2dartist October 2016

  

130 0 13 Issue130|October2016

Re-imaginethe Re-im aginethe fallofIcarus Discoverhowyou cancreatestriking imagesbytakinga freshapproachwith familiarlegends

plus •Captivatingconceptart • Dramaticgameandfilmconcepts •Mixingnatureandgeometry • Dynamicinksketches •Speedpaintamedicmech •andmuchmore!

 

 

2DARTISTMAGAZINE 2DARTIST MAGAZI MAGAZINE NE |

ISSUE130

Editor’sLetter

KEEPUPTODATE

2dar  arti  tist  stissue130! Welcometo2d  issue130!

WITH3DTOTAL!

Thismonth’sissueeaturestheworko Thismonth’sissueeature stheworkotwo two incredibleseniorconceptartists,RichardAnderson andBradWrightwhodiscusstheircareersinthe gameandilmindustries gameand gameandilmindustriesandsharetheirtips ilmindustriesandshare andsharetheirtipsor theirtipsor or success.WealsospeaktoillustratorDavidRice abouthisworkdrawinglinksbetweennatureand geometry,andcomic geometry, geometry,andcomicbookartistKoveck andcomicbookartistKoveckshowcases bookartistKoveckshowcases showcases hisdynamiccharactersketches.

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AlsointhisissueyoucanlearnromThibaultGirard Alsointhisissue youcanlearnromThibaultGirard howtospeedpaintasci-isceneeaturingamedic mechandseehowLorenzoLanranconicreatesan animationstyleenvironment.JuanNovellettois backwithatutorialre-imaginingthealloIcarus, discoverhowtodesignacharacterimbuedwith mysterywithEmiChenandCathleenMcAllisterkicks offournewseries offour offournewserieson newseriesondigitalpleinair ondigitalpleinairpainting! digitalpleinairpainting! painting!

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ANNIEMOSS ANNIEMOS S

JuniorEditor

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Contributors BRADWRIGHT

EMICHEN

BradWrightisaconceptartistwithtwelveyears experienceworkingwithinthegameandilmindustry. HeiscurrentlyworkingatCreativeAssembly,UKon Halo Wars2.

EmiChenisareelanceillustratorbasedinProvidence, USA.ShecurrentlyworksorBlizzardEntertainmentand specializesincreatingantasyillustrationswithdynamic lightingandintensecolor.

RICHARDANDERSON

CATHLEENMCALLISTER

RichardAndersonisSeniorConceptArtistatRocksteady studios.Hehaspreviouslyworkedonhighproileprojects suchas Prometheus, GuardiansoftheGalaxyand and Batman: ArkhamK  Arkh amKnigh night t.

CathleenMcAllisterisa CathleenMcAllist erisavisualdevelopmentartist visualdevelopmentartist romLosAngeles,USA.Shecurrentlyworksor animationcompanyReelFX.Shespecializesinpainting environments,architecture,props,andgenerating moodpaintings.

2 |

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DAVIDRICE

JUANNOVELLETTO

DavidRicemovedromColoradotoPortland,Oregonin 2012toworkasacommercialillustrator.Hebecamea studioassistanttoBlaineFontanain2013thenturned ull-timeindependentartistin2014.

JuanNovellettoisaconceptartistandillustratorrom BuenosAires,Argentina.HeworksatNGDStudios, developingtheMasteroOrionrebootandisalsoArt DirectoratindiegamestudioNastycloud.

KOVECK

LORENZO LANFRANCONI

Koveckhasworkedasacomicbookartistandreelance illustratorsincehegraduatedinFineArts.Currentlyhe worksinthevideogameindustryasaseniorconcept artistatUbisofBarcelona.

LorenzoLanranconiisa2DartistromItaly.Heis currentlyworkingonsomeeditorialprojectsincluding ALPHAb ALP  HAbeta etatest test,apersonalartbookbasedonan environmentaljourney.

THIBAULTGIRARD

KENBARTHELMEY

ThibaultGirardisaconceptandenvironment artistatFuturLab.HelivesinUK,isaFrench

KenBarthelmeyisanillustratorspecializingincreature andcharacterdesign.Hehasworkedonmanyilm

native,andispassionateaboutJapanese culture,sci-iartandbooks.

projectsincluding TheMazeRunnerand and TheScorchTrials. KenalsoworksonhisownIPproject.

 

 

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ISSUE130

Contents Issue130 006_Captivatingconceptart GameandfilmartistBradWrightshowcaseshis GameandfilmartistBradWright showcaseshis story-drivenworks 020

_Dramaticgameandfilmconcepts DiscovertheimpressiveworkofSeniorConcept ArtistRichardAnderson

_Mixingnatureandgeomet geometry geomet ry 036_Mixingnatureand IllustratorDavidRiceshowcaseshisbold paintingspersonifyingnature 050_Dynamicinksketches  IllustratorandcomicbookartistKoveck showcaseshisenergeticsketches

_Gallery 062_Gallery VeraVelichkoandFlorianAupetit’ VeraVelichk oandFlorianAupetit’sworkfeature sworkfeature amongthetopteninspiringnewartworks _Speedpaintamedicmech 082_Speedpaintamedicmech Paintascenefeaturingasci-fi Paintascene featuringasci-fimedicinunder medicinunder twohours 094_Designamysteriouscharacter Illustrateamaskedcharacterwith symbolicimagery 104_Paintapleinairsunset  Improveyourlightandcolorstudieswithdigital pleinairpaintings

_Re-imaginethefallofIcarus Icarus Icarus 114_Re-imaginethefallof JuanNovellettogivesthetraditionalGreektale asci-fispin

124_Developinganimationstyle

environments Learnhowalimitedbrushsetcanbeusedto Learnhowalimitedbrushset Learnhowa limitedbrushsetcanbeused canbeusedto createastylizedenvironment

134_DigitalArtMaster:KenBarthelmey SeehowKencreateshisexoticfantasycreatures

SAVE30%! Subscribetoday Gotopage132fordetails

   

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TheArtist

BradWright artstation.com/artist/ bradwright Interviewedby: AnnieMoss

BradWrightisaconcept artistwithtwelveyears experienceworking withinthegameandfilm industry.Heiscurrently workingatCreative Assembly,UKon Halo Wars2.

Captivating conceptart

SeniorconceptartistBradWrightdiscusseshissymbiotic processandshareshisadviceformaintainingcreativity

   

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7 ©OBSIDIANREVERIEBradl ©OBSIDIAN REVERIEBradleyWright eyWright

   

2DARTISTMAGAZINE 2DARTIST MAGAZI MAGAZINE NE | Captivatingconceptart

Thegroundlevelofthehugesupertowers hugesupertowersaroundthecity,whereoldBerlin a aroundthecity, roundthecity,whereoldBerlinfuseswith whereoldBerlinfuseswith Thegroundlevelofthe thenewtechno-industrialarchitecture©OBSIDIANREVERIEBradleyWright OBSIDIANREVERIEBradleyWright

BradWrightisanexperiencedconceptartist inthefilmandgamesindustrieswhosework youmayhaveseenonrenownedprojectssuch as HaloWars2,Alien: Ali en:Isol  Isolati  ation onand Syndicate. However,Brad’spathintoconceptartwasnot anentirelysmoothone.Lackingdirection, Bradoriginallyconsideredacareerincomputer science,beforestartingonapathtowards graphicdesign.Hethenswitchedtostudying advertisingbeforeeventuallyfindinganarea thatreallygraspedhisimagination;conceptart. Itisthestorytellingaspectofconceptartwhich excitesBradthemost,allowinghimtopioneer newworldsandexplorefreshideas.Infact Bradactivelyseeksoutinspirationfromworks thatarethedirectoppositeofhisownstyleto helphimgeneratenewnarrativeideas.This monthwespeaktoBradabouttheprojects thathavehadthebiggestimpactonhiswork, howhemaintainshiscreativityandhetellsus howhehasbeenstrengthenedasanartist...

2dartist: HiBrad,thankyoufortalkingto 2dartis 2dar  tist t!Canyoukickthingsoffbytellingus !Canyoukickthingsoffbytellingus

alittlebitaboutyourselfandyourwork? BradWright:Well,Ihavebeenworkinginstudios

fortwelveyearsnow.I’mcurrentlyinthesouthof  Halo EnglandworkingforCreativeAssemblyonthe Halo Warsfranchise,havingjoinedtheteamoriginally Ali en:Iso Isolati  lation on.BothhavebeenIPs toworkonAlien:

whichIholddear,andinspiremyworkgreatly. AlthoughIwasborninSouthAfrica,Igrewupin NorthernIreland.Alotofthatupbringingintroubled Irelandhasstuckwithmeandisalwayssomewhere intheworkIdo.Storytellingiswhatreallyexcites me,whetherthatisinconceptdesign,comics,or illustration.Conceptartappealsthemostformy needs,asitallowsmetoexploreworldbuilding moreeffectively.Outsideofmyconceptdutiesand personalendeavors,Ienjoymoretraditionalart. Portraitandfiguredrawingarepassionsofmine. 2da:Howwouldyoudescribeyourjob

toagroupofaliens,whohavenoidea whataconceptartistisordoes? BW:Acommunicator,solvingvisualproblems.

WhenIexplainmyjobtomyfatherImightaswell beexplainingittoanalien.SoforthatIsimply say,Idrawthingswhichmakepeopletogo“oooh cool.”Though,inmyexperience,manyindustry producersanddirectorsstruggletounderstand

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whataconceptartistisordoes.Soasidefrom

beautifulandengaging,andforme,itledtogreater

beingavisualcommunicatorandproblemsolver,

thingsinmyownworkandability.Sotobeable

aconceptartistneedstobeadaptable.Whether

tocontributetothatlegacywasrewarding.

thatistotheprojectorthedirectiontheyaregiven. 2da:You’veworkedonawidevarietyof 

projectsincluding HaloWars2, Syndicate  and ChroniclesofRiddick.Whichprojecthave

“Idevotedayearto learninghowtodraw properly.My properly .Mystudying studying vergedonobsessive”

youmostenjoyedworkingonandwhy? 2da:Whatmadeyouwanttopursuea BW:Asafanofsciencefiction,Ihavebeenfortunate

careerinthedigitalartindustry?

topredominantlyworkwithinthatgenre.Cyberpunk ismyfirstlove,so Syndicatehitthatmark.Thework

BW:Isetoff,likemany,withnocluewhatIwanted

wasfreeingandallowedtometodevelopand

todoinlife.Ididn’tpursueartinanyway;no

strengthenasanartist.Boththroughtheproject

drawing,designing,orevenanalyzingandabsorbing

itself,andalsotheteamIworkedinastherewere

art.Itookthelogicalstepsandwenttowards

strongartiststofeedoffandgrow.Soforthese

acareerpathincomputersciencethatoffered

reasonsIwouldconsideritthemostimportant

financialrewards.However,Irealizedveryquickly,

projectandmostfunprojecttohavehadworkedon.

Ilackanykindofaptitudeforsuchendeavors.

