That is a fantastic image and is pretty representative of the work Houseal Lavigne does (I've long been a fan).
If you're looking to reduce the number of applications used, I've had a bit of success taking snapshots in CE and then configuring in Photoshop or GIMP. In CE you can ensure that the snapshot is in the same location and then blend different versions. The image below was two snapshots, with and without wireframes, and merged with transparency. I was going for something muted but you could do things to give it a more textured aesthetic.
Scott