Painting Fantasy Medieval Scenes

3dtotal.
com eBook Series

Chapter 01
Page 04 | Market | By Ignacio Bazan Lazcano
Chapter 02
Page 14 | City on Stilts | By Jesse van Dijk
Chapter 03
Page 22 | Excalibur | By Simon Dominic Brewer
Chapter 04
Page 30 | Mountain City | By Alex Broekel
Chapter 05
Page 34 | Docks | By Andreas Rocha
Chapter 06
Page 40 | Slums | By Richard Tilbury
You can see the free brushes
in the resources folder that
accompanies this ebook.
Market
Chapter 01 | Ignacio Bazan Lazcano
Painting Fantasy Medieval Scenes Chapter 01: Market
Painting Fantasy Medieval
Scenes Chapter 1: Market
Software Used: Photoshop
Today I’m taking on the task of drawing a

medieval marketplace. The first thing I imagine
when thinking about this type of setting, is a
place full of people from different social classes:
knights, noblemen and merchants are altogether
in a place filled with texture and color, where
there is smoke and several tents of different
sizes and shapes. Perhaps it’s even surrounded
by stone walls and decorative elements, narrow
roads or streets. I understand markets to be
essentially social places where people gather
for exchanging either things or ideas.
If you’re drawing a marketplace, you can choose

any viewpoint or approach; you can either
draw in the foreground two people bartering or
trading, or perhaps a child stealing some fruit
from a stall – there are many potential stories to
be told. The picture, or your point of view, will
change depending on what choice you make
here. If we think about it, the possibilities are
truly endless! My choice is possible the most
complicated one: I’m choosing to show what
happens in a marketplace as if we’re looking it
from an aerial perspective.
To start working on something like this, you many things, digital art allows you to gloss very
need to use quick strokes to get the idea down, easily over any black-and-white drawing that
defining it step by step as you go. Measuring has been done. Another alternative is to color
perspectives is necessary for making adequate your work from the very beginning. This is the
structures. In this first instance, it really works to most traditional way of doing things, but you
make quick sketches, without thinking too much have to be very sure about the palette you are
about the anatomy of your painting (Fig.01). going to use when taking this approach. I’m
going to do something in-between: define the
Once you have an idea established, with objects and people in grey until I get what I’m
regards to the objects and the location of the searching for, and afterwards I’ll gloss over in
people in your scene, you can start defining and color (Fig.02).
specifying your work more accurately. Amongst
www.3dtotal.com page 5 Chapter 01

Chapter 01: Market Painting Fantasy Medieval Scenes
The starting point will be a quite defined drawing
to which you have put the first layer of color.
Blue is the selected one for me, which I apply to
the base layer using the Ctrl + U command. Tick
the Colorize option in the new window that has
already opened up (Fig.03).
Look for the blue tone you want in the slider bar
called “Hue”, and with other options you will be
able to adjust the color even more. You should
now have a completely blue colored drawing
which is ready to have the real color for each
element applied over it (Fig.04 – 05).
To color over the blue, let’s create a new layer

(Shift + Ctrl + N). Tick the Colorize option over
the layers bar, and from now on you can paint
with the colors you like (Fig.06).
Blue will be background color. I’m going to use it

to shade all the elements included in the picture.
My sketch is full of people and objects, so I’ll
try to use as many colors as I can to achieve
variety in my composition. There are many
characters that are becoming gradually defined:
to the right there is a man that carries fruit in
a basket; in the middle is a mysterious figure

covered with a red cloak; above and below the picture you can see people
from different social classes, moving upwards and downwards (Fig.07).
The second stage consists of giving basic color to each element and, at
the same time, to go forth, tracing and polishing characters. The following
one is to define contrasts better. There are different ways of getting it:
marking the place where light comes from very well; and, at the same
time, where dark and shade zones are placed; using warm and cold colors
to separate elements (Fig.08).
The drawing is becoming even clearer now (Fig.09). At this stage you
must control the situation; that is to say, you have to adjust the whole
picture at every moment. The control is yours!
The following is without any doubt the stage of adjustment and precision.
Let’s use the magnifier for details now, to make elements become clearer
still. I usually use the Paintbrush at 78% Opacity for this. This gives me a
certain degree of sensitivity and, at the same time, strong lines to define it
better (Fig.10).

To explain what I’m saying, I’ll now show you,

from the very beginning, how I have colored the
character who is dressed in a cloak and holding
a cane (Fig.11).
What I want to get is the feeling that his cloak is

made of pure velvet, something very luxurious.
For the shadowed areas I use a basic blue; for
color, I select an almost red rose color; and to
brighten it I choose an orange. This way, I can
move myself within the chromatic scale (Fig.12).
The trick with painting is to put your light and

shade in the right places. If you are accurate
with this, you can try to draw something realistic
with very few brushstrokes. But this is quite

difficult and you can only do it after observing
and practicing hardly (Fig.13). I use the same
procedure with the remaining elements of the
picture.
With the painting done throughout the scene,

and with all these details hanging around, it
is fairly easy for us to imagine what kind of
custom brushes we might need to make work
easier for ourselves when it comes to finishing
up with the detailing work. When I think about
a marketplace I generally see stone, fabric
textures, weave, ornaments, and so on.
So to make any kind of medieval scene you

might imagine, I’m now going to take you
through the process of creating four custom
brushes to aid you on your way – they’re all very
easy to design and make (Fig.14).