Alien:I Alien:Isola  solation  sola tionthoughistheprojectIconsider

WithnootheroptionsavailabletomeIfollowed

myselfmostfortunatetohaveworkedon.It’sa

mybrother’spathandwentintographic

franchisethateveryconceptartistowessome

design.Studyingadvertisingatuniversity

partoftheirjourneyto.Wecreatedsomething

ledmetorealizethatIhatedit,butIloved

Danny,theheroof ObsidianReverie ObsidianReverie ,isagun-slinging,cyborg,cyber-cop ©OBSIDIANREVERIEBradleyWright

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Keyframeartfor ObsidianReverie .Thehero,Danny,savesthegirl ©OBSIDIANREVERIEBradleyWright

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BeforeBradworksondetailedconcept paintings,thumbnailuponthumbnailneedstobedone thumbnailneedstobedone bedone toflesh bedonetoflesh BeforeBradworks ondetailedconceptpaintings,thumbnailuponthumbnailneedsto outthedesign. outthedesign.Iterationequalsa Iterationequalsa Iterationequalsasuccessfuldesign©BradleyWright ssuccessfuldesign© uccessfuldesign©BradleyWright BradleyWright

   

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illustrating.Soaferuniversity,Idevoteda

BW:Myday-to-daytoolsaresimplyPhotoshopand

programdesigning,everythingisroughedoutin2D

yeartolearninghowtodrawproperly.

3dsMax.I’veseenthegrowingneedtounderstand

irst.Ithasbecomeasymbioticprocess,switching

anduse3Dsofwareinconceptdesign.Turnarounds

backandorththroughoutanygivendesignprocess.

Mystudyingvergedonobsessive,andalmost

aresoquick,thatthrowing3Dilesbackandorth

exactlyayearromdecidingonthatpathIlanded

aroundthestudioorquickiteration,isvital.

myirstindustryjob,takingmetoSweden.Itwas

“Withgameengines becomingmoreimpressive,it alsomeanssometimesIneed topushtherealisminrenders

onlythenthatIknewwithcompleteabsolution

Ocoursetheundamentalsarecompletelyvital,and

thatthiswasmypathinlie,andIstillmaintain

shouldneverbeoverlooked.Beingabletorealize

thatobsessivedevotiontwelveyearslater.

anytaskquicklyonpaper,willalwaysserveyouwell. Whenwehireinthestudio,theirstthingwelookor

2da:Whatareyourpreerredtools

isundamentaldrawingskills.EverythingIdostarts

2da:Arethereanytools,techniquesorsofware

toworkwithandwhy?

withasketch.EvenwhenIspendivehoursina3D

youwouldliketoexploreintheuture,andwhy?

ofmyconceptart”

BW:I’vebeentouchingupondigitalsculptingin

Brad’ssignificantartwork

ZBrush.Notinthehopesocreatingprecisesculpted

Althoughdatedinageandtechnique,andveryhardtolookat,thisimageisimportantinmy

piecesowork,butmoretoaidthesketchphase.It

workbecauseitopenedmanydoorsorme.Itbroughtmeintothegazeoeditorsorhigh-level

isuseultoquicklyblock-outshapes,totakeorward

magazines,andevenilmdirectors.Itwasapersonalexplorationincreatingthesedeadspace travelersthatIenjoyedimmensely,withnointentionsopleasinganyoneelse.Sadlythisimagery hasbecomeclichédanddilutedsincethistimeperiod,somesevenoreightyearsago.Asmuch asI’dlovetopaintmoreothis,I’mtiredobeingaskediitisareerencetoDoctorWho!

laterineither3dsMaxorpaintinPhotoshop. Withgameenginesbecomingmoreimpressive,it alsomeanssometimesIneedtopushtherealism inrendersomyconceptart.Understanding photographyhashelpedtolightscenesmore effectivelyandhopeullypresentamore believabledesign.Thoughallthesedigital techniquesarewonderul,Istillcontinuetopush mytraditionalwork.Designonpaperisaskill thatIneedtocontinuouslytrainandhone. 2da:Whichartistorgroupoartists

particularlyinspiresyourwork? BW:ThesedaysItendtospendlessandless

timeviewingonlineartcommunities.Thework isallincredible,butIearitwillleadmetobeing tooinspiredandaddtothepooloinbred visualdesign.Latchingontoadsandtrendsare neededortheshot-callersintheindustry,but domenoavorsinmypersonaldevelopment. Instead,Isearchoutilmsthatareataglance,very muchthepolaroppositeotheworkItendtodo.The ilmsoTerrenceMalickorexamplehaveinspired justabo just aboute utevery verythin thingI gIdo. do.Ana Analyz lyzing ingsuch suchil ilmsw mswill ill onlybeanaidtomaybethemostimportantaspect oconceptdesign,thestorytelling.Evenprops inagameneedsomeelementostorytelling. AsImentionedearlier,cyberpunkisaloveomine, sotheclassicmoviesothegenrereallyinspireme; boththeilmsthemselvesandthedevelopment behindthescenes.Understandingwheretheorigin othesemasterpiecescameromcanhopeully helpmeincreatingsomethingmemorablemysel.

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2da:Iyoucouldmeetanyartist(pastor

present)whatwouldyouaskthemandwhy? BW:IwouldaskSydMeadoralittleinsightinto

histhoughtprocessregardingshapelanguage. ObviouslyIlackhisengineeringbackground,somore thanlikelyitwouldbelostonme.Havingabetter understandingocompositionwouldcomerom askingthecinematographerRogerDeakinsabout hisapproachtocomposingandcoloringashot. WitheveryartistIhavemet,nomattertheir levelordiscipline,Ihavenodesireorpatience tohearhowtheycreatedsomething.Iwantto knowwhytheydidwhattheydid.Understanding someone’smotivationstodosomethingiskey. Wecanalllearntherightbuttonstopushor

Vastgleamingsupertowershousethemoreafflue owershousethemoreaffluentpopulace,leavingthedre ntpopulace,leavingthedregsto ntpopulace,leavingthedre gsto Vastgleamingsupertowershousethemoreafflue inhabittheslumsthatremainofoldBerlin©OBSIDIANREVERIEBradleyWright inhabittheslumsthatremainof oldBerlin©OBSIDIANREVERIEBradleyWright

strokestopaint,butlearningwheretheneedto dosocomesromisavaluableeducation. 2da:Where(andwhen)doyoueel

youareatyourmostcreative?  BW:Inbedabouttodrifoff,ocourse. WhenI’mrelaxed,thatiswhentheideas loodinbutitisnotthebesttimeorit. IthinkI’vetrainedmyselovertheyearsto avoidmanylullsincreativity.Ikeepmymind constantlyevaluatingpossiblesolutionsand explorationstopursue.Ithinkthatcomesrom astudioenvironment,andtheneedtoalways beontheballandreadytotackleatask.Even inreelancework,youcan’treallyaffordto notbeabletotapintoyourcreativity.I’mnot paidtositaroundscratchingmyhead.

Likeeverything,itisjustsomethingthat needstotrainedandexercisedregularly.II disappearoraweekonvacation,Ieelthatlull tryingtocreepin...soIdon’tdovacations. ForBrad’spersonalproject ObsidianReverie .Theheroarrives

2da:Artistblockisaproblemormanycreative

onscene©OBSIDIANREVERIEBradleyWright Wright

people.Canyoushareacoupleotipsyou usewhentheinspirationstopslowing? goodsourcetokick-startsomething.Imysellove

goodstartingpointtorunwith,andinaloto 

BW:Itouchedonthispreviously,andreallyI

aspotopoetry.TheworksoW.B.Yeatsalways

circumstances,agoodselectionoreerence.

don’tbelieveinartistorwritersblocks.Atmy

loodmymindwithimageryandinspiration.

Thishappensespeciallywithmoviebries,where thedirectorneedstogetasmuchoutoyouas

lowestlevelsocreativityIcanstillholdapencil andmakemarksonpaper.That’senough

2da:Whatinitialstepsdoyoutakewhenyouare

possibleandasquicklyaspossible.Inmygame

tostarttobuilduptowardssomething.

irstgivenabrieoranewproject?Doyoudive

conceptwork,Igorighttothesketchingwith

straightinordoyouhaveamoreanalyticalprocess?

simplelineartusually;justpost-itstylethrowaway stuff.Iwouldusuallydipinandoutomyown

tickingoverandinaconstantmodeosearching.

BW:Usuallyorme,it’sadive-right-in-there

reerencegatheringasIdothis,asideasevolve

Ithatails,thenilmsandbooksarealwaysa

approach.Agoodbriewillalwayshavea

anddevelop.I’mnotthemostanalyticalthinker,

Maybenothingwillcomeoit,butitkeepsthemind

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sochaosisalotlessconstrictingforme.Itjustfeels likeamorefluidprocessfordevelopingideas.

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PROTIP Beoriginalandcreative

2da:Whatadvicewouldyougivetosomeonewhois

Takethetimetodevelopyourownideas.Asaconceptartistitshouldbeparamountthat

strugglingtolaunchtheircareerasaconceptartist?

youdemonstrateoriginalthinking.Createyourownworldsandpopulateitwithdesign.Your portfoliowillstandouttostudios,showthatyoucandesign,andyouhavethestayingpowerto

BW:BeaUIartist.They’realwaysindemand.

sticktoaconsistentlycoherentstreamofdesign.

Butifconceptisyourpathinlife,thenyouneed toputtheworkin.Avoidtheonline“clicks”and theconstantneedforsocialgratification,and

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Exploringthepossibilitiesofwhatamoreanime,animatedapproachto moreanime,animatedapproachto Exploringthepossibilitiesofwhata ObsidianReverie mightlooklike© mightlooklike©OBSIDIANREVERIEBradleyWright OBSIDIANREVERIEBradleyWright

2DARTISTMAG.COM Classicsci-fiarchetypesof hulkingspaceships,have hulkingspaceships,have

alwaysappealedtoBrad©BradleyWright  

 

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insteadtrainyourcraf.Nooneisgoingtogive youthegoldenticketortellyoutheshortcutsto success.Youwillbeasuccessiyougrindatit.

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PROTIP Traditionalpractice Don’teverstopdrawing.Photo-realand3Dmethodshavebecomeandwillcontinuetobe

Itisn’tglamorousandattimes,itisn’tun.It’s

arequiredmeanstoworkin.Buttraditionalknowledgeandtrainingwillalwaysbethesolid

ajoblikeanyother,whichrequireshardwork,

oundationtobuildupon.Solidknowledgeocomposition,value,andobservationalskillswill

commitmentandsacriice.Itwillrewardyou

takeyourworktoalevelthatelevatesit.

orthisthoughbyseeingyourlittleseedoan ideasproutintowonderulexperienceswhich willhopeullyaddtosomesortolegacy. notatacomputerordesigningmuch,thatit

that.ItisverydifferenttotheworkIdoormysel.My

Pleasedrawtoo!Theamountoyoungaspiring

separatesitselandeelslikeabreakromthe

personalproject ObsidianReverieiswhatIoccupy

conceptartistwhocan’tdrawisterriyinglyhigh.

job.Buto job.Bu tocou course rseiti itisa sallt lltrai rainin ningo gorth rthej ejob. ob.

mostomyreetimewith,writingandillustrating.

WeharkbacktothelikesoSydMead,RonCobb, andKowYokoyama,tonameaew,orareason.

