Paint Isometric Movie Concept Art of a Desert Oasis

1. Create a 1920 × 1080 px document with a white background, and rename Layer 1 to Ground.
2. Click the top ruler at x 48 and x 1872, and the left ruler at y 1008, to drop three guides: two side margins and the top of the title strip.
3. Pick the Gradient tool, open Advanced… and set six stops:

• #A688B0 at the start
• #E2A9A2 at the 14% point
• #EFC79A at the 30% point
• #E2A878 at the 48% point
• #D9975F at the 72% point
• #C98352 at the end

1. Drag from the top of the canvas straight down to the bottom.

The violet top is what makes it dusk. Without it, the sky and the sand would be the same orange.

The sun sits low behind the scene, so you see the shaded side of every dune.

1. Add a layer named Far Dune.
2. With the Lasso, trace a gently wavy crest across the whole frame at about y 150. Come back about 80 px lower to close the band.
3. Set the gradient to #B97A70 at 70% opacity fading to the same colour at 0% opacity. Drag from the crest straight down, past the bottom of the band.

1. Add a layer named Hull Ribs and set the foreground to #9E6E7E.
2. Pick the Brush and set Hardness to 90.
3. Click the brush tip thumbnail at the left of the options bar to open the Brushes panel. On its Shape tab, set Taper to a little more than the length of the rib you're about to paint, so the stroke thins to a point.
4. Paint seven ribs at the top right, starting near x 1390 and spacing them 60 px apart. Start each one at about y 245 (the middle dune you'll add in a moment will hide their feet). Sweep each up and curl it over to the right. Make the first rib about 200 px tall at Size 22, and make each one after it smaller, down to about 60 px tall at Size 10.
5. Set Taper back to 0, then run Filter → Gaussian Blur… at 1.5 to push the ribs into the distance.

1. Click Add Mask at the bottom of the Layers panel.
2. Click the small mask thumbnail that appears under the layer to start editing the mask.
3. Set the gradient to plain white fading to black. Drag it from about 50 px above the rib feet down to the feet.
4. Click the layer's name to go back to editing its pixels.

The ribs now sink into the sand instead of standing on it.

1. Add a Dunes layer and repeat the lasso and gradient for two more bands. Put the middle dune's crest at about y 215 and the near dune's at about y 285, each band a little deeper than the last.
2. Add a Crest Light layer. Set the Brush to Size 3, Hardness 60, Opacity 85 and #FFE2B4.
3. For each crest, click at the left edge, then Shift-click along the ridge to the right edge. This leaves a thin rim of back-light on each dune.

1. Add a Path layer. Lasso two rows of flagstones that start at about (1210, 830) and run down to the bottom-right corner, every edge on the 2:1 slope. Hold Shift to add each stone, then fill them all with Edit → Fill in #EBC594.
2. Click the effects button (the sparkle icon) on the layer's row and add a Drop Shadow in #8A5A48: Offset X −2, Offset Y 2, Blur 2, Opacity 45.
3. Click New Group at the bottom of the Layers panel, name it Waystation, and add a Plaza layer inside it.
4. Lasso the top diamond using the corners listed above, and fill it #F3D6A8.
5. Lasso the left face, 29 px deep, and fill it #8F6577. Then lasso the right face and fill it #E6AE76.

1. Lasso the top diamond again. Drag a gradient from #FFE7BE at 75% opacity to #E8B98A at 55% opacity, from the right corner to the left corner. The light comes from the back right.
2. Where the path meets the right face, lasso four steps, each lower and further out than the last. Fill the treads #F3D6A8 and the risers #E6AE76.
3. Brush a 3 px #FFF1D6 lip along the two front edges: click the left corner, then Shift-click the front corner and the right corner.

1. Add a Flagstones layer and set the brush to #C9946A, Size 2, Opacity 55.
2. Draw straight lines across the top, parallel to each pair of sides and about 55 px apart. Click on one edge, then Shift-click the opposite edge.

1. Add a Spring layer. Lasso a diamond of coping a little larger than the pool, and fill it #FBE6C0.
2. Only the two far inner walls show, and they make the pool read as sunk 23 px into the plaza. Fill the back-left wall #6E4B63 and the back-right wall #B07A5A.
3. Add a Water layer and lasso the water surface at (700, 531), (869, 615), (674, 713) and (505, 628).
4. Fill it with a gradient from the back corner to the front corner: #105A68, then #1F9AA0 at the 55% point, then #7FE0D2.

