This the second part of a three-part Roman House tutorial. Roman House Painting Part I - The Drawing describes how to draw the scene and this part shows how to finish the background. Roman House Part III – Finishing how to add a woman to the scene.

Preview of Final Results

Roman House Part II - The Drawing Photoshop Tutorial

• Program: Photoshop 7
• Difficulty: Intermediate
• Estimated Completion Time: 30 minutes

This is the second part of a three part drawing series. Roman House Painting Part I - The Drawing shows now to create the initial outline sketch.

Step 1

Create a new layer below the sketch titled “wall”.

Step 2

Block in the wall and ceiling with color #FFD2A2 and an opaque hard-edged brush.

Step 3

Make another layer above the “wall” layer.

Step 4

Block in the roof with color #BE2D00.

Step 5

Make another layer above that layer, it will be merged down later.

Step 6

On this layer, add shadows to the right side of each of the columns with a soft edged brush set to 57% opacity (color #701B00).

Step 7

Darken the shadows even more with a 41% opaque brush.

Step 8

Using the same brush, highlight the tiles with color #E14616.

Step 9

Fill in the arches under the tiles with color #701B00 with an opaque hard-edged brush.

Step 10

With color #4B1200 fill in the line under the arches.

Step 11

Merge the layer down onto the “roof” layer.

Step 12

Using the same brush, add a slanting shadow beneath the roof on the wall layer (color #F2AA78).

Step 13

Darken the shadow with color #C57338 (48%, soft-edged brush).

Step 14

Add a shadow to the ceiling with the brush set to 20% opacity.

Step 15

Erase the part of the wall that overlaps the back pillar.

Step 16

Add a highlight to the left side of the wall (color #FFD6B8, 500 pixel brush, 20%) , and in-between the two pillars.

Step 17

Create a new layer beneath the wall and title it “sky”.

Step 18

Block in the sky area above the roof with color #CADEFF (opaque brush).

Step 19

Use a soft-edged brush to lighten the sky with color #F1F6FF (41% opacity, 260 pixel brush).

Step 20

Create a new layer above the sky and name it “trees”.

Step 21

Block in the trees with color #5A9900 using an opaque hard-edged brush.

Step 22

Bock in shadows around the leaves with color #386000 using a soft edged brush set to 55% opacity.

Step 23

Highlight the leaves with color #96E426 with a 13% opaque brush.

Step 24

Now, make a new layer beneath the “vine” layer.

Step 25

Fill in the vine with color #386000.

Step 26

Add shadows to the vine with color #294300, using a soft-edged opaque brush.

Step 27

Using the same brush, add a highlight to the middle of the vine with color #6DBA00.

Step 28

On “trees” layer, block in the ground area with color #B17235.

Step 29

Add shadows to the ground (especially under the roof and under the bush) with color #632500 (30% opacity).

Step 30

Make a new layer and name it “texture”.

Step 31

Go to edit ? fill ? 50% fill

Step 32

Go to Filter > Noise > Add Noise. Set to 5% and the filter settings to gaussian and monochromatic.

Step 33

Erase the gray that overlaps things other than the ground.

Step 34

Change the blending mode to overlay.

Step 35

Now make another layer above the “roof” layer.

Step 36

Fill in the palm leaves with color #423B00, and the stem with color #7F6C04.

Step 37

Using a 15% opacity hard edged brush with color #756C04. To create the effect of individual leaves, draw leaves branching out from the stems.

Step 38

Add shadow between the little leaves by using the burn tool (shadows mode, 8% exposure).

Step 39

Add vertical shines to the leaves by using the dodge tool (midtones mode, 56% exposure). There is a horizontal shine across the leaf that is to its side.

Step 40

Block in the leaves to the bush with color #156D00 using an opaque, hard edged brush.

Step 41

Add shadows to the leaves with color #092F00 (soft edged 60% opaque brush).

Step 42

Highlight the leaves using the dodge tool set to 31% exposure.

Step 43

Make a new layer beneath the “plants” layer.

Step 44

Block in the pot with color #FFB400.

Step 45

Use the burn tool on highlight mode and 23% exposure to add some basic shadows around the pot. The darkest areas will be on the left side, and underneath the main part of the pot.

Step 46

Highlight the very top, middle, and bottom of the pot using the dodge tool on it's last settings (step 42).

Step 47

Make a new layer above the pot. This will be merged down later.

Step 48

Fill in the entire pot area with black (color #000000).

Step 49

Add highlights to the black by using color #2B1000 (soft-edged brush, 50% opacity)

Step 50

Highlight it even more by using the dodge tool set to highlight mode and 64% exposure.

Step 51

Go to the eraser tool and turn off shape dynamics. Then, setting the brush size to 3 pixels, erase two curving lines across the midsection of the pot. This may take some time, and a lot of redoing, but it is worth it in the end, because of the golden effect it gives.

Step 52

Change the brush size to 1 pixel and erase swirling patterns within the two lines.

Step 53

Merge the layer down onto the “pot” layer.

Step 54

Make two new layers, one above the “plants” layer, and another below the “pot” layer. Name them “column 1” and “column 2”. We will be working with both layers at the same time to get the columns done.

Step 55

Fill in the columns with color #FFF8E4 (opaque, hard edged brush).

Step 56

Turn shape dynamics on again for the eraser tool, and shift + drag down to erase some of the white from the columns. Try to focus on erasing only one side of each of the little “flutes” running through the column.

Step 57

Create a new layer titled “floor” above the background.

Step 58

Color the tile area with color #B12C00, using a hard-edged opaque brush.

Step 59

Add shadows around the tiles with color #611700 with a soft-edged brush set to 41% opacity.

Step 60

On a new layer above the last (this will be merged down), add a highlight to the center of each of the tiles with color #F0681D (use a 105 pixel brush set to 18% opacity).

Step 61

Use the burn tool set to midtones mode and 46% exposure to add shadows to the floor. Make sure that the darkest shadows are cast by the columns and the potted plant.

Final Results

And you're done with the background! The third part shows how to draw and color a roman woman. Continue to Roman House Part III – Finishing.