Itwillberealizedmorecollectivelyintheuture, Otherthanthat,Ienjoymakingpoorattemptsat

intheormoastory-drivenconceptartbook.

writingstories.AsImentionedearlier,storytelling 2da:Whenyou’renotworkinghardonyour

isadrivingorce,sobeingabletowritemore

I’malsodevelopingcollectibleproductswitha

art,whatdoyouliketodowithyourtime?

thantheimagecantell,isveryulillingorme.

colleague,1/6scaleactioniguresandstatues, whichwewillbetouringtheconventionswith

BW:Ilifheavyweightsandwriteprose.Itend

2da:Finally,wherewillwebeabletoseeyourwork

nextyear.Solookoutorthat,andhopeully

toillallmytimewithartthough.Ihaveound

next?Arethereanyprojectsweshouldlookoutor?

getstuckintothisworldwearedeveloping!

BW:HaloWars2willbeoutearlynextyear,so

ThankyouBradfortalkingto2dartist!

thatmyhobbiesthesedayshavebecomethe observationalstuff,likeportraitandiguredrawing. It’sdifferentenoughrommyworkinthatI’m

hopeullyI’llhavelotsoconceptarttoshowor

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Anaerospaceshuttlecapableofatmosphericandsp uttlecapableofatmosphericandspaceflight.Forf  aceflight.Forf ast Anaerospacesh  Anaerospaceshuttlecapableofatmosphericandsp transitofgoodsorpeople©OBSIDIANREVERIEBradleyWright transitofgoodsorpeople ©OBSIDIANREVERIEBradleyWright

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Dramaticgame andf ilmc lmcon onc on cepts Withthirteenyears’experiencecreatingexcitingconceptsforthe entertainmentindustry,andaSpectrumGoldawardtohisname, RichardAndersonshareshisknowledgeandtoptips

 

 

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TheArtist

RichardAnderson flaptrapsart.com Interviewedby:

DebbieCording RichardAndersonis seniorconceptartistat RocksteadyStudios.He haspreviouslyworkedon highprofileprojectssuch as Prometheus Prometheus,, Guardians oftheGalaxyand and Batman: ArkhamK  Arkh amKnigh night t.

21 Allimages©RichardAnderson Allimages©RichardAnderson

 

 

2DARTISTMAGAZINE 2DARTIST MAGAZI MAGAZINE NE | Dramaticgameandfilmconcepts

Whenafriendofhisbrotherpresentedten-

as Prometheus, GuardiansoftheGalaxyandthe

careerstartedonthe GuildWarsfranchisein

year-oldRichardAndersonwithtwocrates

Batman:ArkhamKnightgame,amovetoLondon,

2003,andatthemomentI’mworkingasa

ofcomics,itinitiatedalife-longloveofcomic

andwinningaGoldSpectrumaward.Thismonth

seniorconceptartistatRocksteadyStudios.

andfantasyart.AttheageofnineteenRichard

wecatchupwithRichardtohearabouthis

movedtoSeattletostudyanimationbefore

recentwork,howhispeershaveinfluencedhis

2da:Whenwelastspoketoyouin2008,you

beginninghiscareerasa3Denvironmentartistat

artwork,andhowheovercomescreativeblock...

wereworkingon GuildWars2.Whathave youbeenuptointhelasteightyears?

ArenaN Are naNet, et,work working ingont onthe he GuildWarsfranchise. 2dartist tist 2dartist:HiRichard,thanksfortalkingto 2dar 

Backin2008(issue031),2dar  2dar tistspoketo 2dartist

again!Couldyoureintroduceyourselftothereaders?

RA:Well,Imovedfromconceptartisttocinematic

illustratoron GuildWars2in2008,andworkedat

Richard,bythenaconceptandillustratorfor theentertainmentindustry,abouthisworkon

RichardAnderson: Hi!MynameisRichard

ArenaNetforafewmoreyears.Igotmarriedin

GuildWars2.SincethenRichard’scareerhas

Anderson,alsoknownas“flaptraps.”I’vebeena

2010;mywifeisFrench,andwewerethinkingof 

gonefromstrengthtostrength,seeinghimbusily

conceptartistandillustratorintheentertainment

movingtoEuropeatsomepoint.Thenin2011

workingonmajorfilmandgameprojectssuch

industryforaboutfourteenyearsnow.My

IwascontactedoutofthebluebyMPCwho

Apersonalpiece

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ApaintsketchforRichard’ Apaintsketch forRichard’sdailies forRichard’ sdailies

Artist istTim Timeli Tim eline eli ne Richard’scareersofar  Artist Art 2003: StartedworkingatArenaNetonthe GuildWars GuildWars

2008: Workpublishedin Spectrum

franchiseasa3Denvironmentartist

Studioson Batman:ArkhamKnight 2011: RichardwonaGoldawardin Spectrum 

2007: BecameofficialconceptartistatArenaNet

whichgaveRichardalotofrecognition  2008: Workfeaturedonthecoverof 

 2014: AwardedexcellenceawardbytheArtDirectors

2011: MovedtoLondon,UKtoworkatMPCon 2008: Workshownin IntoThePixel IntoThePixelartshowatE3 artshowatE3

2013: StartedasseniorconceptartistatRocksteady

Guildforworkdoneon GuardiansoftheGalaxy

RidleyScott’s Prometheus Prometheusfilm film 2012: StartedatFramestoreworkingonMarvel’s

GuardiansoftheGalaxy

2016: NominatedforaHugoawardforthecoverof 

TheDinosaurLordsbyVictorMilán,createdfor TheDinosaurLords byVictorMilán,createdfor TorBooks

2dar tistmagazine

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 ApersonalpieceforArtOrder’ ApersonalpieceforArtOrder’ forArtOrder’ss TheJournal,called DavidandGoliath Apersonalpiece

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Whatdoyouthi Whatdoyouthinkhasbeenmostinf nkhasbeenmostinfluentia luentiall toyourcareersuccess? Ithinkbeingwillingtotrynewthings.Beingabletoadapttonewplacesandsituations.Forinstance, movingromMontanatoSeattlein2000wasaverybigmoveormeandreallyscaryactually,butit turnedouttobethebestdecisionomylie. Also,themoveromSeattletoLondonwasamajormoveagainthatwasveryscary,toughandexciting, butitopenedupamazingopportunitiesIwouldhaveneverhadiIhadstayedinoneplace.

werelookingoraseniorartisttorelocateto

theresultsIneed.Onthe3DsideothingsIuse

Londonandworkonaewprojectsorthem.

3dsMaxormodeling.ThereareaewtoolsI’m tryingtolearninthemeantimesuchas3D-Coat,

FromthereI’vebeenlivinginLondonorthelast5

ZBrush,andKeyShottohelpwithmyconcepts.I

years,movedaroundromMPC’sartdepartment

believetheutureisreallyheadedinthatdirection,

toFramestore’sartdepartmentworkingonpre-

butI’llalwayscomebacktoPhotoshop.

productionomultipleilmprojects.In2013,Iwas lookingtogetbacktogamesandagreatopportunity

2da:Artistblockisabaneormanycreative

cameupwithRocksteadyStudiostohelpwith

people.Canyoushareacoupleotipsyou

Batman:ArkhamKnight,whereIhavebeensince.

usewhentheinspirationstopslowing?

2da:Howwouldyoudescribeyourjob

RA:Iworkaton!IreallyenjoywhatIdo,andIlike

toagroupoaliens,whohavenoidea

creatingthings,bothinsideandoutsideomyday

whataconceptartistisordoes?

job.Ho job.Howev weveri eritwe tweighs ighsal aloto otonm nmecr ecreat eative ively. ly.So So whenIloseinspirationoreelblocked,orjusteel

RA:It’sthesamewhenIexplainmyjobtomy

likeabadartist,thesearesometips:takeabreak

grandparents,ormydadorthatmatter!Myjob

anddon’tlookatartorawhile.Gotothegym

istosolvevisualproblems,inspire,andvisually

orparkandexercisetogettherustrationout.

developideasatthebestpossiblequalityorthe team.Thatcanmeanusing2Dskillsalongwith3D

Iliketocook,soImighttryanewrecipe,listento

skills;whichevercommunicatestheideabest.

anaudiobook,orpodcast.IIhavethetime,I’ll taketheday,andI’velearnedovertheyearsthat

2da:Whatareyourpreerredtoolsto

I’mmostproductiveandcreativeinthemorning.

workwith?Arethereanytoolsyouind yourselusingagainandagain?

Beingaproessionalinastudioyouneedtostop,

RA:IusePhotoshopthemost.Ihavetried

takeawalk,lookoutthewindow,don’tlookat ascreen.Re-thinkyourprocessabit,andalso

otherprograms,suchasPainterandsoon,but

getsomeeedbackromyourpeers–thatmight

Photoshopisthebestormetogetthetoolsand

giveyouakick-start,conidenceorinspiration.

PROTIP Photopaintover Inthispaintover,Ioundastrongimageoacity,anduseditasabackgroundandestablishing shotorlightdirection.Youcanthenindsimilarphotostocropinthathavethesamelight directionandperspectivetomakeacompellingimagequickly,suchastheoregroundbuilding onthelef. OntopothatIusedthesamevaluesinthebackgroundwiththeEyedroppertool,andsetmy brushtoDarkentodrawtherobotinthebackground,makingitmatchthebuildingsinthe distance.It’sokaytousephotos;justmakesureyouchangethemenoughsotheoriginalis almostunrecognizable.

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DavidandGoliaththemedillustrationdone ustrationdone DavidandGoliaththemedill foranartbookcalledArtOrder foranartbookcalled ArtOrder Journal

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2DARTISTMAGAZINE 2DARTIST MAGAZI MAGAZINE NE | Dramaticgameandfilmconcepts

2da:Isthereaparticularartistorgroupoartists

projects.Howhaveyouadaptedanddeveloped

whoseworkyouindparticularlyinspiresyou?

yourskillsoverthecourseotheseprojects?

RA:Themainpeoplethathaveinspiredmyworkthe

RA:Thankyou,Ireallytrytostayopentonew

mostaremypeers,whoIwenttoschoolandworked

waysolearning,butalsoalwaysworkingonmy

withatArenaNet:LeviHopkins,KekaiKotaki,Jason

undamentals,drawingandsoon.Iinditunto

Stokes,HoriaDociu,DougWilliams,JaimeJones, MattBarret,AaronCoberly,KatyHargrove, TomScholes,Ryan“thetemp”Demita,and myartdirectorDanielDociuhelpedaton.

challengemyselandtotrynewthingsdigitallywith my2Dwork.Ilearnedalotwhenmovingovertoilm, rommyco-workers,oncertaintechniquesthatI believeIwouldneverlearnanywhereelse.Ithelped togettheresultstheclientwanted.Iwouldlearnone

FamousartistsI’minspiredbywouldbe:Craig

thingandtrytoadaptittootherareasomywork.

Mullins,AshleyWood,BillWatterson,Sean GordonMurphy,DermotPower,JohnBerkey, JohnHarris,andBobPeak,justtoname

2da:Arethereanyotherareasinthedigitalart

worldthatyouwouldliketobranchintoandwhy?

aew.Thelistcouldgoonandon! RA:SometimesIthinkIwouldenjoyanimation,it’s 2da:Overyourcareeryouhave

workedonsomeprettyamazing

whatIstudied,butI’mreallynotsure.Rightnow I’mreallyhappywiththepositionI’minandthe workIgettodo.Igetalotoopportunitiestodo tightconceptworktoillustration.Ijustlovedrawing toomuchtowanttomoveontoanythingelse. 2da:Whatistheirstthingyoudowhenyoustart

anewproject?Areyousuperorganizedandollow asetplanordoyouallowtheworktojustlow?  RA:Eachprojectisdifferent;someplaceshave

asetprotocolthattheyollowbecausetheyare startingnewprojectseverycoupleomonths, butotherplaceshavearee-lowwayoworking whenit’saprojectthattheyknowwilltakeyears, andthecreativepre-productionisalotlooser. Formyselwhensomethingnewcomesup,Iirst takesomebullet-pointnotesonwhatisabsolutely needed,thenscrollthroughmyreerenceolder, andthenontotheweborurtherreerences. Nextwouldbemoodpanels,whichIwouldmaybe justcre just create ateor ormys mysel elto tosta stayo yont ntask askand andocu ocused sed.. Afer,I’dcreateloosesketches,thenreview, beoremovingontoamoreinishedproduct.

