i-m-a-g-i-n-efx-august

Your questions answered...
It’s important to pay attention to
any cast shadows when the
source of light is powerful and
the setting is enclosed.
Step-by-step: illustrate the
colour, light intensity and
shape of a magic spell
I lay down the sketch and depict the spell light in
1
the wizard’s hand. Then I move on to the
colouring step, and paint flat colours. Next, I create a
new Screen layer on to which I sketch the shape of
the sparkling spell effect.
Question
Help me paint a magical spell effect
Jonathan Jessen, Denmark
Answer
Sara replies
magical light coming from
a spell should be tackled
like any light source. We
can add colour, but it needs
to match the type of magic we want to
represent. For example, i’ll use orange,
yellow and red colours for a fire spell,
while a frost spell will feature a cool
light blue.
in this case, my wizard is also a
seafaring pirate so i choose a blue
tone for the magic, and this will affect
the colours. it’s important to decide
where to place the source of light.
Here the magician holds it in her
hand, so her arm, face and almost all
the upper torso will be lit up. Because
the light source is close, it’ll cast cold
highlights and warm tones in shadow.
Artist’s secret
Bear in mind the skin’s
translucent nature
To emphasise the spell’s brightness
I paint fingertips with a rosy vibrant
colour, which reinforces the
translucent nature of skin. Avoiding
too much detail on the hand will
help make the spell stand out.
The wizard’s hand that casts the spell will have
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its palm illuminated and its other side in
backlight, so it’ll appear darker than other areas.
Then I create a Color Dodge level and accentuate my
light spot with a Soft brush and my blue colour.
I define the spell to give it a spiral shape. I create
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several Color Dodge layers and paint small shots
of lights, rays and a circle, using shades of lighter
blue. If the effect seems too bright I can dampen it
by reducing the Opacity level in the Layer palette.
August 2017
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