Hello viewer, I'm posting my progression of a piece for a contest from deviantart.com. The premise is I have to take one of the 3 provided stock photos and manipulate it into an apocalyptic scene. Since I'm more of a digital painter than a photo collagist, I decided to paint my scene and then render the main focal point (the family) using filters and other methods on photoshop. My idea is of a family whose city is in ruins, trying to escape but find that the only bridge to salvation has been destroyed. The father, an aeronautics engineer, has only enough time to retrofit a small prototype kite to his son and get him safely to the other side. This is the stock photo I started with.
First I blocked in the main colors I was going to use and started filling in. I drew my initial concept for the rescue kite, and painted a cliff on the field.
I continued to work mainly on the background trying to add depth and mood. At times when I had an idea for the kite I would paint it on a different layer making sure to not to get too focused on the details.
As you can see I flip my image at times just to give me a fresh look at my piece. This helps when trying to get perspective, size and composition right. I continue with the background adding contrast and depth to the piece. I add a filter to the family to tie it into their surroundings.
When I'm pretty satisfied with my background I begin to work on the kite concept.
I refine the kite and make sure my perspective is right, or at least not awkward. Add small details to bring the piece together and do some clean-up. This is the result.