Anotherfunsketch Anotherfunske tch usingthreewords(cat, chic,gun)andplaying withideasforacomic

 

 

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Richard’ssignificantartwork ThisimageissignificanttomebecauseIstilllookatitandenjoywhatIaccomplishedintheillustration.Irememberexperimentingandtryingnewthings withthelayersandbrushes,andIfeltlikeIhadmadealeapandlearnedalot. AfriendofmineandartistIgreatlyadmired,JaimeJones,toldmethatwhatIdidwiththecircular-shieldshapes,andnegative-to-positiveshapeswasvery smart.Hesaiditwasagreatillustration,whichreallymeantalot.Nowontopofthatitisalsotheimage,withwhichIwonaGoldawardin   Spectrum,whichI neverthoughtcouldhappen.Goodmemories.

Illustrationsdonefor The byVictorMilan, DinoKnightsbyVictorMilan, DinoKnights publishedbyTORpublishing

 

 

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2da:Severalofthefilmsyouhaveworked

onarebasedoncomics.Doyouthink beingafanofcomicsmakestheseprojects easierormoredifficult,andwhy? RA:Itmakesthemeasier!Mybrother’sfriend

AaronSteadman,blesshim,gavemetwocrates ofcomicsin1991.Iwastenyearsoldandman, therewaseverythinginthere.Itreallykickedoff  myloveofcomicsandfantasyart(suchassome ofJohnBuscema ConantheBarbarianworks).I fellinlovewiththeartofcomics.WhenIfirsthad theopportunitytoworkon Thor:TheDarkWorld, and GuardiansoftheGalaxy,outsideIwaslike: “Coolman,justdoingmyjob,”butsecretlyIwas thinking“HowdidIgethere,thisisamazing!”So yes,itwasahuge,hugehighlightofmycareer. 2da:Whatcanweexpectfromyou

inthenexttwelvemonths? RA:

IhaveapersonalseriesthatI’mworkingon athomewhichI’llbeshowingonmyInstagram account(@flaptraps).Ialsohavesomenew artcomingoutforanamazingbookcalled TheJournalbyArtOrder,includinglegendary

illustratorslikeJohnHarris,Brom,IainMcCaig, andawholelistofothers.I’mjusthonoredto beinanartbookwithsuchamazingartists. 2da:Whenyou’renotcreatingwonderfully

dynamicconceptart,whatdoyou liketodoinyourdowntime? RA:Ireallyenjoycooking,soI’mtryingtogetbetter

atit.Ifindittobetherapeuticalmost;calming. OtherthanthatI’mabigbasketballfan,soIplay afewtimesaweek.Therestofmyfreetimeis spentwithmywifeandplayingwithourcatFoxy. 2da:Andfinally,ifyoucouldmeetanyartist(past

orpresent)whatwouldyouaskthemandwhy? RA:Goodquestion!ItwouldbeBillWatterson,

thecreatorof CalvinandHobbes.Ihavenoidea whatIwouldask,Iwouldactuallyjustwanttosit aroundandsketchwithhim;drawingcartoons! ThankyouRichardfortalkingto2dartist!

DavidandGoliaththemedillustrationdone foranartbookcalledArtOrderJournal

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3 D T O TA L ’ S  A N A T O M I C A L  C O L L E C T I O N : N E W  F I G U R E S  AVA I L A B L E  N O W Affordableanatomical referencefiguresfor tradition alanddigitalartists,inc ludingmaleand femalepla narmodel sandthei mpressivebiosui t f i g u r e  d e s i g n e d  b y  A l e s s a n d r o  B a l d a s s e r o n i !

 

 

ORIGINALMALE ANDFEMALE FIGURESSTILL AVA I L A B L E  F R O M : SHOP.3DTOTAL.COM

 

 

TheArtist

DavidRice xplrstudios.com Davidwasbornandraised inColorado.Hestudied studioanddigitalartat theUniversityofColorado, andin2012movedto Portland,ORtoworkas acommercialillustrator. In2013,hebecamea studioassistanttoBlaine Fontana,andhasbeen afull-timeindependent artistsince2014.

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Mixingnature andg and geometry geometry DiscovertheworkofartistandillustratorDavidRicewhousesacrylicpaint toexplorethecohesionbetweenorganicandman-madeforms

Allimages©DavidRice Allimages© DavidRice  

 

2DARTISTMAGAZINE 2DARTIST MAGAZI MAGAZINE NE | Mixingnatureandgeometry

Featuringboldcolors,patternsandanimal

independentartistin2014.DavidandBlaine

2da:Whatorwhoencouragedyou

imagery,DavidRice’spaintingsandmurals

stillcollaborateonprojectstogetherand stillcollaborateonprojects togetherand

totakeupacareerasanartist?

combinethenaturalworldwithgeometric

createlarge-scalemuralscombiningtheir

andman-madeelements.Bybringingthese

styles.Thismonth,Davidtalkstousabout

DR:Myolder Myolderbrotherwasprobably brotherwasprobablythereasonI thereasonI

separateworldstogeth separa teworldstogether,Daviddraws er,Daviddraws

hiscareersofar,andoffersadviceonhow hiscareersofar,andoffersadviceon how

irsthadaninterestinart.Hewasalwaysdrawin irsthadaninterestinart.He wasalwaysdrawingg

attentiontotheindividualpersonalities

todevelopyourdrawingtechniques... todevelopyour drawingtechniques...

comicbookcharacters,andIwantedtoemulate comicbookcharacters,andI wantedtoemulate everythinghewasdoingwhenwewereyoung.

ofthecreaturesheobservedgrowingup inruralColorado,andsuggestsacohesive inruralColorado,andsuggestsa cohesive

HelloDavid!Thanksor !Thanksortalkingto talkingto 2dartist:HelloDavid

Wewantedtocreate Wewanted tocreatecharactersand charactersandworldsthat worldsthat

existencebetweenthetwoworlds.

2dartist.Firstoff,could .Firstoff,could youintroduceyoursel  .Firstoff,couldyouintroduceyoursel 

wewouldseeinthesecomicbooks.AsIgot wewouldseeinthesecomic wewouldsee inthesecomicbooks.AsI books.AsIgot

withabitaboutyourbackgroundandprojects? withabitaboutyour backgroundandprojects?

older,myinterestsshif older, myinterestsshifedromollow edromollowingcomic ingcomic bookartists,toollowingconte bookartists,to ollowingcontemporaryartists. mporaryartists.

Davidhasbeeninspiredbymany contemporaryartistsbuthisworkis

DavidRice:Iamanartist IamanartistromPortland, romPortland,

mostlyinfluencedbyfellowPortland

Oregon,andIworkprimarilywithacrylic

OneartistIhavealwaysadmired OneartistI havealwaysadmiredandhadthe andhadthe

artistBlaineFontana,whoseworkexcited

paint.Mostomyworkhasanelementothe paint.Mostomyworkhas anelementothe

opportunitytoworkwithisBlaineFontana. opportunitytoworkwith isBlaineFontana.

Davidintopursuingacareerasanartist.

naturalworldinitcombinedwithsomething naturalworldinitcombinedwith something

Ilovehisabilitytobouncearoundbetween Ilovehis abilitytobouncearoundbetween

In2013,DavidbeganassistingBlainein

man-madeorgeometric.Ilikebridgingthese man-madeorgeometric.Ilikebridging these

organicandgraphicstyles,andtousedifferent organicandgraphicstyles,andto usedifferent

hisstudio,beforebecomingafull-time

twoworldsthatwenormallyseeseparately.

mediumslikepaintingandsculpturetogether mediumslikepaintingand sculpturetogether

,CommissionedmuralatWacom’ ,CommissionedmuralatWacom’ Wacom’sPortlandheadquarters sPortlandheadquarters WacomMural,Commissionedmuralat

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inonepiece.Seeinghis inonepiece .Seeinghisworkwaswhatrea workwaswhatreally lly gotmeexcitedtourtherpursue gotmeexcited tourtherpursueacareerin acareerinart. art. Yourworkisheavilyinluencedbynature isheavilyinluencedbynature 2da:Yourwork butalsoofencombines butalso ofencombinesgeometricshapes. geometricshapes.Can Can youtellusabitabouttheideasbehindthis? youtellusabitaboutthe ideasbehindthis? Mostomyworkisdrawnromexperiences isdrawnromexperiences DR:Mostomywork IhadgrowingupasakidinwesternColorado.I Ihadgrowingupasa kidinwesternColorado.I grewupinthemountainssurroundedbywildlie. grewupin themountainssurroundedbywildlie. Itwasalwaysaascinat Itwasalway saascinatingexper ingexperiencetosee iencetoseea a oxorbighornsheepinitsnaturalhabitat;to oxorbighornsheepinits naturalhabitat;to havedeerwalkingthroughyouryardandbears havedeerwalkingthroughyouryard andbears sleepingintreesoutside sleepingin treesoutsidethelocal thelocalshops. shops. Ieltlikethesecreatureswere Ielt Ieltlikethese likethesecreaturesweremorethan creaturesweremorethanjust morethanjust just propsinapretty propsin propsinaprettysetting.Theyhad aprettysetting.They setting.Theyhadgoalsandears. hadgoalsandears. goalsandears.

ReceivingTran  smission,12×18″acryliconpanel ReceivingTran smission ,12×18″acryliconpanel

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Theyhadpersonality.I Theyhad personality.Iwantedto wantedtoportraytheir portraytheir

mycameraandtakeabunch mycameraand takeabunchofpicturesof  ofpicturesof 

Ifyoucouldmeetany couldmeetanyartist(pastor artist(pastor 2da:Ifyou

individualityinmypaintings.Iwantedtobring individualityinmypaintings. individualityin mypaintings.Iwanted Iwantedtobr tobr ing

landscapes.Iimaginewhat landscapes.I imaginewhathappensin happensinthese these

present)whatwouldyouaskthemandwhy?

theirconnectionwithhumanstoanevenplaying theirconnectionwithhumanstoan evenplaying

environmentswhennooneisaround.

fieldratherthanbeingthoughtofasseparate. fieldratherthanbeingthought ofasseparate.

