Treasure Chest

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In this tutorial you can learn how to create an illustrated treasure chest by using the pen tool and the shapes tool. I will also cover how you can add excitement to the image by adjusting the settings of different layers. I used this technique in a layout I made that can be viewed here. If you need any help on executing this tutorial then contact me.

To begin, open up Paint Shop Pro and create a new image that matches the size you want your illustration to be. My image is sized 359 x 267.

To begin, we will illustrate the bottom of the treasure chest. In order to do this select the Preset Shape Tool (P) . Make your first pallet transparent and match your second pallet to the colour #71532F. Select the rectangle shape and draw a small rectangle on your blank canvas, once you've drawn it convert it into a raster layer.

In order to make it look like one side of the treasure chest, we have to deform the shape. To do this select the Deform Tool (D) . Adjust the mode to 'shear', and use this to pull the two right corners up, this way it looks as if it's going in. Repeat this step with a small rectangle that will resemble the other side of the treasure chest.

After the sides have been drawn, go to merge the top layer down (Layers > Merge > Merge Down) once so that the sides are now only one single layer.

To draw on the lid we'll use the Pen Tool (V) (), in order to trace your shape with curve, click where you want the shape to begin, click at a different point and then drag the mouse (Example (from illustration guide tutorial).

Match your pen tool settings to mine below:
Segment type: Point to point
Meter limit: 15
Create as vector
The line width is not important as the top pallet has been made transparent

Make your first pallet transparent (this pallet is for borders), match your second pallet to the colour #71532F. Use the pen tool to draw on the lid; I have an example of mine to the left. Once you are satisfied convert it to a raster layer and merge it down with the previous layer that holds the chest sides.

We want the the insides of the chest to appear behind the outside layer so before we start drawing them make sure that you have highlighted your base layer. If you ever forget to do this you can always drag your layers around to organize them.

Still using the pen tool, change your second pallet colour to #483620 and fill in the inside of the treasure chest. See my example on the right if you are confused. Once you have finished, convert the vector layer into a raster layer.

Right now, you can see the treasure chest coming together, but some lines will make it stand out more. The first line we'll add in will be inside the treasure chest - we want it to be above the layer containing the dark brown but below the outside layer. Change your first pallet to the colour #000000 and use pen tool at a line width to 1.00 to draw a curved line inside, set this layer to Soft Light at 50%. Also draw a line inside where the treasure chest opens, but this is optional we will go over this line later when we add in the jewels. Once you're done convert the vector layer to a raster layer.

Next we will outline the outside of the treasure chest, as this layer is to appear on top make sure that before you draw it you have selected the top layer. Once again, make your top pallet transparent and match your second to the colour #39452D. Draw a thick outline on the treasure chest - once you are done convert the vector layer to a raster layer and draw another single black line (set to Soft Light at 50% and converted into a raster layer) where the chest's corners meet. See my example to the left if you are confused.

Now the image has really started to form! Using the pen tool again, make your top pallet transparent whilst you second pallet should match the colour #D0C624, draw on a solid shape that should depict a group of jewels. What you do from here is up to you. We've used the shapes tool, the deform tool and the pen tool, we've converted vector layers to raster layers and learned how the organisation of layers change the image - use all that we've learned in this tutorial to draw things that go inside and outside the treasure chest. This can mean money, jewels... whatever your mind comes up with... be creative.

Finally, the finishing touches! Select the Paint Brush (B) tool, change the size to 40 and the hardness to 0. Create a new raster layer and draw some colour bubbles inside the treasure chest - adjust the opacity of this layer to around 30%.

Lastly, select the Preset Shape Tool (P) and change the shape to Star 1 and the colour to #FFFFFF (the first pallet should be transparent), draw some sparkles onto your image. Next select Adjust > Blur > Gaussian Blur and blur this layer containing the stars to a radius of around 1 or 1.5 (no more that 2) - set this layer to Dodge at around 80%.

All that's left to do is merge your image visible and apply an attractive background to finish it off.

Good luck! ^_^