Custom Brush No. 1
Select a default Photoshop Paintbrush and draw a line with different
degrees of intensity to get an interesting texture (Fig.15).
Select this line with the Lasso Tool and then turn it into a paintbrush
by going to Define Brush Preset and naming it. Now we’ve got a new
paintbrush with interesting weft (Fig.16).
The following step is to retouch it to get the final paintbrush. Go to the

Brushes menu. We’re going to modify each brushstroke’s distance, giving
it 140% Spacing. From this, we’ll get a staggered effect (Fig.17).
Next, tick the Texture option and scale it up to 1000%, selecting Overlay
mode (Fig.18).
Finally, to give it a dirty texture, tick the Noise option (Fig.19).

Let’s now see an example of how we can use this paintbrush in our
painting (Fig.20).

Custom Brush No. 2
First of all, look for some photos where you
can see bricks or stone. The idea is to create
a paintbrush that will let us overlay the entire
painting where stone, walls, and floors (etc.) can
be found (Fig.21).
Go to the tool bar and select the Lasso Tool.

Choose any form that allows you to get a tile, Select the Texture option: set 192% for Scale
something that fits well when using it over and and 76% for Depth; tick the Noise option.
over on your canvas. Then define your brush Finally, select the Brush Tip Shape option and
(Fig.22) from the Brushes menu, and tick the set Spacing to 63% (Fig.23).
Scattering option, setting it to 14%. This will
let us repeat the texture several times within You now should have an excellent paintbrush to
an adequate distance. The scattering can be decorate the walls and floors of your painting in
regulated to keep the distance you wish. a quick and easy fashion (Fig.24)!

Custom Brush No. 3

Like in any medieval marketplace, we’d expect
to find tents with fabrics and awnings. For this,
it’s therefore useful to design a paintbrush for
weft.
Select a default Photoshop paintbrush and

then draw a dotted line with different degrees of
intensity in the stroke (Fig.25).
Select this line with the Lasso Tool to turn it into the ends. At the same time, give it a dirty texture
a paintbrush (don’t forget to define your brush: (Fig.27).
Fig.26).
Trying the paintbrush out vertically on your
Go to the Brushes menu, select Other Dynamics canvas should help you to appreciate the effect
and tick the Noise option to make it smooth at of this brush (Fig.28).

Custom Brush No. 4
Finally, we’ll design a paintbrush to emulate a
real one! Select a default Photoshop paintbrush,
and with small dots try to make what would be
the bristles of a real paintbrush when pressed
against paper. To create variations or different
strokes, make larger and smaller dots, each one
separated from the other. With a suitable shape
defined, use the Lasso Tool to turn it into a
brush, and define your brush present, as normal
(Fig.29).
Once we have the paintbrush defined and

stored inside our Brushes palette, tick the Other
Dynamics option in your Brushes menu to get
a beautiful horsehair type brush, ready to use.
This paintbrush is useful for everything: people,
backgrounds … but, best of all, it makes you
feel as if you’re painting the traditional way the challenge of art creation, and drawing
(Fig.30)! becomes only a digital image with several
textures applied.
Although brushes are nothing but tools, they
are funny and simple to make and use. They Finally, to give your drawing a traditional
help us to get good quality results in a short painterly look, you can use a filter over it
time, because digital art simplifies the creation (Filter > Sharpen). And here we have the final
process. But I think that brushes must only painting (Fig.31). You could keep going and
be used when they are absolutely necessary, working your image to achieve a photographic
because otherwise they can cause you to lose representation of a city marketplace scene, but
each of us knows when our work is done, and

mine is now.
Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy the

free customer brushes – simply click on the Free
Resources icon to download and use in your
own artwork!
Ignacio Bazán Lazcano

For more from this artist visit
http://www.neisbeis.deviantart.com/
or contact
[email protected]


City on Stilts
Chapter 02 | Jesse van Dijk
Painting Fantasy Medieval Scenes Chapter 02: City on Stilts
Scenes Chapter 2: City on Stilts
In the following article I’ll document some the

decisions I made during the process of creating
this image. Initially all I started off with in terms
of an idea was to create a ‘city on stilts’.
When the time schedules allow for it, I like to

take a bit of time for creating my first rough
sketches. I prefer to work in various, very short
(<15 min) sketch sessions to put some ideas
on paper, making sure I don’t start detailing
anything and just getting down the essence of
an idea I might have.
Also, I prefer to do these both digitally and

analogue - again, when time allows for it. I
usually find that doing analogue sketches
provides me with different solutions than
sketching in Photoshop does. Not necessarily
better ones, just different ones. It’s partly
because I can’t do line drawings in Photoshop
very well. When I sketch on the pc I use shades
of grey and surfaces mostly, but with pen and
paper I primarily draw.
This process can take a long time, sometimes

even weeks or longer. During such a period
I just do a quick series of thumbnails and
sketches for 15 minutes before I proceed with
the rest of the paintings I’m doing that day.
The combination of sketching for one theme/
image and then detailing another is one I find
particularly comfortable.
Shown in Fig.01 - Fig.08 is a collection of

images I did during my sketch phase for the ‘city
on stilts’ paint.
I very soon discover that I’ve got some

conflicting requirements for my final image.
These usually result in compromises and
subtleties, and therefore I want to avoid them.
In my paintings, subtleties are badly solved
problems 99% of the time.