1. Deselect with Cmd+D, then give Water an Inner Glow in #0B3F4E with Size 14 and Opacity 70. It darkens the water where it meets the walls.
2. Brush a few short #C8FFF4 ripple dashes at Size 2 and Opacity 70, parallel to the pool's left edge.
3. On Spring, brush a 2 px #FFF4DE lip along the coping's front edges.

1. Add a Hall layer and lasso the roof using the corners listed above. Fill it #F3D6A8.
2. With the roof still selected, drag a gradient from #F6DCB0 at the back right to #D2A586 at the front left, so it falls into shade.
3. Lasso the left wall and drag a gradient from #6E4B63 at the bottom to #8F6577 at the top.
4. Lasso the right wall and drag #C98A5E at the bottom to #E6AE76 at the top.
5. Brush a few faint roof joints in #B98A6A at Opacity 35.

Lassoing slanted arches by hand is hard. Draw them straight-on instead.

1. Add a Hall Windows layer and set the foreground to #FFB547.
2. Over the left wall, lasso an upper row of four small arches, each about 23 × 44 px. Lasso a lower row of two small arches and a tall door, about 52 × 96 px. Hold Shift to add each one. Line them up with the wall's left edge as if the wall weren't slanted at all.
3. Fill them all at once with Edit → Fill.

1. Draw a Rectangular Marquee from the left wall's left edge (x 791) to its right edge (x 986), tall enough to hold every window.
2. Switch to the Move tool and pick Skew in the options bar.
3. Drag the handle in the middle of the right edge down by half the box's width, about 97 px. The left edge stays pinned, so every arch now climbs at the wall's 1:2 slope.
4. Press Cmd+D to commit. Then give the layer an Outer Glow in #FFB547 with Size 16 and Opacity 55.

On the sunlit side, the windows read as dark recesses.

1. Add a Hall Windows R layer. Draw five flat arches in #4B2E3E, lined up with the right wall's left edge at x 986.
2. Marquee from x 986 to x 1155 and switch to Skew. Drag the right-middle handle up by half the width, about 85 px.
3. Press Cmd+D.

1. Add a Battlements layer. At the roof's front corner, lasso one little merlon: a box whose two side faces are each 13 px wide and 16 px tall. Fill its top #F3D6A8, its left face #8F6577 and its right face #E6AE76.
2. Deselect, then press Cmd+A, Cmd+C and Cmd+V to paste a copy in place.
3. With the Move tool, use the arrow keys to nudge the copy 26 px left and 13 px up. That's one isometric step along the edge. Choose Layer → Merge Down.
4. Do it again with the two-merlon row, nudging it 52 px left and 26 px up. Then do the four-merlon row, nudging it 104 px left and 52 px up. Each paste doubles the row, so you end up with eight merlons.
5. For the right edge, marquee just the corner merlon, then copy and paste it. Nudge each copy one more step (26 px right and 13 px up) than the last, and merge as you go.

The back edges need merlons too. Copy both front rows before pasting either one, so neither copy picks up the other.

1. Marquee the left row without its corner merlon, then copy and paste it.
2. Click Battlements again, marquee the right row without its corner, then copy and paste it.
3. Nudge this second paste 182 px left and 91 px up and merge it down.
4. Click the first paste, nudge it 156 px right and 78 px up, and merge it.

A circle in 2:1 isometric is an ellipse twice as wide as it is tall.

1. Add a Spire layer and select the lower drum's outline. You can lasso it, or build it exactly:
2. Click with the Elliptical Marquee (without dragging) and type the corners of a 184 × 92 px ellipse centred at (1246, 406).
3. Shift-drag a rectangle from that ellipse's left and right ends down to y 572.
4. Shift-add a second 184 × 92 ellipse centred at (1246, 572).
5. Drag a gradient straight across the drum from left to right with five stops: #6E4B63, #8F6577 at the 30% point, #E6AE76 at 62%, #F3D6A8 at 86%, and #E2A472. A side-to-side gradient is what makes a flat shape read as round.
6. Select a thin balcony disc 228 px wide on top and fill it with the same gradient. Fill its top ellipse #F3D6A8.
7. Shade a narrower upper drum, 140 px wide, the same way. It rises to y 273.

