.2 Thumbnails for Light and Shadow 

Eliminate any worries about composition by creating three small thumbnails dedicated to light and shadow. First use the original photo manipulation to guide you, then experiment on your own until you find the combination you like. 

## 4.3 Create a Base Painting 

Using the thumbnails and your photo manipulation as a guide, we’ll create a solid base to work from for the female fantasy portrait. Organize your layers effectively, and use clipping masks for an easier transition into painting. Once you're finished, begin painting light and shadow using a blue monochromatic palette. 

## 4.4 Experiment with Shading 

A little experimentation is always essential in creating fantasy-based art. Let's take the base layers we created in lesson 4.3, and add more colors to transition into a colorful fantasy portrait. Learn how to tweak and adjust these colors using blend modes and adjustment layers.  

## 4.5 Final Touches

Continue adding more colors and experimenting with layer blend modes like Color Dodge as you draw to the finish line of this painting. Add highlights to your work and finish it off with the remaining touches and adjustments layers for added intensity.


# 4 Conclusion

## 4.1 Conclusion
I hope this course has helped you gain more confidence in painting beautiful fantasy portraits. Let's take a look at everything we've learned thus far, including all the tips and tricks that will ultimately improve your digital painting workflow. Master these basic concepts and you'll be on your way to unleashing beautiful digital art inspired by the fantasy realm! My name is Melody Nieves and from all of us here at Tuts+ thanks for watching!