Chapter 02: City on Stilts Painting Fantasy Medieval Scenes
In the case of this image, I wanted the scene
to show an extensive part of the environment,
which on the whole should feel huge and epic,
but I also wanted it to suggest some sort of
‘homeliness’ – if that’s the word – even a bit of
coziness. My first ideas for solutions for these
two aspects were each other’s direct opposites
– for the first I would use a very large scale, but
for the other a much smaller scale would be
better. And there were other conflicts like that as
well. I wanted the scene to be in daylight, but I
also wanted to show light behind windows.
Back to my collection of sketches: So far, these

aren’t really blueprints of what my final image
should look like – but I’ve gathered some
interesting ideas through them. Particularly, I
feel the combination of up-scaled vegetation
with the concept of a city on stilts works very
well. I end up choosing a very rough thumbnail

to go ahead with (Fig.08). I know beforehand
that what I’ll end up with will bear very little
similarities to what I’ve just started with, but I’m
not too bothered by it. I consider this sketch
primarily to be a means to get the process
started – I’m not really fussed about changing
things around 180 degrees if needed. I find
there’s an upside to this approach, but also a
downside; it allows you to really hone and idea,
but it also takes quite long.
The first thing I do once I’ve selected my line

art thumbnail is to put some value in there.
This is done very simply by making sure the
sketch layer doesn’t have any grey areas any
more, setting it to multiply and start to paint
underneath it. (Fig.09)
In Fig.10 I try to get some idea of scale by

suggestion of some human activity. I want the
place to feel populated, not deserted. The
scale of the world can use some attention too;
I stretch the image vertically to increase the
height of the trees.
Before I worry about color, I tweak my

environment one last time to give the trees even

Chapter 02: City on Stilts Painting Fantasy Medieval Scenes
more height (Fig.11), and I also make a bit more

elaborate suggestion of some prominent tree
roots on the left. During this process I also cut
and paste bits of my sketch here and there - all
I care about at this point is macro composition. I
can sense that I’m not absolutely certain about
which aspect of this scene I intend to highlight -
and I will come to regret that later on.
“I try a lot of different things,

and in the end I resort to a
rather generic but failsafe
method.”
The first implementation of some color (Fig.12)
features a prominently blue/greenish haze. Light
is shining on the canopy, but is also emitted by
artificial light sources from the population.
This is a point where I really have to wrestle

with the image (Fig.13). The values are affected
by my rather brute force color implementation
(overlay layers and color balance adjustments)
and I just can’t read the image properly.

I try a lot of different things, and in the end I fog behind a tree, having the shape selection this, but how hard it is to implement it while
resort to a rather generic but failsafe method - stored can save you a lot of time. painting!
structure the image by means of atmospheric
perspective (Fig.14). It works to a degree - I can Nearly at the point where I’m going to have to Still not quite satisfied! For my final pass
now finally tell what is supposed to go where - call it done (Fig.15). I provide some light from (Fig.16), I beef up the lighting once more,
but the lighting has become incredibly boring. above on the rooftops, and add birds to liven up possibly overdoing it now, but again, I don’t
I decide to build on this base - flattening the the scene. Particles are used to much the same really do subtleties very well.
image. I do that a lot during my process, at effect. Also, quite a good bit of detail is inserted
(mostly) sensible points. However, things like in the scene once more - and stuff painted at Having now done my final pass, I look back at
the borders of the tree bases, or actually, the this stage is typically a task that 90% of your my process critically, and I can’t help but feel
shape of their silhouettes) are typically things audience will overlook - so be aware of that. If I’ve thrown overboard too much potential in from
that are useful to keep in saved selections or things aren’t working now, detail isn’t going to Fig.12 to Fig.13. My final image suffers from
channels. For example, should you want to paint save you. It’s amazing how easy it is to write conflicting interest points - something I often
struggle with.
That is not to say I didn’t have a good time

painting it. It’s just not the end of this design -
I’ll revisit this world at a later time to set things
straight. Stay tuned.
Jesse van Dijk

http://www.jessevandijk.net
or contact
[email protected]

Excalibur
Chapter 03 | Simon Dominic Brewer
Painting Fantasy Medieval Scenes Chapter 03: Excalibur
Scenes Chapter 3: Excalibur
Software Used: ArtRage & Painter
For this medieval tutorial I’ve chosen to depict a

scene from one of the Arthurian legends.
I wanted to show Arthur about to withdraw the
great sword Excalibur from the boulder, and
demonstrating his worthiness as king.
A couple of years ago I might have been