1. Lasso a half-ellipse dome on top of the upper drum.
2. Set the gradient Type to Radial, with four stops: #FFF0C0, #E8AE4E at the 35% point, #9A6234 at 75%, and #5E3A2C.
3. Drag from the dome's upper right outward, about 120 px.

1. Lasso three thin, shrinking ellipses stacked above the dome. Fill each with a copper gradient dragged across it: #5A2C1C, #B8642F at the 55% point, #F0A060 at 85%, and #FFD9A8. Repeat each one 2 px higher to give it a lit top.
2. Draw the mast with the brush in #3A2A36 at Size 5: click on the dome top, then Shift-click about 120 px above it.
3. On a Spire Details layer:

• Brush curved sandstone courses around the drums in #9C6650 at Opacity 50.
• Fill a band of #4A2E44 at 45% opacity just under the balcony for its shadow.
• Fill two dark #3E2836 slits in the lower drum.

1. On a Spire Lights layer, fill three amber slits in the upper drum.
2. Click a 12 px #FF7A45 dot at the mast tip. Give the layer an Outer Glow in #FF9A50 with Size 34 and Opacity 85.

1. Add a Gatehouse layer and lasso its roof and two walls from the corners listed above. Use the same roof colour and wall gradients as the hall, then brush a pale #FFF1D6 lip along its front edges.
2. Add a Gate Windows layer and draw two small arched windows on the shaded left wall in #FFB547. Lasso them following the wall's slope, or draw them flat and Skew them down as you did for the hall.
3. Give the windows an Outer Glow in #FFB547 with Size 14 and Opacity 55.

1. Add a Gate Arch layer. Lasso a flat arch about 57 px wide and 96 px tall, lined up with the right wall's left edge.
2. Fill it with a Radial gradient dragged from the bottom centre upward: #FFC260, #B4522E at the 45% point, and #2E1C2A.
3. Marquee the right wall from x 999 to x 1168. Skew the right-middle handle up by half the width, as you did for the hall, and press Cmd+D.
4. Give the arch an Outer Glow in #FFB547 with Size 18 and Opacity 70.
5. Click Water and add a Door Light layer. Lasso a fan on the plaza in front of the door. Fill it with #FFC46A, fading from 90% opacity at the door to 0% about 90 px out, and set the layer's blend mode to Screen.

1. Add an Awning layer. Marquee a rectangle 83 × 40 px whose top-left corner sits on the wall just above the arch.
2. Fill it #F6E6CC.
3. Select every other eighth of it, using Shift to add each stripe, and fill the stripes #B4502E.
4. Marquee the whole rectangle, switch to Move, and pick Distort.

In Distort mode, each corner handle moves on its own.

1. Drag the top-right corner up about 42 px, along the wall's slope, so the top edge hugs the wall.
2. Drag the bottom-left and bottom-right corners so each ends up about 26 px right of its top corner and 34 px below it. The canopy now juts out from the wall and tips forward.
3. Press Cmd+D, then add a Drop Shadow in #4A2E44: Offset X −6, Offset Y 10, Blur 5, Opacity 45.

1. On a Cupola layer, select a short drum about 88 px wide in the middle of the roof. Shade it across with #6E4B63, #E6AE76 at the 60% point, and #F3D6A8.
2. Lasso a dome on top. Fill it with a radial gradient dragged from its upper right: #C8FFF0, #3FB7AE at the 35% point, #17646C at 80%, and #0E3E4A.
3. Brush a thin #D6FFF6 highlight along the front of the dome's rim.

1. On a Signboard layer, marquee a flat 130 × 26 px board above the two small windows. Fill it #3A2236 and Skew it down like the windows. Add a 2 px Stroke effect in #D89A62.
2. Click a raster layer before you change any text settings, because they restyle whichever text layer is active.
3. Pick the Text tool and set Saira Condensed, Bold, Size 15 in #F6E6CC. Click the T button in the right-hand panel strip to open the Text panel, and set Letter spacing to 2.
4. Click in empty canvas at the top of the frame, type WAYSTATION 07, and click the ✓ to commit.
5. With the Move tool, pick Skew in the options bar. Drag the text's right-edge handle down by half its width. The text stays live and editable.
6. Use the arrow keys to nudge it down until it sits centred on the board.

