* * * ADDING HILITES * * *

Note: when adding your hilites, you can also go back to your base color swatch and use those colors while highlighting.

1. Add a new layer and name it "grass hilites".

2. Click on your Airbrush tool and change the Opacity to 50.

3. Using the colors from the grass hilites swatch and adjusting the size as needed, spray hilites on your grass, just "going with the flow" as there is nothing precise about this step:

4. Make your water layer active.

5. Add a new layer and name it "water hilites".

6. Using the colors from the water hilites swatch and adjusting the size as needed, spray hilites on your water, using the darker shades in the foreground. Switch between colors and overlap your colors to get plenty of shades on your canvas. Play with the hardness and opacity to get just a touch of your color:

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* * * BLENDING AND SHADING * * *

1. Turn off the visibility for your bottom two layers ("base-white" and "base-black") and your water layers ("water" and "water hilites"); then merge the remaining layers (Layers/Merge/Merge Visible).

2. Rename this merged layer "background".

3. Turn on the visibility for your "base-black" layer (this will make it easier to see your colors).

4. With your "background" layer active, click on your Smudge Brush and change your settings to the following:

Shape: Round
Size: 10
Hardness: 20
Step: 1
Density: 100
Thickness: 100
Rotation: 0
Opacity: 50
Sample Merged: Unchecked

5. Using your Smudge Brush, start by defining the edges of your grass (you can use your Airbrush to add more color at any time if you think you need it - I found I needed to add more dark green at my edges) and continue blending your colors (adjusting the Hardness and Opacity as needed - I ended up with my Hardness as high as 40 and my Opacity as high as 80). I started blending horizontally, then used short vertical strokes, then more horizontal blending :

6. Turn off the visibility for all layers EXCEPT "water" and "water hilites"; merge these two visible layers and rename this merged layer "water".  Turn on the visibility for all your layers. (Layers/View/All)

7. With your "water" layer active, click on your Smudge Brush and start blending your colors:

8. Merge your "water" and "background" layers and rename the merged layer "background".

9. Use your Smudge Brush to blend the edges around your water, using short strokes. I also toned down the hill I had in the upper right corner:

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