tempted to tackle this piece in a more dynamic
way, showing Arthur in the act of hefting the
sword, chunks of rock flying in all directions and
onlookers staggering around in amazement.
Since then I’ve learned that sometimes a
less direct approach works best, so here I’ve
recreated the scene immediately before the act.
We see Arthur quietly confident reaching out
to grasp Excalibur, whilst in the background an
audience made up of failed challengers lounge Step 1 – Set up the canvas Step 2 – Main character
contemptuously, scornful of the idea that this In ArtRage I set up a new canvas. I start small outline
upstart can accomplish such a momentous – 826 x 1141, which is 1/3rd the final size – Arthur is very much the focus for this piece
task. In this way the anticipation of the viewer although soon I’ll be up sizing in order to add so I draw him big and bold in the foreground.
should provoke a stronger reaction than would detail. I create the canvas with a fairly rough I use only a few lines at this stage because I
a portrayal of simple dynamism. That’s my texture so that my initial pencil sketches will want to get the overall outline sorted before
theory anyway, and I’m sticking by it. The piece more resemble traditional media. I also set the I start sketching detail. I show him as young
is created digitally, starting in ArtRage 3 Studio background to a light buff color because I find and somewhat on the weedy side, reinforcing
Pro and moving on to Painter 11. pure white too overpowering. (Fig.01) the idea that nobody could reasonably expect
him to succeed in his task. In the background
I include the outlines of the three watching
knights. Again, no real detail here but I’m careful
to make their stances look natural, projecting
the knights’ mood clearly even though they are
minor characters. One knight is muttering to the
other, “Why is he wasting his time?” whilst the
third one can’t even be bothered to get up and
watch what’s going on, preferring to simply sit
and smirk. (Fig.02)
Step 3 – Sketch the

environment
With quick, bold strokes I outline the mountains
and surrounding rocks and, most importantly,
Excalibur itself, embedded in stone. (Fig.03)

Chapter 03: Excalibur Painting Fantasy Medieval Scenes
Step 4 – Upsize
Having outlined all the desired elements I up
size the image to its final resolution of 2480 x
3425. (Fig.04)
Step 5 – Sketch detail

Here I use a few references I found on the
web in order to make the characters’ garments
believable. My primary reference is the 1903
painting “King Arthur” by Charles Ernest Butler.
It’s important to remember that referencing
should not mean straight copying. In this

instance I use Butler’s painting mainly as
a clothing reference and not a base for the
pose or composition. I sketch the detail onto a
separate layer. That way, when I’m done, I can
erase the initial rough sketch. Not essential but I
find it quick and tidy. (Fig.05)
Step 6 – Tonal underpainting

Tonal underpainting is basically just shading
the values – the lights and darks – to better
define the composition and solidity of the image.
This can be done using the pencil tool or, as
I’ve done in this case, a dry brush. I paint onto
the canvas underneath the sketch so that the
sketch is still visible. When I’m done I drop the
outline layer onto the canvas ready for painting.
(Fig.06)
Step 7 – Set up the palettes

I find it very useful to do most of my work from a
set palette. Moving to Painter I dab my desired
colors onto the Mixer Palette. When I’m happy
with those colors as a base I’ll create a Color
Set Palette using the Create Color Set from
Mixer Palette option. This takes care of about
80% of my color usage. For the rest I’ll just add
colors to the Mixer Palette as required during
the course of my painting. I will be staying in

Painter for this point on. I like to alternate, on

a piece-by-piece basis, between ArtRage and
Painter for color work because both have their
strengths. I find ArtRage is by far the most
authentic tool for emulating natural oil media
whereas Painter is quicker and more forgiving
for oil work, and allows greater control over
small detail. (Fig.07)
Step 8 – Begin with the main

focus
You can start coloring anywhere but I usually
begin with the primary focus, which in this case
is Arthur’s face and upper body. I use the Artists
Oils brush set to about 10 pixels. Guided by the
tonal underpainting I concentrate on getting the
lighting looking believable and consistent. At this
stage I don’t concern myself with smoothing or
fine detail. (Fig.08)
Step 9 – Painting metal

Using Butler’s painting as a partial reference I
make Arthur’s armor sleek and slightly golden-
looking. When painting reflective metal like this
bear in mind not just the direction of the main
light source but also the lesser reflections from
the environment. These needn’t be especially
accurate but if they are not included the metal
tends to look dull, like stone. Arthur’s armor is
unmarked in order to reinforce the idea of a
young, inexperienced character. (Fig.09)
Step 10 – Chain mail

Chain mail, viewed at mid-distance, is easy
to paint. First, paint the area in a uniform dark

color. Then, pepper the area with a series of

dots, aligned across the chest and down the
arms. In the same way as the metal armor
reflects the light, each of these dots must be lit
according to how much light it reflects. However,
rather than picking a new color for every dot, I
go over the same area several times, each time
with a brighter color and each time covering less
of the area. At this stage you’ll note I flip the
image horizontally. There’s no particular reason
for this, I just prefer it this way around. (Fig.10)
Step 11 – Reinforcing areas of

interest
Renowned oil painter James Gurney refers to
this as ‘counterchange’ and it’s basically the
way in which key elements of a painting area
can be tonally contrasted with their background.
For example, the left side of Arthur’s face is in
shadow so I’ve lightened the local background
in order that his features stand out. If you look
at his hands, which are brightly lit, you can see
that in both cases their immediate background
is dark, therefore enhancing the hands’
appearance and making them ‘pop’. (Fig.11)
Step 12 – Secondary
characters
Despite these characters being in the
background they are still very important in

setting the scene. We don’t want to make them
stand out too much but at the same time we
don’t want them to get lost in the environment.
Therefore I use the minimum amount of detail I
can get away with in order to convey their mood
and appearance. Also, I ensure that they are
partially in shadows and that the sunlight that
does fall on them is weaker than the sunlight
that falls on Arthur. (Fig.12)
Step 13 – Atmospheric depth

