Verdant Forest Process Images
I was initially inspired by landscape art featured on my favorite collectable card game, Magic the Gathering. I felt like the concepts were easy enough to grasp. The hard part would be the technical skills part- and what's what I'm here for! So here's some photos of it's process!
Step 1: The Reference
While my milk-shake may bring all the ladies to the yard, I still find value with reference photos. I found one that used an angle I was keen on. I didn't reference it much outside of its perspective. It had elements that I was already inspired to integrate, such as the light bloom.
Step 2: Blocking the image out
("Blocking" as in set placement.)
Step 3: Playing with texture.
Less of a step, more of a stage. I'm playing with the image still, though I like the composition.
Step 4: Create a texture and pattern Brush
I had to make my very own custom brush. I took branches, and blotted in with the standard brush tool. Save as Brush! I played with the brush settings to randomize its visuals a bit.
Step 5: Wrap it UP!
I attempted to put some finishing touches, and lighting on the piece. I used blending layers and varying hues of color to get the illuminated look.