Part 2 of our incredible line art tutorial!
Create a new A4 canvas and drag in a nice papery texture for the backdrop. Go back to the canvas that you made all your sketches on, Shift-click all layers and press Cmd/Ctrl+G to group. Drag this group onto the new canvas.
Click onto the animal group, press Cmd/Ctrl+E to merge and label this in the Layers palette. Use the Transform tool to shrink it down and repeat steps 1-11 for all the elements. When everything is on one canvas you can begin to build up your image.
Place your key subjects using the Move tool (V) and then arrange the smaller elements. Now add in embellishments by selecting the Pen tool (P) set to Shapes in the top Options bar (use custom shapes in Elements or in Photoshop if you prefer).
We’re going to add more shapes to the picture now, starting with creating a teardrop shape as seen in the example, but you can draw anything. Opt/Alt-click on this and drag it to make a duplicate.
Using the pen tool, draw a stem and position the teardrop shapes along it. Shift-click all the shapes, group them and set the blend mode to Multiply. Opt/Alt-click and drag this group to duplicate. Merge the group and keep duplicating and positioning the leaves around the canvas.
The trick to creating an intricate but ordered image like this one is consistency. It’s good to use multiple images, but don’t vary the angles of the matching elements too much or you risk it looking chaotic. Pace the colours evenly, too, so that the overall image is balanced.
Keep building up your image using the Pen tool to create new shapes and patterns over the entire canvas Work with bolder colours and then continue to experiment with the layer blend modes. Multiply is a good option here.
Add a new layer above the current texture layer at the base of the palette. Double-click onto the Foreground swatch and choose a light yellow. Press Shift+F5 and choose Fill with Foreground Colour, then double-click on the layer.
If you wish to add extra levels of detail, you can to finish up the picture. In the Layer Style dialog, check the Texture box, click onto the Pattern image, then onto the top-right arrow and choose Texture Fill. From these thumbnails we’ve chosen the Bark option, set the Scale to 394 and Depth to -26. Hit OK and then, in the Layers palette, set the layer’s blend mode to Colour Burn at 20% Opacity.