In order to stop the image looking flat we need
to give it some depth. I do this by decreasing the
contrast for distant objects and lowering their
saturation so that they appear to have a bluey 10 pixel or less brush for Arthur’s facial features, The main focus as we’ve seen is Arthur himself,
/ greeny tint. In addition I paint the background I use a 100 pixel brush for much of the misty, specifically his head and upper torso. The
more loosely, saving the intricate detail for mountainous backdrop. (Fig.13) secondary focus is comprised of the watching
the foreground and areas of interest. When knights but we also have another secondary
painting the landscape, and indeed any part of Step 14 – The sword focus, that of Arthur’s reaching hand and the
a picture, a good tip is to use the largest brush This image needs careful handling because it sword Excalibur. For this reason I paint the
you can get away with. So, whilst I may use a has more than one area of interest, or focus. sword boldly, although not too boldly as we don’t
want to overwhelm the main focus and therefore
confuse the image. I also add a shadow to the
rock and the sword handle. This helps place
the sword in relation to Arthur, reinforcing the
idea that he’s just about the grasp it. Whilst I’m
happy with the metallic look of the sword it’s
looking a bit bland so later I’ll come back and
jazz it up. (Fig.14)
Step 15 – Environment
At this stage most of the detail is complete so
I move on to the environment. Using stronger,
more saturated colors for the foreground I use
a medium-sized brush to define the rocks and
earth. I also add a bit of water between Arthur
and the knights. Note that the water uses the
same colors as are present in the landscape,
on account of water being mostly colorless and
taking its color from reflected elements of the
environment, e.g. rocks, sky and in this case the
lower portions of the three knights. (Fig.15)
Step 16 – Close-up detail

For the rocks closest to the viewer I add detail
using a smaller brush. Selecting relatively bright
hues I apply only a small amount of pressure

so that a rocky texture is suggested. Again, I’m

always mindful of the location of my primary
light source so that consistency of lighting is
maintained. (Fig.16)
Step 17 – Back to the sword

I decide to make the sword’s handle look like it’s
forged from gold, with emerald inserts. A very
unwise choice for a sword handle, being about
as appropriate as clay or balsa wood, but as this
is fantasy we’re allowed a little leeway. (Fig.17)
Step 18 – The finishing

touches
Using very light pressure on one of the default
blenders I dab at the rough areas around
Arthur’s face and hands, so that the skin looks
soft rather than scaly. I then move around the
whole of the image and tidy up any loose ends
I find. And that concludes the tutorial - I hope
you’ve found it to be of some use! (Fig.18)

Simon Dominic Brewer
For more from this artist visit:
http://www.painterly.co.uk
or contact them at:
[email protected]
Mountain City
Chapter 04 | Alex Broekel
Painting Fantasy Medieval Scenes Chapter 04: Mountain City
Scenes Chapter 4: Mountain
City
Here‘s my Step-by-Step Tutorial about painting

a Medieval Mountain City with a Castle.
For this one I started with a very rough line

drawing (Fig.01) to layout the scene without
caring about colors and values. I knew that I
wanted to show a Castle from a distant point
of view, almost like how a visitor would see it
for the first time. At this point perspective of
the various elements is wrong in some places,
because I played around with composition by
moving parts of the image around. The very horizontal line is almost in the middle, which objects. Don´t try to get the perfect colors a that
idea was in landscape, but I decided to change normally should be avoided for a more dynamic stage, try to keep the whole color balance of
the orientation later. We will have time to fix approach, but this time I wanted to be able to your image in mind.
minor perspective issues later, for now though look up and down at the same time.
general layout, visual flow and scale of elements In (Fig.04) I made a little change to what I had
is more important. Now the fun part starts! at least for me its imagined to begin with. Why not create a scene
the most interesting part. After starring at the with some sunlight which illuminates only some
When I was happy with my composition I linework for a few minutes I have a rough idea parts of the castle and the surrounding rocks,
started to separate the drawing into layers and of how I want the colors to look, so I block them with some small houses in the dark? this could
gave them full flat colors with 100% opacity in roughly (Fig.03). I separated the different look more interesting because this way there is
(Fig.02). Every color is a separate layer. Now depth layers and decided to have a mix of rock a first and a second reading for the image. At
it is also time to add a perpsective grid. It and snow materials without any vegetation. To this stage I am only using photoshop standard
will be important later when we clean up and add some color perspective too I added more brushes.
detail the scene, especially the buildings. The red and brownish colors to the foreground
Most people when they start to paint digitally
believe that they need fancy cool brushes
to make an image look great. I think special
brushes are not important for an interesting
image! Colors and Values are way more
important than fancy brushes! So please, learn
to paint with standard round and soft brushes,
and make sure your colors and values look
good. Then you can try to spice up your painting
with fancy brushes.
Its time to check the perspective. I do that by

switching back to my perspective grid layer and
by flipping the image horizontally. This gives
you a fresh look at the image, and will help you
identifyi problems, and surprise! I like the flipped