The sun is low at the back right, so every shadow falls down and to the left, running with the isometric axis.

1. Click Water and add a Cast Shadows layer, so the shadows sit under the buildings.
2. Lasso the hall's shadow. Start at its base corners and run out down-left about 1.2 times the wall height.
3. Shift-lasso the gatehouse's shadow, then the spire's.
4. Set the foreground to #6A4A78.

Building all three into one selection means the overlaps won't come out darker.

1. Choose Edit → Fill, deselect, and run Gaussian Blur at 2.
2. Set the layer's blend mode to Multiply and its opacity to 55%.
3. Click Path and add a Plaza Shadow layer for the block's own short shadow on the sand. Fill it the same way and set it to Multiply at 50%.

1. On a Poles layer, brush two 5 px #3E2A36 poles: one from (460, 608) up to (460, 413), and one from (694, 732) up to (694, 563).
2. On a Sail Red layer, lasso a triangle from the hall's top-left corner to both pole tops, letting each edge sag a little. Fill it with #C76E46, #A04A2C at the 60% point, and #723020, dragged from the hall corner to the front pole.
3. On a Sail Gold layer, lasso a triangle from the hall's front edge to the front pole and the gatehouse corner. Fill it with #EDBE72, #D4943A and #A0661E, then set the layer to 94% opacity.

Keep the sails muted. If they're the most saturated things in the frame, they steal the eye from the gatehouse.

1. Click Cast Shadows and add a Sail Shade layer.
2. Lasso where each sail's shadow lands, down-left of the sail. Fill the terracotta sail's shadow #93391F and the saffron one's #B8741E.
3. Blur the layer at 3, then set it to Multiply at 45%.

Sunlight through dyed canvas throws a tinted shadow, not a grey one.

1. Add a String Lights layer. Brush a sagging 2 px #3E2A36 wire from the back pole to the front pole and on to the gatehouse's front corner.
2. Set the brush to Size 7 in #FFE6A8. In the Brushes panel, set Spacing to its maximum, 200%.
3. Paint over the same curves. The wide spacing turns each stroke into a row of separate bulbs.
4. Put Spacing back where it was. Give the layer an Outer Glow in #FFB547 with Size 12 and Opacity 80.

1. Click Path so the palm sits behind the plaza, and add a Back Palm layer.
2. Paint the trunk in one stroke, curving gently up from the sand at about (583, 400). Use an 18 px #6E4A3E brush with Taper set to about twice the trunk's length, so it narrows a little toward the top.
3. Add a 3 px #B07A5C sunlit edge down its right side, and a few short #5A3C30 growth rings.
4. On a Crown layer, Shift-lasso nine drooping leaf shapes fanning out from the trunk top, and fill them #3F6B4E.
5. Drag a radial gradient over the crown from #B9D978 at 85% opacity to transparent, starting at its upper right.
6. Brush faint #6E9A52 midribs at Opacity 50.

1. Collapse the Waystation group with its arrow, click its row, and click New Group. Name the new group Oasis.
2. Add a Palm Trunks layer and paint two more trunks on the sand at the left: one at about (258, 614) and one at about (375, 776).
3. Marquee the back palm's crown on Crown and press Cmd+C. Click Palm Trunks and press Cmd+V. Rename the paste Crown 1.
4. Marquee the paste, switch to Move, and click Flip Horizontal in the options bar. Press Cmd+D.

Marquee the crown again. Hold Cmd and drag the bottom-right corner handle inward until the crown is about 82% of its size. Cmd keeps the proportions. Press Cmd+D.

1. Marquee the crown again. Drag just outside a corner handle to rotate it about 8°, then press Cmd+D.
2. Use the arrow keys to nudge it until its centre sits on the trunk top.
3. Repeat the copy for Crown 2 on the front palm. This time skip the flip, scale it to 70% and rotate it −10°.

Copying one crown and varying its flip, scale and tilt keeps the three palms related without looking stamped.

A palm's shadow should look like a palm.

