HUSSEIN AL-ATTAR
PHOTOSHOP RENDERING

The final trick from Hussein is a simple way to add warmth and depth to your images by adding a strong light source...in this case the sun.

 

Now we are going to get rid of the sketch as it has now completed its purpose in guiding us to this stage. You can also see that I have added a new green tone to the trees in the background using the same technique I used when I did the street. The sharp eyed amongst you will also notice that I have reworked the layer containing the shadow. This has been done to correctly represent the light source I have chosen (behind the car).

In this step I am going to add the sunny mood to the image. Change the colour of the street from that boring grey to a low saturated brown like the one you see here in the image. The trees also need a yellowish touch. Make a new layer above all the previous layers and set the blending mode to SCREEN. On this layer paint the upper right corner with a large soft yellow/orange brush. The result will be the sun light mood.

Now some colour for the reflections. The sky is blue so I am going to make that noticeable on the upper part of the car as of course it is facing the sky. I have used a large brush to paint these parts with a bright blue colour on a separate layer. The blending mode on this layer is set to COLOUR and its opacity is set to 36%. As I am going to add the sun later, I am going to work on reflections on the cars bodyside. A thick yellow line with a large brush on another layer with the blending mode set to SOFT LIGHT will create a warmer feeling in the reflections.

You may have noticed that the shut lines are missing. To add these you have two options. Option 1 is to use the pen tool and choose a small hard-edged black brush (1-3px). Draw the path of the shut lines and once you are done right click and choose STROKE PATH. Option 2 is to use the line tool if you are not so confident with the pen tool. Choose a suitable line thickness and draw your lines. The problem with the line tool is similar to the Polygonal Lasso. You can not do clean curves. You will have to keep the distance between one click and the next as short as possible in order to create the illusion of a clean curve. Not as smooth as the pen tool, but a good work around.

You will see that the shut lines still look like they are drawn on the body of the car, and are lacking in any depth. This is a problem with simple solutions. To fix this duplicate the layer you completed in the previous step. Now you have two identical layers with the same content laying over each other. Pick the one underneath and go to IMAGE > ADJUSTMENT > HUE/SATURATION. Here you can set the brightness to +100. By doing that you will have turned the colour of the shut lines from black to white. Now nudge these lines just 1 or 2 pixels down and erase the unnecessary parts with a blurry edged eraser.

To finish I have made some small modifications and adjusted some details, as well as transforming and flipping the image to create a nicer composition. Play with this, find something you like, and your done.