Chapter 04: Mountain City Painting Fantasy Medieval Scenes
image much more. In the western world we read I dont like how uninteresting the foreground bright clouds to form an area of interest (Fig.08).
images from left to right, so now the reading looks. It´s unbalanced so I add some strong I also lower the contrast between the city and
direction of the image has also changed. The whites and hard contrasts to the foreground to the mountain behind it with a layer of grey color.
viewer starts from the distant point and follows make it visually more entertaining. The whole area on the right feels much more
the bridge to the castle and the city below it. integrated now and the city will be in the dark
(Fig.05) Somehow this adds a slight touch of It´s also time to admit that the fog between the shadows of the mountain. This gives room to
a story to the painting. I like that, so i keep the rock layers is a bit disturbing, so I remove those play with some lights in the windows of the
image flipped. layers to improve the harmony of the overall houses later.
composition. A subtle fog layer done with a
In (Fig.06) colors are pretty fixed (though I will simple round soft brush puts the castle slightly It´s time to add details to the foreground
change some things later). So from now on its further into the background. (Fig.07) (Fig.09). I keep adding details with a very small
just detailing, whilst staying in the boundaries hard edged elliptical brush, whilst trying not
of the rough color layout. I dont care about the I feel that I would like to have more weight on to change the overall color and value of the
buildings of the city at the moment because I the left side of the image, away from the city. composition. A very good thing to do is always
have to sort so many things out first. I will add this later, but I start by adding some have the navigator window open to see a small
representation of the actual image. If it looks
good as a thumbnail and bad in the big view,
then its just a matter of detailing to make it look
better. Be aware of images which read badly in
the small navigator window. It will be very hard
to make them look good just by adding details! If
it looks bad as a thumbnail, find out why before
you continue with detailing.
Later I will block in the shapes of the houses

roughly. I am trying to work cleanly enough to
have well defined shapes which are important
for readability in this low contrast area.
Finally it´s time to detail the houses (Fig.10).

I‘m trying to indicate details by adding windows,

color changes, and shadows to push the
buildings into the background. Small lights in
some of the windows add weight to the city and
draws attention back from the bright and high
contrast forground. At this stage I am happy with
it and call the painting finished.
I hope you enjoyed my little tutorial.
Alex Broekel
http://www.alexbroeckel.com/menalto/main.php
or contact them at:
[email protected]
Docks
Chapter 05 | Andreas Rocha
Painting Fantasy Medieval Scenes Chapter 05: Docks
Scenes Chapter 5: Docks
The brief to paint a medieval fantasy scene

depicting a dock did not have any specific
elements besides having to be just what the
description asked for. This was great of course,
as it meant I could paint anything that popped
into my head. Since Lisbon is my hometown I
drew a lot of inspiration from there. However,
for my main inspiration I went a little further East
to Istanbul, a city very similar to Lisbon but with
a much more oriental feeling. I have actually
never been there but imagery retained in my
mind from books and the Internet influenced me
a lot.
Being a “fantasy” medieval scene I tried to

spice everything up by exaggerating the scale
of the architecture and coming up with different
designs based on real ones. To complement
the scene I wanted a dramatic sunset, this is
to bring in warmth and soft contrasts. The final
ingredient, something inherent to maritime things. It also gives you the ability to add the After doubling the resolution to 2000px I
scenes, would be the reflections on the sea. I highlights after the lower range of the values introduced lighting by working the values. I
love the contrast of defined forms above the sea are established. I usually go for fast thick lines work with larger brushes at medium opacity.
and washed blurred reflections below, which are first when quickly sketching in perspective. My This way I can slowly develop the forms and
gradually lost into one dark value. main concern is to get a nice composition by also gradually hide the line work beneath. The
achieving a balance between all the elements: main aim here was to place the sun behind the
I start off in Photoshop with a 1000px wide grey a giant archway, a busy city, a castle on a hill portico having it backlit which in turn creates
canvas. Starting in grey has the advantage and a platform in the lower right of the scene. more contrast, making it the focal point of the
of not introducing too much contrast in the (Fig.01) piece. (Fig.02)
line work, which makes it easier to change
Still developing the greyscale I start to paint
with large soft edged brushes and apply
gradients with the Gradient tool (100% black to
transparent). I use this to darken the lower and
the right third of the image in order to draw even
more attention to the archway. As you can see, I
also gradually work with smaller tipped brushes
to start developing all the details. It’s important
to do this over the entire image and not
concentrate on just one part. Try not to zoom in
too much keeping the whole image visible most
of the time. (Fig.03)

Chapter 05: Docks Painting Fantasy Medieval Scenes
I also build some perspective guidelines on

a separate layer using the line tool. It is very
important to follow a rigid perspective structure
as the human eye can easily detect flaws.
The next “character” that comes into play is

colour to help emphasize the mood already
established with value. I introduce new layers in
various modes (Overlay, Soft Light and Colour
Dodge) and use large soft edged brushes with
low saturated colours. This helps me slowly
build up the effect while retaining the overall
look of the previous step without making drastic
changes. (Fig.04)
I resize the image to the final 4000px

resolution. I keep slowly defining the edges
of the silhouettes which still retain a lot of the
rough sketch from the initial stages. I also start
introducing more intricate details like windows,
ropes and small spires. I want to point out that
this whole image was slowly developed over
several days making a lot of intervals which
helped me evaluate the preceding step every
time I continued painting. The more pauses starts taking longer to develop the image. That by direct light from the sun. Even if you are
you take the more it will help you to achieve a more or less defines my painting process (and not developing all the details of what you are
successful piece. (Fig.05) probably of most artists): fast and brutal in the portraying, if you can focus on the main ones
beginning, slow and delicate at the end. the viewer will complete the rest in his mind.
The changes made to the image are getting Notice how I start to bring in the detail in the (Fig.06)
smaller and less obvious. However, it also structures on the hill by lighting the planes hit