1. Click Plaza Shadow and add a Palm Shadows layer. Lasso a thin band for each trunk's shadow, starting exactly at the trunk base and running down-left. Fill the bands #6A4A78.
2. For each crown, add a temporary layer (the name doesn't matter, because it gets merged).
3. Cmd-click that crown's thumbnail in the Layers panel to load its shape as a selection, and fill it #6A4A78.
4. With the Move tool, drag the top handle down until the shape is about 40% of its height. Press Cmd+D.

1. Nudge each squashed crown to the end of its trunk's shadow band, then choose Layer → Merge Down to merge it into Palm Shadows.
2. Blur Palm Shadows at 2 and set it to Multiply at 45%.

1. Click Plaza Shadow and add a Garden Bed layer. Lasso a diamond on the sand in front of the plaza's left face. Fill it with a gradient from #5A3A2C to #7E5638, and brush four #9A6E48 furrows across it.
2. On a Channel layer, lasso a narrow strip of water from the plaza edge to the bed, and fill it #1F9AA0.
3. Click Water and add a Spillway layer. Lasso the channel across the plaza top and the waterfall down the left face, and fill both the same blue.
4. Brush a 2 px #C8FFF4 highlight down the fall.

1. Click Palm Trunks and add a Garden Plants layer.
2. Click round dabs along each furrow with the brush in #3C6A44, varying Size from 28 to 40. Then click smaller #7FAE58 dabs up and to the right of each one for their lit tops.
3. Add a Drop Shadow in #3A2236: Offset X −7, Offset Y 3, Blur 3, Opacity 50.
4. Drag the layer down below Palm Trunks by the dotted handle at the left of its row. The front palm's trunk now stands in front of the plants, so its shadow starts where you can see it meet the ground.

1. Click Crown 2 and add a Yacht layer.
2. Brush the struts, a crossbeam and three skis in 4 px #2E2030, centred around (1708, 734).
3. Lasso the hull, about 220 px long with its bow pointing down-right along the 2:1 slope. Fill its side #6E4B63 and its deck #E8C08E.
4. Brush the mast straight up from just ahead of the middle of the deck, about 215 px tall.

1. Lasso the mainsail from the mast top down to the end of the boom. Fill it with a gradient from #FFF4DA to #E6B98C.
2. Lasso the jib from the mast to the bow and fill it from #E77B45 to #93391F. Brush the boom.
3. Click Crown 2 again and add a Yacht Shadow layer below the yacht. Lasso the shadows of the hull and both sails, falling down-left like everything else. Shift-add a small contact patch under each ski.
4. Fill them #6A4A78, and brush a thin shadow for the mast.
5. Blur the layer at 3 and set it to Multiply at 45%. The contact patches stop the yacht from floating.

The lanterns stand in three mirrored pairs, one post on each edge of the path at even steps.

1. On a Lantern Shadows layer, brush a short shadow running down-left from each post position. Set it to Multiply at 50%.
2. On a Lantern Posts layer, brush each post 4 px wide and about 65 px tall in #3A2830. Lasso a small dark plinth at each base.
3. On a Lamps layer, click an 11 px #FFE6A8 dot at the top of each post. Add two more on the gatehouse wall, either side of the door.
4. Give Lamps an Outer Glow in #FFAA3C with Size 26 and Opacity 85.

1. Click Ground and add a Sand Grain layer. Fill it with mid-grey #808080.
2. Run Filter → Add Noise… at 60, with Mono and Gaussian selected.
3. Run Filter → Motion Blur… at Angle 153 and Distance 24 to streak the grain along the wind.
4. Set the layer to Overlay at 35%.
5. Add a Drifts layer, run Filter → Clouds… at Scale 3, and set it to Soft Light at 22% for broad patches of light and shade.

1. Click Crest Light and add a Haze layer.
2. Drag a gradient from the top of the canvas down to about y 470. Use #F2C8B8 at 35% opacity, then #F8D7BE at 20% opacity at the halfway point, then fully transparent.

Distant things lose contrast, so the dunes and ribs fall back behind the waystation.

1. Click Lamps and click New Group. Name the group Atmosphere.
2. Add a Sun Glow layer and set a Radial gradient with three stops:

• #FFF0C8 at the start
• #FFC98A at 75% opacity at the 25% point
• #FF9A6A at 0% opacity at the end

1. Drag from (1700, 40) to about the middle of the frame.
2. Set the layer to Screen at 70%.

1. Add a Dust layer, run Clouds at Scale 7, and set it to Screen at 14%.
2. Add a Foreground Shade layer. Drag a #6A4A82 gradient from 60% opacity at the bottom edge to 0% at about y 720.
3. Set it to Multiply. The near sand sinks into dusk and the eye moves up to the buildings.

