THE BIRTH OF AN ICONIC BIKER

Step 1

 For this project the client wants a painting of his late father Bill, an avid Harley enthusiasts. The first step is to remove all of the surroundings in the picture to isolate the rider. In this instance the woman riding the bike along side Bill needs to be removed as well. This is problematic because it creates holes on Bill as well as parts of the bike. I know I can convincingly paint back Bills clothing but the bike is another story. I need to make sure the information I add is accurate.

Step 2 

To fill the holes on the bike I grab a high quality photo of a Harley Superglide of the same year and color from the internet. I place the image of the bike behind the image of Bill and use the scale, rotate, and perspective functions to roughly align the two images. Since the camera angle is different between the two pictures I know that I won’t get a perfect match but I use the warp function to manipulate the last details in order to get major landmarks such as the seat and the shock absorber to line up properly. I use the paintbrush to correct any areas that need to be massaged into a better fit. Once I paint in the missing parts of Bills pants and jacket I have a convincing version of this image minus one passenger. 

Step 3

To ensure that I am placing the bike in a way that makes visual sense I establish the horizon line and vanishing points in both images. This keeps the feel of the camera consistent. Finally I create a new layer set to multiply and paint the shadow. I use the shadows from the original image to inform me about their placement and shape in the new image.

STEP 4

Below you can see the image with Bill placed onto the background I have chosen. Using a hue/ saturation adjustment layer I alter the color of the background, lightening it up. Using a layer mask and a different image I replace the sky to better fit the mood I am trying to achieve. Finally I make color adjustments to Bill and the bike using a gradient map. I replace the cool colors from the original image with warm yellows and oranges that harmonize with the desert background.

Step 5

The client makes a last minute request for Bill to be wearing a darker jacket. I use an adjustment layer with a mask to isolate the area I want to work with. Using Hue/ Saturation and Brightness/ Contrast settings I desaturate and darken the jacket. Finally I use the paint brush tool on the jacket, bringing up some of the highlights and changing the specularity of the material to capture the texture of leather.