DR:That’sa That’sareallyhardquestion! reallyhardquestion!Ithinkit Ithinkit

Paintingsportrayingwildlifeandnatureare

Thereareatonofartists Therearea tonofartistswhoinspireme whoinspireme

wouldbefuntotalktoMichelangeloabout wouldbefunto talktoMichelangeloabout

nothingnew.Iwantedtobringthesesubjects nothingnew.Iwantedtobring thesesubjects

thesedays,especiallywith thesedays, especiallywithsocialmedia socialmedialike like

paintingceilings,orBanksyaboutstreet

outsideofthetraditional outsideof thetraditionallandscapescene landscapesceneand and

InstagramandFacebo Instag ramandFacebookintrodu okintroducingmeto cingmeto

artandremaininganonymous artand remaininganonymousforso forsolong. long.

putmyowntakeonthem. putmyown putmyowntakeonthem.Iuse takeonthem.Iusealotoffaded Iusealotoffaded alotoffaded

somuchofthegreattalentthat’s somuch somuchof ofthegreattalentthat’s thegreattalentthat’soutthere. outthere. outthere.

Butwhenitreallycomesdowntoit,Ithink Butwhenitreallycomesdown Butwhenit reallycomesdowntoit,I toit,Ithink

wallpapersandlayeredbackgroundsinmywork wallpape rsandlayeredbackgroundsinmywork..

SomeoftheartiststhatIfindinspirationfrom SomeoftheartiststhatIfind inspirationfrom

IwouldaskDuchampwhoR.Muttis.

Theserepresenttthesurrounding hesurroundingenvironment, environment,

areAndrewHem,Etam-Cru,PhilHale,Seth areAndrewHem,Etam-Cru,PhilHale, Seth

oncepristine,butnowstartingtofade. oncepristine,butnowstartingto fade.

Armstrong,andmostimportantlymyfriend,

2da:Inadditiontoyourpaintings,youalso

colleague,andmentor,BlaineFontana.

createincrediblemurals.How createincredible murals.Howdidyou didyougetinto getinto

Wheredoyouturntoforinspiration? forinspiration? 2da:Wheredoyouturnto Arethereanyartistsyouliketoreference? Arethereanyartistsyou liketoreference?

muralpaintingandhowhaveyouadapted muralpaintingandhowhaveyou adapted Ialsofindmyselfreferencingalotof 

yourworkfortheselarge-scalepieces? yourworkfor theselarge-scalepieces?

early-tomid-twentiethcenturyillustrato early-tomid-twentiethcentury illustrators rs DR:Mybiggestinspiration Mybiggestinspirationcomesfrom comesfromspending spending

likeNormanRockwell,J.C.Leyendecker, likeNormanRockwell, J.C.Leyendecker,

Igotintomuralsby Igot intomuralsbyhelpingouta helpingoutafewother DR:Igotintomuralsbyhelpingoutafewother

timeoutdoors.Ilovetogo timeoutdoors.I lovetogoonbighikes onbighikeswith with

RobertMcGinnis,andsoon.

artistswiththeirwallsfirst.Ithelpedmesee artistswiththeirwallsfirst.It helpedmesee

2DARTISTMAG.COM Corrected Course,42×91″acryliconcanvas

 

 

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howtheselargescaleworkscometogether,and

DR:Practice!As Practice!Aswithanythingyou withanythingyoudo,themore do,themore

ofmytoolsareprettyrudimental. ofmy ofmytoolsare toolsareprettyrudimental.Iwill prettyrudimental.Iwillkeep Iwillkeep keep

howtochangeyourperceptionofwhatdetails howtochangeyour perceptionofwhatdetails

youdoitthebetteryouwillget.Makeapoint youdoitthe betteryouwillget.Makeapoint

oldbrushesthatareworndownbecause

needtobeaddedandwhataren’tnecessary. needtobeadded andwhataren’tnecessary.

todraworpaintsomethingeveryday,even todraworpaintsomethingevery day,even

theycancreateinteresting theycan createinterestingtextureslike textureslikefur fur

ifitisjustsomethingsmal ifitisjust somethingsmallinasketchbook. linasketchbook.

orwoodgrain.Idon’tfinditnecessarytoget orwoodgrain.Idon’tfind itnecessarytoget

Therearecertainboundaries Thereare certainboundarieslikescale likescaleand and

Thegreatestthingthathelpedmetogrow Thegreatestthingthathelpedme togrow

brandnewequipmentwitheachpieceIdo.

timethatneedtobeaddressedwhenfirst

myskillswasbecomingastudioassistantto

approachingamural.Inmostofmyexperiences approachingamural.Inmostof myexperiences

aprofessionalartist.Ilearnedmoreinthree aprofessionalartist.I learnedmoreinthree

2da:Doyou Doyouhaveaparticular haveaparticularplaceyoulike placeyoulike

themuralneedstobepainted themuralneeds tobepaintedinabouta inaboutaweek, week,

monthsasastudioassistantthan monthsasa studioassistantthanIdidin Ididinfour four

togotodraworpaint?Doyoucreateyour

sothemainobjectiveisgettingthecomposition sothemainobjectiveis gettingthecomposition

yearsofgoingtoartcolle yearsofgoi ngtoartcollege.There ge.Thereisnothing isnothing

worksinastudio,athomeoroutinnature? worksinastudio,athomeor outinnature?

blockedinasquicklyaspossible,before blockedinasquickly aspossible,before

betterthangettingreal-lifeexperience. betterthan gettingreal-lifeexperience. DR:Ilike Iliketodrawand todrawandsketchthingsfrom sketchthingsfrommy my

buildingupthedetails.Everyonehastheirown approachtolargescale approachto approachtolargescaleworks.It largescaleworks.Itgetsa works.Itgetsalittle getsalittle little

2da:Whatareyour Whatareyourpreferredtools preferredtools

homebutIdoallofmypaintingfrom homebutI homebutIdo doallofmypaintingfromastudio.I allofmypaintingfromastudio.I astudio.I

biteasierwitheachnewpiece biteasierwith eachnewpieceIgetto Igettodo. do.

toworkwithandwhy?

shareastudiowithtwootherextremelycreative shareastudiowith twootherextremelycreative people.Itisgreattohavean people.It people.Itis isgreattohavean greattohaveanatmospherewhere a atmospherewhere tmospherewhere

2da:Whatadvicecanyougivetoour

DR:Imostlyuseacrylic Imostlyuseacrylicpaintbecauseitis paintbecauseitis

weareallworkingonseparateprojectsat weareallworkingon separateprojectsat

readerswhowanttodeveloptheir

whatIamfamiliarwith,anditismuchmore whatIamfamiliarwith,anditis muchmore

onceandeveryonecan onceand onceandeveryonecangivefeedbacktoeach everyonecangivefeedback givefeedbackto to each

drawingandpaintingtechniques?

costefficientthanothertypesof costefficientthan othertypesofpaint.Alot paint.Alot

other.Ittakesatypicallyindividualjoband other.Ittakesa other.It takesatypicallyindividual typicallyindividualjob job and

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,24×36″acryliconpanel CloseEncounter,24×36″acryliconpanel

DAVID’SSIGNIFICANTARTWORK ThispiecewassomethingIhadbeenthinkingo ThispiecewassomethingIhad beenthinkingopaintingora paintingorawhilebeoreI whilebeoreIinallydecided inallydecided tobringittolie.Iwantedsomethi tobringittolie.I wantedsomethingthatwas wantedsomethi ngthatwasboldandslightly ngthatwasboldandslightlydifferentromwhat differentromwhatIhad Ihad paintedinthepast.Iwanted paintedinthe past.Iwantedthesubjectto thesubjecttonot not notbeconveyedasmorehuman,butrather beconveyedasmorehuman,butrather havingwhatit havingwhatitperceivesasits perceivesasitsidentityrevealed.In identityrevealed.Inthiscase,not thiscase,nothowahuman howahumanwouldview wouldview achimp,buthowthechimpwouldseehimsel. achimp,buthowthe chimpwouldseehimsel. Theactualproduction Theactualproductionothispainting othispaintinghadalot hadaloto o oupsanddowns.Itwasmyirstpainting upsanddowns.Itwasmyirstpainting oncanvasand oncanvasandwhileIwas whileIwasabitnervous abitnervoustowork towork toworkonanewtexture,Iactuallyreallyenjoyed onanewtexture,Iactuallyreallyenjoyed thelookandeel thecanvasprovided.Asyoucouldimagine,thespaceblanketwasquite imagine,thespaceblanketwasquite anundertaking.At anundertaking.AtirstIelt irstIeltveryoverwhelmed,but veryoverwhelmed,butaferI aferI aferIgotinaboutaifho gotinaboutaifhotheblanket gotinaboutaifho theblanket Icouldseetheoveralleffect Icouldsee theoveralleffectstartingtotake startingtotakeshapeandI shapeandIknewitwas knewitwasgoingtobe goingtobeworth worththe worth the struggle.Thispiecehasreallyhelpedmesetthe struggle.Thispiecehasreallyhelped mesetthetoneorthe toneorthetypeoimagery typeoimageryandthemesI andthemesI wanttocontinueexploringinmywork.

FinalApproach,42×56″acryliconcanvas

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givesasenseocommunityto givesasense givesasenseocommunitytoit.Idon’tthink ocommunitytoit.Idon’t it.Idon’tthink

memberisgone,therestsuffer, memberisgone, therestsuffer,butiall butiallmembers members

IeellikeIstillhavealot Ieel likeIstillhavealottolearnwith stillhavealottolearnwith tolearnwith DR:IeellikeI

IwouldgetasmuchdoneiIdidn’thavemy Iwouldgetasmuchdonei Ididn’thavemy

playtheirpartthentheecosystemthrives. playtheirpartthen theecosystemthrives.

thetechniquesandtoolsIamcurrently

studiomatestoinspiremetokeepworking. studiomatestoinspiremeto keepworking. 2da:Whathasbeenyouravoritepiece

ISSUE130

using,letaloneothermediums.Iwouldlove 2da:Howdoyoudealwitha Howdoyoudealwithachallenging challenging

toexperimentmorewithsculptureand3D toexperimentmorewithsculptureand 3D

project?Doyouhaveanytips project?Doyou haveanytipsorourreaders? orourreaders?

mediums.Ireallyadmireartiststhatcanturn mediums.Ireallyadmireartiststhat canturn

orprojecttoworkonsoar? orprojecttoworkonso ar?

their2Dworksinto3Dsculptures.Thereare DR:EveryonceinawhileI EveryonceinawhileIstartapiece startapiece thatIhavebeenthinkingaboutoralong thatIhavebeenthinkingaboutora long

somanymorepossiblecompositionswhen somanymore possiblecompositionswhen youarenotconinedtothelatnesso2D. youarenotconinedtothe latnesso2D.

whichwasaninterpretation which wasaninterpretation oaNormanRockwellpieceentitledFromthe

time,hopingitisgoingtobemynextbig time,hopingitisgoingtobemy nextbig breakthrough.Then,halwaythrough, breakthrough.Then,halwaythrough,Irealize halwaythrough,II realize

2da:Whatdoesaworkingdayin

EarthtotheMoon .Rockwell’spaintingportrays

itmightnotturnouthowIhadanticipated.At itmightnotturnouthow Ihadanticipated.At

thelieoDavidlooklike?

thecrewinvolvedintheApollo11mission

thesepointsIinditimportant thesepointsI inditimportanttotakea totakeastep step



tothemoon.Hispiecedirectlyshowsthe

backandaskmysel backand askmyselwhat’snot what’snotworking. working.

