Create Pixar Style Concept Art

Create a rough, loose landscape sketch in Photoshop to establish a stylized street-scene background for animation, serving as the starting point for the painting.

Refine a rough street-scene sketch into a defined painting plan by detailing harbour walls, bollards, paving stones, doorway transitions, and uniform shuttered windows before color blocking.

Break the scene into eight color blocks and set base colors for each element on separate layers. Group layers for easy edits, then apply texturing and color variation pass later.

Learn to add texture to street-scene illustrations using large texture brushes, color variation, and layer-based workflows. Lock pixels, color pick, and experiment to create a cohesive, weathered look.

Finish the background buildings by refining colors with muted tones, using texture brushes to mix hues, and applying atmospheric perspective, then prepare for precise detailing in the next lesson.

Study reference images to refine composition and capture a unique, stylized street scene. Draw windows consistently with green shutters, use layers for light and shadow, and add weathered textures.

Learn to create repeating street windows efficiently using layers, glass panes, shading, and slight variations. The lesson covers balconies, window frames, and fast background duplication for animation.

Draw wooden doors and doorways in a street-scene background, adding glass panes, inset window effects, panels and frames, and use texture, color variation, and shadows to create depth.

Learn to create deep doorway effects and shopfront canopies by painting with contrasting light and dark tones, adding borders, glass panes, stripes, and color variation for depth.

Take a mid-way break to zoom out and study your composition, colors, and element placement, refining walls, windows, and perspective to ensure proper scale and proportion.

draw lamps, street lights, wires, and drain pipes to give the scene character, using circular marquee, lasso, and warp to shape the details.

Elevate old shop fronts by adding electrical wires and hand-lettered signs, using a green palette, layering for solidity, and simple distant signs that stay legible.

Create a textured far background by shaping an archway structure, adding depth with color, steps, and windows, then plan light and shadow in later lessons.

Enhance realism by roughing ground where buildings meet with a jagged base and peeling paint revealing stonework. Apply loose paving textures and avoid precise grids to keep the scene lively.

Perform a final detail pass to finish the major details, add depth with an extra building and light-catching steps, then learn shadows and highlights with blending modes.

Add shadow layers on the street background using multiply blending and blur for soft edges; label shadows blue and highlights yellow or orange, then apply top-right lighting and color correction.

Add ground shadows and a blue harbour shadow, then build subtle highlights with an orange dodge layer clipped to the buildings using additive blending, and plan color correction next.

Add subtle washing lines to a street scene with simple shapes and light colors. Keep them in the background with shadows, and prepare for color correction in the next lesson.

Verify final artwork by testing contrast in black and white and balancing color with hue/saturation adjustments, using clipping masks to affect targeted areas and preserve background cohesion behind the characters.

Learn to hand off your final Photoshop file by organizing and naming groups, merging unneeded layers, and preserving movable elements for the compositor in the animation pipeline.