Because Lamps was active, Atmosphere was created inside Oasis. It needs to sit over everything instead.

1. Collapse Atmosphere and Waystation with their arrows, so the Oasis row is close by.
2. Drag the dotted handle at the left of the Atmosphere row up onto the top half of the Oasis row.
3. As you drag, move a little to the left. Moving left takes the row out one level, and the blue indicator line shows where it will land.
4. Let go. Atmosphere is now the topmost group.

1. Choose Layer → Adjustment Layer… and click Got it. The drawer opens on the Project group, which already holds four neutral nodes: Levels, Curves, Exposure and Hue / Saturation.
2. Click Add Adjustment → Vignette and set it to 35.
3. Raise the Saturation of a Hue / Saturation node to 12. You can use the one that's already there or add a fresh one, as in the screenshot.

These nodes grade everything at once and stay editable.

1. Click Dust and click New Group. Name it Sheet and add a Title Strip layer inside it. Drag the group to the top, as you did with Atmosphere.
2. Click once (without dragging) with the Rectangular Marquee to open the exact-corners dialog. Enter From 0, 1008 and To 1920, 1080, then fill the strip #21172E.
3. Add a Palette Chips layer and choose View → Show Grid. At the right end of the options bar, set Grid to 8px and make sure Snap is ticked.
4. Drag six 32 px squares between y 1028 and 1060, with 8 px gaps, ending at the right guide. They snap exactly onto the grid. Fill them #C98352, #8F6577, #B4502E, #D4943A, #1F9AA0 and #3F6B4E.
5. Choose View → Show Grid again to hide the grid. Give the chips a 1 px #F6E6CC Stroke.

Click Palette Chips before each new text, so the Text settings don't restyle the previous one.

1. Set Saira Condensed, Bold, Size 42, Letter spacing 5, #F6E6CC. Type OASIS WAYSTATION in empty canvas and commit it. Nudge it so its left edge sits on the 48 px margin, centred in the strip.
2. Set Space Mono at Size 14, Letter spacing 1, #D7B48E. Type THE LONG DUNE / ENV 07 / DUSK KEY FRAME, then nudge it about 36 px right of the title, on the same baseline.
3. Set Space Mono at Size 12, #EBCFAE, and type PALETTE. Place it 16 px left of the first chip, centred on the strip.

1. Add a Leaders layer and pick the Pencil at Size 2 in #2E1E30.
2. For each callout, click on the feature, then Shift-click an elbow and an end point to draw a straight two-part leader:

• Spire: from the vanes up and left into the sky above the hall.
• Hull: from a rib straight down, then right to x 1600.
• Yacht: from the mainsail straight up.
• Gatehouse: from the shaded wall straight down to about y 926.

1. With the Brush, click a 9 px ink dot at each feature end, then a 4 px #FFE6A8 dot on top.

Each label is a Space Mono Bold 13 heading with letter spacing 1, in #2E1E30. Under it, 9 px below, goes a Space Mono 12 note.

• Condensation Spire: CONDENSATION SPIRE with copper dew-vanes, signal lamp. Its right edge sits 10 px before its leader's end.
• Buried Hull: BURIED HULL with the wreck that named the dune, starting at x 1610.
• Sand Yacht: SAND YACHT with courier rig, parked downwind, also starting at x 1610, sitting just above its leader.
• Gatehouse: GATEHOUSE with turquoise cupola, painted sign, awning, ending right where its leader turns. Keep it at least 48 px above the strip.

To move a heading and its note together, click one row and Cmd-click the other, then nudge them with the arrow keys. Leave 40 px or more between every label and the artwork.

1. Type ART DEPT / KEY FRAME 07 / FOR INTERNAL REVIEW in Space Mono 11, Letter spacing 2, #4E3248.
2. With the Move tool, click Rotate 90° CCW in the options bar. The text stays live.
3. Nudge it so it ends on the right guide, about 50 px above the strip.

Save with File → Save Project, then choose File → Quick Export PNG to export the key frame.