Iusuallygetupataround8am,checkmy around8am,checkmy DR:Iusuallygetupat

DR:Idid Ididalarge4x8 alarge4x8ootpaintingcalled ootpaintingcalled Corrected Course

emailandprepareor emailand prepareoranypaintings anypaintingsorprojects orprojects

hopeandpersistencethat hopeand persistencethatthehuman thehumanspirit spirit iscapableo.Iwantedtoshowthosesame

Iwilltakeapictureo Iwilltake apictureothepieceto apictureothepiecetoviewitrom thepiecetoviewitrom thepiecetoviewitrom

Iamworkingonthatday. Iamworking onthatday.Atleastonce Atleastonceaweek aweek

themesandidealsthroughthesubjectsIpaint.

adifferentperspectiveandtryto adifferentperspective andtrytogetaresh getaresh

Igotothelumberyardinthemorningtograb Igotothelumberyardinthe morningtograb

lookatwhatisgoingon. lookatwhat isgoingon.Sometimesitis Sometimesitisthe the

woodorpanelsorrames.I woodorpanels orrames.Igettothe gettothestudio studio

Ireplacedallo Ireplaced alloRockwell’ssubjects Rockwell’ssubjectswithNorth withNorth

colorsthatneedtochan colors thatneedtochange;somet ge;sometimesitisthe imesitisthe

around10or11amandstartpainting.Itypically around10or11 amandstartpainting.Itypically

Americananimals.Myinterpret Americ ananimals.Myinterpretationcontin ationcontinues ues

entirebackgroundorcomposition. orcomposition.Whatever Whatever

painttillaround6or7pmandthenheadhome. painttillaround6or7 pmandthenheadhome.

thesenseohopeRockwellachievedthrougha

theissueIalwaystellmyselthe theissue theissueI Ialwaystellmyselthe alwaystellmyselthesamething, ssamething, amething,

Mystudioisnottooar Mystudiois nottooarrommyhouse rommyhouseso rommyhousesoIam so soIam Iam

differentlens.Ittak differe ntlens.Ittakesanentire esanentireteamopeople teamopeople

“Itisjustpaint,youcanalwayspaintoverit.” “Itisjustpaint, youcanalwayspaintoverit.”

ofenonmybike.Therest ofenonmy bike.Therestotheevening otheeveningis is

workingtogetherttoachievesomethinggreatlike workingtogethertoachieve oachievesomething somethinggreatlike greatlike

usuallyacombinationo usuallya usuallyacombinationoood,wineandNetlix. combinationoood,wine ood,wineand and Netlix.

spacetravel.Allmembersarenecessaryorthe

2da:Arethereanyotherskillsandtechniques

goalstobemet.Thesubjects goalstobe met.Thesubjectsinmypainting inmypaintingare are

wouldyouliketolearnin wouldyoulike tolearnintheuture?Are theuture?Arethere there

Howdoyouliketospendyourtime spendyourtime 2da:Howdoyouliketo

necessarypartsoa necessaryparts oasuccessulecosystem. successulecosystem.Ione Ione

anymaterialsyouwould anymaterials youwouldliketo liketoexperimentwith? experimentwith?

whenyouaren’tcreatingbeautiulart?

Timeline,24×36″ ,24×36″acryliconpanel

 

Vista,24×36″ 24×36″acryliconpanel

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SODOTrackMural,acollaborationwithOlaVolo,in SODOTrackMural, acollaborationwithOlaVolo,in Seattle,Washington ©DavidRiceandOlaVolo

Iliketohangoutdoors.Ilovebeingable lovebeingable DR:Iliketohangoutdoors.I topaintoralivingbut topaintor alivingbutthatkeepsme thatkeepsmetrapped trapped insidemostdays.Itisnicetorunaroundoutside insidemostdays.Itisnicetorun aroundoutside whenIcan.Ilovehiking,biking,skiing;allthe whenIcan.Ilovehiking,biking, skiing;allthe usualoutdoorpursuits.Ireallylove usualoutdoorpursuits. Ireallylovetogoon togoon bighikeswithmycameraandshoothundreds bighikeswith mycameraandshoothundreds opicturesnoonewillever opicturesno onewilleverseebutme. seebutme.

2da:Andinally,whatcanwelook orwardtoromyounext? DR:Ihavebeenaskingmyselthisquestion

alotrecently.Iamgrowing alotrecently. Iamgrowingasanartist asanartistand and anindividualsothethemesIaminterested anindividualsothethemes Iaminterested inarestartingtoshif.I inarestarting toshif.Iwanttocreate wanttocreatemore more oanarrativeinmyworks. oanarrative inmyworks.Iwantthere Iwantthereto to bemoreoastorytointerpretromthe bemoreoastoryto interpretromthe piece.Ihavestartedtomake piece.Ihave startedtomakethatshifby thatshifby introducingmoreigurativesubjects igurativesubjectsinto into mywork,creatingatangentbetweenthe naturalworldIhavealreadyexplored, naturalworldIhave alreadyexplored,andits andits connectionwiththehumansthatshareit. Iwanttopairthephysical Iwantto pairthephysicalworldwesee worldweseewith with themeswecannotsee,suchas themeswecannot see,suchastime.Idon’t time.Idon’t thinkIwillevergetboredo thinkIwill evergetboredopaintinganimals paintinganimals andIthinktherewillalways andIthink therewillalwaysbeanaudience beanaudience orit.Ihonestlywouldbeinepaintingbirds orit.I honestlywouldbeinepaintingbirds ortherestomycareer. ortherest ortherestomycareer.ButasIgrow,so omycareer.ButasI ButasIgrow,so doesmywork,andIamexcitedtoexplore doesmywork,andI amexcitedtoexplore someothesenewthemesanddirections. someothesenewthemes anddirections.

ThankyouDavidfortakingthetime tospeakto2dartisttoday!

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2DARTISTMAGAZINE | 2DARTISTMAGAZINE

SketchbookofKoveck

TheArtist

Koveck

koveckart.com Koveckhasworkedas acomicbookartistand reelanceillustrator sincegraduatingin FineArts,andcurrently worksinthevideogame industryasasenior conceptartistatUbisof.

SketchbookofKoveck: Koveck:

Dynamicinksketches DigitalillustratorKoveckdiscusseshisinspirationsandhowsketchinginink helpshimbreakfreeofthedigitalcage

Allimages©Koveck ©Koveck

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SketchbookofKoveck

combinesalove Theseusiscoming,mylordcombinesalove Theseusiscoming,mylord omythologyandgiantsinoneimage

Koveckshareshistoptipsor improvingyoursketches...

traditionalmedia,butin2006Imadethejump traditionalmedia,butin2006Imade thejump todigitalart.Yes,Ilikeitalot,andyes,Ican’t todigitalart.Yes,Ilikeitalot, andyes,Ican’t imaginereturningtoacrylics,airbrushand

I’vebeendrawingoraslongasIcan

oilpaintings.However,traditionalmediais

remember.Allmylie remember .AllmylieI’vebeenaroundartin I’vebeenaroundartin

sospecial,soromantic...so“real. sospecial,so romantic...so“real.”That’sthe ”That’sthe

onemanneroranother.WhenIwasyoungmy

reasonImaketheseinksketches:toescape reasonImaketheseink sketches:toescape

ultimategoalwastobecomeacomicbook

theboxoworkandthecageodigital. theboxoworkandthecageo digital.

artist,butwhenatlastIpublishedmyirst proessionalcomic,IrealizedIdidn’tlikethe experienceoworkingincomics.Thereasonis thatIdidn’tlikerepeatingthesamecharacters thatIdidn’t likerepeatingthesamecharacters amilliontimesonepageaferanother. amilliontimes onepageaferanother. ThenImadethejumptoillustration,which ThenImadethejumpto illustration,which

“ThebesteelingI experiencedasanartistwas becomingtheinspirationor somebodywhowantedtojoin theartisticcircle”

bettersuitedme.UpuntilthenIworkedwith

Playingwiththesmokerames orsketches

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SketchbookofKoveck

Anyimagecantellastoryifyou

Inspirationandideas

AsIusuallysay,youcanindinspirationinany place.Sometime place. Sometimesit’samovie, sit’samovie,aphoto,aphrase aphoto,aphrase,, astainonthewall...Forme, astainonthewal l...Forme,athingthatalwa athingthatalways ys workstosparkmycreativityis workstospark mycreativityishorrormovies.I horrormovies.I liketheeelingstheyevokein liketheeelings theyevokeinme,andalso me,andalsohow how theyencouragemetotrytoprovokeeelings theyencouragemetotry toprovokeeelings oanykindintheviewer. oanykind intheviewer.Whenyougrow Whenyougrowas as anartist,itisapleasuretopassromthetime anartist,itis apleasuretopassromthetime whenyoucopythedreamsandnightmares whenyoucopythe dreamsandnightmares ootherartists,theoneswho ootherartists, theoneswhoinspireyou,to inspireyou,to thetimewhenyoucanmake thetimewhen youcanmakerealyourown realyourown dreamsandnightmares.And dreamsand nightmares.Andmaybe,or maybe,orme, me, thebesteelingIexperiencedas thebest thebesteelingI eelingIexperiencedasanartist experiencedasanartistwas anartistwas was becomingtheiinspirationor nspirationorsomebodywho somebodywho wantedtojointheartisticcircle. Aboutmyowninspirations, Aboutmyown inspirations, Ican’tnameallthe artiststhathaveorged mystyle,andthey aresodifferentrom oneanother:likeRichard Corben,KatsuhiroOtomo,Juan Giménez,DaveM McKean...Actually, cKean...Actually,the the artiststhatImostadmireare artiststhatI mostadmirearePhilHaleand PhilHaleand SergeyKolesov.Asor SergeyKolesov .Asorinking,thetwoartist inking,thetwoartist thathavehadthelargestimpact thathavehad thelargestimpactonmeover onmeover theyearsareBrianBollandandSatoshiKon. Materials

Ihavetriedalotomaterialsthroughoutmy Ihavetriedaloto materialsthroughoutmy career.In career .Inact,inthe act,inthebeginning,Iwasobsessed beginning,Iwasobsessed withtryingeverything.Oneomycomicbooks wasanightmareto wasa nightmaretoproducebecause producebecauseeach each panelwasmadeusing panelwas madeusingadifferent adifferenttechnique. technique. Now,itisverydifferent.Acoupleoyearsago Now,itisverydifferent.A coupleoyearsago Idiscoveredtheperect Idiscovered theperectcombinationo combinationotools tools thatsuitsmyinkingworkperectly,andIdon’t thatsuitsmyinkingworkperectly, andIdon’t haveplanstochangethemor haveplansto changethemoralongtime. alongtime.First First oall,Ineedtosay oall,I oall,Ineedtosaythat needtosaythatIdon’tlikepenciling.In thatIdon’tlikepenciling.In Idon’tlikepenciling.In act,Ihateit.Mypencilworkisamessorough linesonlyunderstan linesonly understandabletome.Becau dabletome.Becauseo  seo  this,Idrawthedrafwithtwopencils:redto this,Idrawthedrafwith twopencils:redto maketheinitialmessolines, maketheinitial messolines,andblueto andbluetotry try toindorderintheredchaos.Thenextstepor toindorderintheredc haos.Thenextstepor meisjustinkingthesilhouettes meisjust inkingthesilhouettesoshapeswith oshapeswith aMitsubishiUniPin0.1.Forme,thispartisnot aMitsubishiUniPin0.1.For me,thispartisnot yettheinking,it’sonl yettheinki ng,it’sonlyastepthatallo yastepthatallowsme wsme toerasetheredandblue toerasethe redandbluepencil.Then,when pencil.Then,when Ihavethatasepticandboring Ihavethat asepticandboringinitialline,the initialline,the realunstarts,inkingwitha realunstarts, inkingwithaPentelbrush– Pentelbrush–the the toolIlikethemost.Aferthat,Iusuallymake toolIlikethemost.Aferthat, Iusuallymake twopassesoshadingwitha twopasseso shadingwithacoupleoCopic coupleoCopic markers:coolgrayC3andC5.Andlast,ineeded, markers:coolgrayC3andC5. markers:coolgray C3andC5.Andlast,i Andlast,ineeded,

placesome“baits”totheviewer

Iaddsomeinedetailwitha0.05ineliner. Iaddsomeinedetailwitha0.05 ineliner. 54

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Doodleimagesmadeinink withoutanyplanonmind.Koveck withoutanyplanon mind.Koveck drawslinesuntilhefindssome interestingshapes

