How to Render a Professional Audi R8 in Photoshop

Step 7 – Ground Plane

Select the area just in front of the car and fill that in with black then reduce the opacity until you get a second shadow falling.

Step 8 – Gradients

Use the magic wand to select the lower part of the car from the shoulder-line downwards.

Select the brush tool and select soft round pressure size. Make the colour black and change the flow to about 5.

With the area selected stroke a gradient as shown. The more you stroke the darker it will get.

Step 9 – Door Shape

Add a gradient to suggest that the door has some body section and an air intake just behind the door.

Step 10 – Wing Mirror Shadow

Add a gradient for the shadow being cast by the wing mirror and just underneath the shoulder to illustrate the undercut in the door.

Step 11 – Beltline Gradients

Add gradients in the beltline areas and hood to give it more shape.

Step 12 – Ground Plane Shadow

Add a gradient to the bottom of the car.

Step 13 – Blade Detail

Continue to add gradients with a combination of a layer mask so you can quickly add and subtract colour as required.

Step 14 – Strip Light Reflections

Car design studios have strip lights in them to make it easy to read a cars design language. Imagine how the light would fall on the car if it was standing in line with them.

Step 15 – Exhaust 1

Select the exhaust pipe housing and fill in the dark areas. Then select the exhaust pipe itself and stroke some horizontal paths along it to give it a chrome like appearance.

Step 16 – Exhaust 2

Add some dark gradient to the lower inner edge of the exhaust.

Step 17 – Exhaust 3

Select the outer-most boundary of the exhaust and expand the selection. Select inverse and add a gradient to the bottom right area to make it look like it slightly swollen for the exhaust.