I then set the windmill layer as an Overlay layer in order to mix it with the background and to achieve the same mood as illustrated in the rest of the composition. Using a new layer I enhanced the sun, simulating a stronger volume light. For the sky I mixed some different sky photographs from my library and applied a mask to it (Fig.16). For the layer of wheat I used the same Overlay blending mode that I used for the windmill. I then duplicated the layer and manipulated it to reach the idea of a larger field.
Fig.14d
Fig.14e
Before I could finally start color adjusting Don Quixote, I had to fix some minor render and texture errors. I usually ignore these kinds of errors prior to this stage because they’re easily corrected here in Photoshop (if I was making an animation then I most certainly would have had to polish these things up earlier in 3d Studio Max). Finally, with the color as I wanted it, I set the occlusion pass on top of everything with its blending mode set to Multiply. This helped to settle things down and also emphasized the contact shadows. Fig.15
Fig.16
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Cartoon