AstronautsarepossiblythethingKovecklikestodra w  AstronautsarepossiblythethingKovecklikestodraw themost,andthissideviewisquickandeasytoproduce

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SketchbookofKoveck

KOVECK’SSIGNIFICANTARTWORK Armsanatomy4 ForseveralyearsIdrewwithoutarealknowledgeofthebasics.I arealknowledgeofthebasics.I managedtobea managedtobeaprofessionaland professionalandwork workinillustration work inillustrationformany inillustrationformanyyearsbut yearsbutwithout without enjoyingitat enjoyingitatallbecauseI allbecauseIalwaysdrewwith alwaysdrewwithdoubtandfear doubtandfearofthe ofthe oftheblankpage. blankpage. Sudden Suddenly,someyea ly,someyearsago,Idecid rsago,Idecidedtotakeabreak edtotakeabreakfrommycareer frommycareeranddedicat anddedicateawholeyearofmylif eawholeyearofmylifetolearnin etolearningthebasics gthebasics:anatomy :anatomy,color, ,color, lightingandso lightingandsoon.Imade on.Imadehundredsofstudies hundredsofstudieslikethe likethe liketheonehere.I onehere.Ifilledatiny onehere.Ifilledatinynotebookwithmyriads notebookwithmyriadsofcomposition,lighting ofcomposition,lightingandarttips. andarttips. andarttips.Itismy Itismy own“HolyGrail”notebook,likethe own“HolyGrail”notebook, liketheone one from IndianaJones,anditwasthebest onefrom ,anditwasthebestdecisionIever decisionIever decisionIevermadeinmy madeinmyprofessionallife.When professionallife.Whenyouunderstand youunderstand whatyouaredoingyoucanenjoyit,makeitbetter,faste makeitbetter,fasterandadapttootherstyles. makeitbetter,fasterandadapttootherstyles.

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“Mymaintiptonewcomers isnotabouttechnique,but insteadaboutnotgetting obsessedwiththeendgoal” Sketchingtechniques

IhaveasentencethatI Ihavea sentencethatIrepeattoeveryone repeattoeveryone thatasksmeoradvice:“Becoming thatasksme oradvice:“Becominganartistis anartistis aboutprogression,n notperection.” otperection.”M Mymain ymain tiptonewcomersisnotabouttechnique,but insteadaboutnotgetting insteadabout notgettingobsessedwith obsessedwiththe the endgoal.Enjoytheproc endgoal. Enjoytheprocessobecom essobecomingan ingan artistitsel.Allow artist itsel.Allowyourseltomakemist yourseltomakemistakes. akes. Sketchesareaperectwaytotrainthat. Sketchesareaperectwaytotrain that. Don’tdraworotherpeople,draworyoursel. Don’tdraworotherpeople, draworyoursel. Areyounotdoingitwell? Areyounot Areyounotdoingitwell?Don’tworryinot,draw doingitwell?Don’tworryi Don’tworryinot,draw moretomorrow,andthe moretomorrow, andthedayafer dayafertomorrow. tomorrow.

Theinkprocessinfoursteps:pencildrawing inredandblue,contourlinetodefineshapes, inredandblue,contourline todefineshapes, inkingwithaPentelbrush,andshadepasseswith inkingwithaPentelbrush,andshade passeswith Copicmarkers

ISSUE130

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SketchbookofKoveck

Thisimagesymbolizesbeingdraggedout Thisimagesymbolizes beingdraggedoutfromyourartistic fromyourartisticcomfortzone comfortzone

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PROTIP Comfortzone Ifyouwanttobecomeaconceptartistyou Ifyouwanttobecomea conceptartistyoumustbe mustbeopentootherartstyles,techniques mustbe opentootherartstyles,techniques andworkflows.Thetrickistohavea andworkflows.Thetrick istohavea clearknowledge clearknowledgeofthe ofthebasics:composition, basics:composition,anatomy, anatomy, colorandlighting. colorandlighting.Itdoesnot Itdoesnotmatterifit matterifitiscartoonstyle matterifitiscartoonstyle iscartoonstyleorhyperrealism,if orhyperrealism,ifit’sarobot it’sarobotora ora dragonegg,thelighthasphysics,thecolorhas dragonegg,thelighthasphysics, thecolorhasrules,the rules,thebodyhasstructure.Ifyouknow rules,the bodyhasstructure.Ifyouknow them,youcan them,youcanplaywiththem playwiththemandbreakthe andbreakthewallsofyour wallsofyourcomfortzone.Lea wallsofyourcomfortzone.Lea comfortzone.Learnthebasics, rnthebasics, openyourmind,anddraweverything.

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SketchbookofKoveck

Draweverydayifpossible.Not Draweveryday ifpossible.Notbigdrawings,not bigdrawings,not

PROTIP

challenges,onlysimplethingsto challenge s,onlysimplethings s,only simplethingstolosethefearof  tolosethefearof  losethefearof  theblankpage.To theblank page.Toprogressquickly progressquicklyIsuggest Isuggestyou you

Doodlesversussketc Doodlesversus sketches sketc hes

combine:a)copyingreality; combine:a) copyingreality;b)copying b)copyingfromother fromother

Inmysketchbooktherearetwotypesof twotypesofimages:the twotypesofimages:the images:theregularsketches regularsketchesthatare thataremadefrom madefrom

artists(thisisimportantbecausetheyhavesolved artists(thisis importantbecausetheyhavesolved

anideapreviously anideapreviouslycapturedina capturedinathumbnailandwith thumbnailandwithapencilbase, apencilbase,andtheother andtheothertype typeIcall type Icall “doodl “doodles.”Thes es.”Thesearemadewith earemadewithoutanyidea outanyideainmindandnopenci inmindandnopencil,onlydire l,onlydirectinking ctinkingon on

andfoundtheirsolutionstothesameproblems andfoundtheirsolutionsto thesameproblems youwillface);c)thestudy youwillface); c)thestudyofanatomyand ofanatomyand lighting(it’salot lighting(it’s lighting(it’saloteasiertocopy aloteasierto easiertocopyanythingifyou copyanythingifyou anythingifyou

automaticmode.Theyaremadedirectlyinink,which automaticmode.Theyaremadedirectly inink,whichmeansthereis meansthereisnogoingback, nogoingback,andno nogoingback,andno correcting.Youwillbeforcedtosolvethe solvetheinevitableerrorswithmore solvetheinevitableerrors withmoreinking,and inking,and inking,andduringthat duringthat processyouwillstarttousetheblackswiselyto usetheblackswiselytomaskthelinemistakes. maskthelinemistakes.

understandhow understan dhowit’smadeandworks,trust it’smadeandworks,trustme); me); andd)drawingfromimagination.Ifyoucombine andd)drawingfromimagination.If youcombine thesefourwaysof thesefour thesefourwaysoflearning,they waysoflearning,theywillproduce learning,theywillproducea willproducea a synergybetweenthem.You synergybetween them.Youwillnotice willnoticehowyou howyou improvewitheachstep, improvewith eachstep,evenwhen evenwhendrawingfrom drawingfrom imagination,the imagination ,thethingthatnewcomersfearmost. thingthatnewcomersfearmost. Princessisdeadtellsastorythattheviewer

cancompletewithatitlethatcanevokesome cancompletewithatitlethat canevokesome contextforthestory

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Giantcharacterssuchastheonein Outofmy  wayareone areone Koveck’sfavoritedrawingtopics areoneKoveck’ sfavoritedrawingtopics

Moredoodlesofastronauts

Wouldyouliketoseeyoursketches featuredin2dartistmagazine? We’realwaysonthelookoutfortalentedartists andtheirartworktoadornthepagesofour magazine.Ifyouthinkyouhavewhatittakes,get intouch! Tosubmit,simplyemailAnnieat [email protected]withaselectionofyour imagesoralinktoyourportfolioonline,plusa

littleinformationaboutyou. Welookforwardtohearingfromyou!  

 

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Eachissuethe2dartistteamselects10ofthebestdigital ofthebestdigitalimagesfromaroundtheworld.Enjoy! ofthebestdigital imagesfromaroundtheworld.Enjoy! Eachissuethe2dartistteamselects10

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Submityourimages!Simplyemail [email protected]

ReyhandWisdom Pierre"Asahi"Raveneau Yearcre Year arcreate create ated: d:2016 Web:artstation.com/artist/asahiart

©Pierre"Asahi"Raveneau

 

 

idiots

ÖmerTunç Yearc Ye arcrea arcrea reated ted: ted:2016

Web: artstation.com/artist/mertun ©ÖmerTunç

 

 

 

 

Raven VeraV  Ver aV elichk elichk chko o Ye Year ar arcre create create ated: d:2016 Web:artlacertus.artstation.com

©VeraVelichko

Delivery Andrze And rze jDy  jDybow bowski bow ski Ye Year ar arcre create create ated: d:2016 Web:andrzejdybowski.com

©AndrzejDybowski

 

 

TheTraveler HuealaTeodor Year Ye ar arcre create create ated: d:2016 Web:artstation.com/artist/htartist

©HuealaTeodor

.

 

 

 

 

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HeavenoSofness FlorianAupetit Ye Yearc arcrea arcreated reated: ted:2016 Web:florianaupetit.com

©FlorianAupetit

 

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OdusApartments FrankHong Yearc Yearc arcrea reated reated: ted:2016 Web:crushvisual.com ©CrushVisualInc.

 

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FrontLine DominikMayer Y earcreate c cre reate ated: d:2016 Web: artstation.com/artist/dtmayer

©DominikMayer

 

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ThievesDen

ShahabAlizadeh Year Year arcre create create ated: d:2016 Web:facebook.com/Shah facebook.com/ShahabAlizadehArt abAlizadehArt

©ShahabAlizadeh  

 

 

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Littlegifs ManuelCastañón Ye Year arcre arcre create ate ated: d: d:2016 2016 Web:manuelcastanon.carbonmade.com Web: manuelcastanon.carbonmade.com ©ManuelCastañón

 

 

Meteora

ScottUminga Year Ye ar arcre cre create ated: ated:2016 Web:scottuminga.com ©ScottUminga

 

 

 

* A    S E L E C TT

I O N    O  F F     O  U U  R R   A   L  U U  M M  N N  II  II  ’’  S S   A  C A  C C  H H  II  II  E E   V V   E  M M  E E   N  T T  S S  ,,   C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S     T  O O     T H E M   A   L  L L  ..