Painting Fantasy Medieval Scenes Chapter 05: Docks
This step may look like a step backward, but
I had to simplify things by washing out the
detail in some areas that I wanted to develop
further. I had to first create a clean base to start
introducing the elements that would go on top in
the near and far dock platforms. I also reworked
the placement and scale of the ships in an
attempt to balance the composition. Now that I
look at it, I probably should not have erased one
of the ships in the background, it added more
depth and now the three ships look too evenly
spaced out. This is a good example of when a
good pause can help you evaluate a painting
and point out the flaws. (Fig.07)
Next I used a Colour Balance Adjustment Layer

to boost the contrast and saturation. I introduce
colder hues in the shadows and warmer ones in
the highlights. I continue developing the planes
hit by direct light and introduce more details to
the whole scene like the floating debris in the
water for example. (Fig.08)
In this step I introduced a lot of intricate detail

to the dock platforms. They don’t have to be
completely defined, just as long as they give an
idea of what might be happening there. I did this
mainly by painting just the area of the objects hit
by direct light and not worrying about the areas
in shadow. (Fig.09)
Almost there...This is a cleaning up stage where

I wash out some of the areas where I don’t
want to draw attention to. I also introduce more
contrast by using a new layer in Color Dodge
mode and paint to enhance the light hitting
the objects. Remember to use dark saturated
colours first and then slowly use lighter ones
without burning the image too much. I believe
this glow effect can be very successful in areas
of contrast like the edge of the backlit dome of
the archway. (Fig.10)
The final evaluation of the image makes me

remove some highlights in the shadows and the
introduction of sun rays. On a new layer make
selections with the Polygonal Lasso Tool that

“radiate” from the sun. Then, gradually build up the
effect by using a soft edged brush at very low opacity.
(Fig.11)
I hope this tutorial will help you in trying to come up

with your own fantasy medieval scenes. Remember
not to dishearten...I started this painting 3 times before
getting to the one you see here...
Andreas Rocha
http://www.andreasrocha.com
or contact them at:
[email protected]
Slums
Chapter 06 | Richard Tilbury
Painting Fantasy Medieval Scenes Chapter 06: Slums
Scenes Chapter 6: Slums
Introduction
This particular task required the creation of a
medieval scene that could fit within the Fantasy
genre and also had to represent a slum area of
a city. I searched the internet for some reference
material initially, looking for scenes of old
streets and alleys and anything that related to
the medieval era. The type of architecture that
seemed appropriate was anything asymmetrical
and with some feel of chaos to its structure as
this felt more indicative of a slum district. I also
knew that I would keep the palette muted to
convey a dirtier environment.
some color. Often I either work in a greyscale colors on a newly created layer set to Overlay
I decided to set the scene at street level, in a to determine the light and dark areas and then and experimenting with the quality of light.
narrow alley shaded by the tall buildings that add color on a separate layer but in this case I find that using multiple layers set to different
would create an almost tunnel like atmosphere. I added the color onto the same layer, straight opacities or blending modes can create an effect
I hoped that this would convey a more over the tonal sketch to establish my base layer. similar to watercolours which are one of the best
claustrophobic quality and suit the theme. mediums at conveying light.
I painted in an arch spanning the narrow street
Blocking In and liked the notion that this may be partly used By using this technique you can create the
Once I had decided on the rough composition to prop up the overhanging buildings. This made effect of light bouncing off objects and reflecting
and eyelevel I began blocking in some of the quite a good structural device and also a useful surfaces without upsetting your tonal range –
key forms along with the main areas of light and way of creating perspective. radiosity in other words.
dark (Fig.01).
I repeated this shape along the street as seen I use this technique intermittently throughout the
I started with a tonal layer just using black and in Fig.02 keeping the warm tones along the left painting process and once I am satisfied with
white and then using this as a guide I added side. At this point I was laying down numerous the result I usually flatten the image and then
continue the process. This way I can minimize
the size of the file and keep things from getting
too complicated.
This is precisely what I did in Fig.03. I flattened

the image at the stage seen in the previous
illustration and then added two new layers, one
set to Soft Light and the other to Overlay. On
the far left is the initial background layer with the
other two added in sequence culminating in the
version seen on the far right.
Building the details

After reaching this stage I again flattened the

Chapter 06: Slums Painting Fantasy Medieval Scenes
image and started on a new layer which I used
to add architectural features and begin building
the detail (Fig.04).
I began painting in some of the windows and

doorways as well as supporting beams and
struts. The brush that I mainly used during this
project was a standard Chalk brush combined
with various Dual Brushes during the process
(Fig.05).
By enabling the Dual Brush function you can

vary the brush marks and texture by changing
the Sampled Tip (Fig.06).
I continued adding details such as the beams

jutting out from the right rooftops. I painted
some sunlight filtering into the street in the mid
distance and also illuminating the buildings
in the background on the left (inset Fig.07). I
decided that the spire in the upper right was a
little distracting and so removed this for the time
being.
and make the scene feel more claustrophobic. To emphasize this feeling I created a new
After taking out the spire I thought that maybe I added a large cylindrical tower on the right as layer set to Multiply at 60% that added a
something should occupy the skyline to shown in Fig.08 and hence leaving less of the darker shadow in the foreground (upper left in
emphasize the heavily built up nature of the city sky visible. Fig.09). A second layer set to Overlay at 100%

comprised of some highlights on the street and everything is done a separate layer and hence You can see the Color Balance settings used to
paving (lower left). Leaving the file intact with can be deleted. However an Adjustment layer add a warm tone across the picture with black
these four separate layers I altered the colour allows the option of using a mask to control the being painted into the mask to reduce the area
balance adjustment layer by going to; Layer - effect which means that it is non-destructible. of effect.
New Adjustment Layer - Color Balance (Fig.10).
You can use black to reveal the initial layer or Fig.11 shows the masked area in Quick mask
This adds a new layer above the one you alternatively use white to show the adjustment which shows exactly which parts have been left
currently have selected and allows you to layer. In Fig.10 you can see the Color Balance unaltered – this corresponds to the black and
modify the colour and tone etc. This means that Adjustment Layer in the Layers Palette and the white areas in the thumbnail.
any alterations can be reversed if need be as mask thumbnail to the right.
Refining the Picture and
adding texture
Once again I flattened the image at this stage
and then added a new layer which was to
represent the glare from the sun. To do this I
used a Soft Round Airbrush and painted in a
small white area top right above the tower roof.
I then clicked on the Add Layer Style button at
the base of the Layers Palette.
This brought up a dialogue box similar to that

seen in Fig.12. It is here that you can add your
desired effect, in this case an Outer Glow. This
creates a glow around whatever is apparent on
the layer and enables you to control the opacity,
color, size and blending mode. You will notice
that the size is at maximum and the opacity is
at 58%. Also notice the opacity in the Layers
Palette which is set to 56%, helping to keep the

effect subtle. You can see how this bleaches

the wooden beams and right side of the tower,
creating a more intense light with a soft orange
tint.
Fig.13 shows the effect at 100% opacity. The

last stage in the process is something a lot of
concept artists do when working digitally and
that is to blend in some photographic references
to add some realistic textures and details.
In Fig.14 you can see some of the photo

references that I have merged into the scene to
add another level of detail. All of these images
were taken from the free library available at 3D
Total.com (http://freetextures.3dtotal.com)
This is a great resource for artists and is perfect
for this kind of project.
Almost every photo will require some form of

color correction before it can work with the
lighting and color scheme in your work and there
are two key approaches I use to do this.
Once the copied section has been pasted in and

scaled accordingly I either desaturate the image,
setting it to Overlay or Soft Light and then adjust
the Curves and Brightness/Contrast to match lining the street. Sometimes even when the
the scene.Alternatively I leave the Blending photo elements have been blended in it is
mode at Normal and go to Image – Adjustments necessary to use your brush to correct areas
– Colour Balance and alter the values and then and help integrate things.
use Curves etc to blend it in.
In Fig.16 you can see a tower that has been
In Fig.15 you can see an example of the first added into the background but with some
approach which I have used to add the rubbish overpainting to ensure it fits into the image. I

added some cobblestones on a near section Adjustments – Color Balance. Once done I then created a Color Balance Adjustment Layer
of the street and some windows along the right used an Eraser to restrict the darker layer to (Layer – New Adjustment Layer – Color
foreground wall to balance the detail on the left the ground level (middle image in Fig.17). To Balance) using the settings shown in Fig.18 and
hand side. add some drama I then created a layer set to then painted into the mask to restrict the warmer
Overlay and painted in some highlights along values to the upper section of the street.
At this point I flattened the image to avoid the the upper left row terrace and facing side of
file getting too big. After reviewing it I decided the right hand building using a pale yellow (left The scene was almost complete at this stage
that because this was meant to be a slum image). but I thought that it needed just one or two
area it needed to be a bit darker and more more elements to give lend it a more slum like
claustrophobic. I duplicated the scene and Because I had now added some sunlight I quality. I thought that the building on the right
reduced the brightness as well as tinting it figured the areas catching the sun should be looked unstable due to the damaged wall and
towards a blue and green by way of Image – warmer to contrast with the street. I therefore so painted in a haphazardly placed beam to
brace it against the opposite side. I also added
some precarious scaffold in the middle distance
to give help create a more chaotic and shanty
quality to the district.
Last but by no means least I looked through the

free reference library mentioned earlier in order
to research some medieval costumes and add
in some shady looking characters.
Here is the final version (Fig.19).
Richard Tilbury
http://www.richardtilburyart.com/
or contact
[email protected]


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Today I’m taking on the task of drawing a

If you’re drawing a marketplace, you can choose

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To color over the blue, let’s create a new layer

Blue will be background color. I’m going to use it

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To explain what I’m saying, I’ll now show you,

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The following step is to retouch it to get the final paintbrush. Go to the

Finally, to give it a dirty texture, tick the Noise option (Fig.19).

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Go to the tool bar and select the Lasso Tool.

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Custom Brush No. 3

Select a default Photoshop paintbrush and

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Once we have the paintbrush defined and

each of us knows when our work is done, and

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy the

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I very soon discover that I’ve got some

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Back to my collection of sketches: So far, these

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The first thing I do once I’ve selected my line

In Fig.10 I try to get some idea of scale by

Before I worry about color, I tweak my

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more height (Fig.11), and I also make a bit more

“I try a lot of different things,

This is a point where I really have to wrestle

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That is not to say I didn’t have a good time

Jesse van Dijk

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For this medieval tutorial I’ve chosen to depict a

A couple of years ago I might have been

Step 3 – Sketch the

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Step 5 – Sketch detail

should not mean straight copying. In this

Step 6 – Tonal underpainting

Step 7 – Set up the palettes

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Painter for this point on. I like to alternate, on