 

Speedpaint

amedicmech Learnhowtoquicklycreateanactionscenewith lighti lig htinge nge ect ectsus susing inglim limite itedbr dbrush ushes es

 

 

TheArtist

ThibaultGirard kailyze.com SofwareUsed:

Photoshop ThibaultGirardisaconcept andenvironmentartistat FuturLab.HelivesintheUK, isaFrenchnative,andis passionateaboutJapanese culture,sci-fiartandbooks.

 

 

2DARTISTMAGAZINE 2DARTIST MAGAZI MAGAZINE NE | Speedpaintamedicmech

Seehowfocusingoncore elementscanhelpyou tellastoryquickly... Whetheritiswithinthirtyminutesortwo hours,timeisshortwhenspeedpaintingso youhavetofocusonhowtotellanexciting youhavetofocusonhowto tellanexciting storyinlittletime.HereIwillshowyouhow storyinlittletime.HereI willshowyouhow tocreateaspeedpaintingusinga“Medic Mech”asatheme.Youwillneedtoprepare Mech”asatheme.Youwillneedto prepare somereferencesfromyourfavoritepictures

Startwithacloudybackgroundwithabadweatheratmosphere.Paintthecorners badweatheratmosphere.Paintthecorners darkerthanthecenter

orartists,anythingtofeedyourmindwhile painting.Aspeedpaintingisnotafinished concept;youarepaintingsomethingfrom whatyouarefamiliarwithandarehereto makeanothernicepieceofartwithitsstory. makeanothernicepieceofart withitsstory. Wewillfocusonveryfewkeyelements.Above Wewillfocusonvery fewkeyelements.Above all,keepyourtopicinmindanddoallthat youcantoexpressitinyourartworkwhile keepingitassimpleaspossible.Keepyour keepingitassimpleaspossible. Keepyour silhouettes,colors,contrasts,andcomposition simpletoo.Donotuselotsofcharactersor simpletoo.Donotuse lotsofcharactersor anycrazyperspectiveswithhundredsof  wiresorcirclesinit.Ideallyyoushouldpaint wiresorcirclesinit.Ideallyyou shouldpaint amaximumofonetotwocharactersandany amaximumofoneto twocharactersandany othercharactershouldbeasimplerough shape.Mostofthetimeevokingasimple

Addadarkforegroundwithanopeningandalighterb dwithanopeningandalighterbackgroundlayer ackgroundlayer Addadarkforegroundwithanopeningandalighterb

humanshape,barelydefined,shouldsuffice. Youwillseethatyouhavetosacrificesurface Youwillseethatyouhavetosacrificesur face andtexturepaintingforcompositionand acleancontrast.Depthisimportanttoget anicevibeanditcanonlyworkifyoukeep anicevibeanditcanonly workifyoukeep thedifferentforeground,middleground andbackgroundlayersseparated.To summarize,aspeedpaintingisquitesimilar toanypainting,themaindifferencewillbe inwhatyouspendyourtimeworkingon andchoosinghowtomakesomesacrifices. Forthisentireprocess,wewillusebasic brushes(thesimplePhotoshopRoundbrush ineither100%or0%Hardnesswilldomost ofthestrokes).Smoke,dustandparticle brushesarealsousefulhere,andthat’sit! Creatinganabstractbackground: background:

01 01

Addthemaincharactersinthreedifferentlayer Addthemaincharac tersinthreedifferentlayers.Onefortheinjuredsoldier tersinthreedifferentlayer s.Onefortheinjuredsoldier,onefor s.Onefortheinjuredsoldier ,onefor themech,andoneforthemech’sarm themech,andonefor themech’sarm

Firstlet’screateastoryforthemedic Firstlet’screateastoryforthe medic mech.Quicklybrainstormasituationthat mech.Quicklybrainstorma situationthathelps helps youtounderstandwhatisgoing youtounderstand whatisgoingonandwhat onandwhatthe the

Startbycreating, Startbycre ating,inalandscape inalandscapecanvasusin canvasusinga ga

storyis.Forinstance,themedic storyis.For instance,themedicmechcouldbe mechcouldbe

cloudybrush,anabstractbackgroundinacolor

02 02

Surfaceplacement: Gobacktoa

simpleroundbrushwiththeHardness

healinganinjuredsoldieronabattlefield.You healinganinjuredsoldierona battlefield.You wouldneedtopaintthemech, wouldneedto paintthemech,aninjuredguy, aninjuredguy,

ofyourchoicedependingontheambianceyou ofyourchoice dependingontheambianceyou wishtoshow.Here wishto wishtoshow.HereI show.HereIcreateacloudy,abstract Icreateacloudy,abstract createacloudy,abstract

settingat100%tostayclear.Place settingat settingat100%to 100%tostayclear.Place stayclear.Placeinthebottom inthebottom inthebottom thirdofthecomposition,theforegroundsurface thirdofthe composition,theforegroundsurface

andthebattlefield(let’s andthe battlefield(let’skeepthis keepthissimple,the simple,the

backgroundwhichisdarkerinthecornersso

wheretheactionofthescene wheretheaction ofthesceneistakingplace. istakingplace.This This

clock’sticking)andofcoursetheactionitself. clock’sticking)andofcoursethe actionitself.

thatthefocalareawillstayinthecenter.

thirdismucheasiertocontrol thirdismuch easiertocontrolinthetime inthetimegiven. given.

 

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Thenpaintthebackground Thenpaint thebackgroundsuracetoo suracetooina suracetooinalighter inalighter inalighter

thescene.Sinceyoudonot thescene.Since youdonothavethetime havethetimeor or

moreonthecharacters,addamiddleground

shade.Thisgivesyoutheirstlevelodepthin shade.Thisgivesyoutheirst shade.Thisgives youtheirstlevelodepth levelodepthin

detailskeepthesilhoue detail skeepthesilhouettesclear ttesclearandsimple. andsimple.

mountaintocreatemore mountainto createmoredepthin depthinyour your

yourscenery.Onesurace yourscenery. Onesuracewherethe wherethemainocus mainocus

Morethantwocharacters Morethan twocharacterswillrapidly willrapidlybecomea becomea

scenery.Thisalsohelpsthecomposition scenery.Thisalsohelpsthe composition

(themedicmechandtheinjured (themedicmech andtheinjuredsoldier)willbe soldier)willbe

hardtasktomanagewhenyouhavetobeast

byillingthespaceonthelefand byillingthespaceon thelefandthereore thereore

andasecondsuraceorthebattleieldaction. andasecondsuraceorthe battleieldaction.

(unlessyouarepainting (unlessyou (unlessyouarepaintingaroughlyshapedcrowd). arepaintingaroughly aroughlyshaped shaped crowd).

pushingtheeyeothereadertotheright,into pushingtheeyeothereadertothe right,into themainactionpointoyourcharacters.

“Thepositioningofyour charactersisextremely

Fornow,keepyourcharactersindifferent Fornow,keepyourcharactersin different

Startalsotoaddsomebackgroundaction. Startalsotoaddsome backgroundaction.

colorsandonseparatelayers.Reineyour

Thishelpsgiveanambianceto Thishelpsgive anambiancetothestoryin thestoryin

importantandshouldgivea roughideaofwhatisgoingon inthescene”

silhouettesuntilyouaresatisiedwith silhouettesuntilyouare satisiedwiththe the shapebutrememberthat shapebut rememberthatspontaneityis spontaneityisthe the

yourpaintingandthereoregivemore yourpaintingandthereore givemoredepth depth ostorytotheinjuredsoldier. ostoryto theinjuredsoldier.Asimplespider Asimplespider

key.Alsorememberthat key.Also rememberthatmanyless manylessimportant important

tankshootinga tankshootingandcausing andcausinganexplosionclearly ndcausingan anexplosionclearly explosionclearly

elementslikethelegsothemedicmech

showsthatthesceneison showsthatthe sceneisonabattleield.As abattleield.As

Sculpttheshapeotheoreground Sculpttheshape otheoregroundsothatyou sothatyou

don’thavetobeinishedatall,justdrafed. don’thavetobeinishedatall,just drafed.

beore,ocusonthesilhouettesandkeep beore,ocusonthe silhouettesandkeep

haveanopeningtoseewhat’sgoingoninthe

Here,ocusonthehealingactcenteredon Here,ocusonthe healingactcenteredon

everythinginthebackgroundgrayishin everythinginthe backgroundgrayishin

background.Addalittleareaontheoreground background.Addalittleareaon theoreground

thehandsothemechandthetorsoand thehandsothemechandthe torsoand

colorbecausethisisnotthemainocus.

suracewhereyourmainacti surac ewhereyourmainactionistakingplace onistakingplace..

headotheinjuredsoldier.Createanother headotheinjured soldier.Createanother separatelayerorthemech’sarm.

Signalingthemainsubject:Let’snot

05 05

Materialcomposition:Itistimeto

startsomematerialtexture startsomemater ialtexturepainting. painting.

Backgroundstory:Thereistoo muchspaceinthepicture.Usethe

03 03

oyourcharactersis oyour charactersisextremelyimportant extremelyimportantand and

04 04

Croptooltoerasetheempt Croptool toerasetheemptyspacearou yspacearound nd

priority.Solet’sadd priority.So let’saddgrassand grassandsomepuddles somepuddles

shouldgivearoughideao shouldgivea roughideaowhatisgoing whatisgoingonin onin

yourcharacters.Nowthattheocusisdirected

toitbyusing“badweather” toitby using“badweather”colorswitha colorswithalat lat

loseanymoretime–addyourmain protagonistsin protagon istsintheoreground.Thepositioning theoreground.Thepositioning

thecharacters,addingsomebackgroundstoryandamiddle thecharacters,addingsomebackgroundstory ssomebackgroundstory omebackgroundstoryandamiddleground a andamiddle ndamiddleground ground Cropthepaintingtogetclosertothecharacters,adding

Alwaysrememberthatyouroreground, Alwaysrememberthatyour oreground, wherethemainactionishappening,isyour

Paintmaterialtexturesintheforegroundandbegindetailing fforegroundand oregroundandbegindetailingthecharacters begindetailingthecharactersattributes thecharactersattributes thecharacters attributes

 

85

 

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brush(youcouldsimplylattenyourround brushinthebrushparameterswindow). brushinthe brushparameterswindow). Useagrassbrush Usea Useagrassbrushor grassbrushortheedges.Youcan ortheedges.Youcan theedges.Youcanmakethis makethis makethis brushbydrawingacoupleosharpshapeson brushbydrawingacoupleo sharpshapesona a separatePSDandsavingitasabrush.Youcan thenscatteritinthebrushpresets.Therockon thenscatteritinthebrush thenscatterit inthebrushpresets.Therock presets.Therockon thelefoimage05is thelefo thelefoimage05ismadeusingarockytexture image05ismadeusinga madeusingarockytexture withasolidcenterandnoisyedges.Donot withasolidcenterandnoisy edges.Donot contrastthesetexturestoo contrastthese texturestoomuchotherwise muchotherwisethey they willcatchtheattentionmorethanthecharacters. willcatchtheattention willcatch theattentionmorethan morethanthe the characters. Finallyorthisstep, Finallyor Finallyorthisstep,paintthe thisstep,painttheirstdetailso painttheirstdetailso irstdetailsoyour yyour our characters.Indicatetheeyeothe characters.Indicatethe eyeothemechtoshow mechtoshow whereheislookingthen whereheisloo kingthendetailthehea detailthehealinggas linggas tankonhisback,abitohishandsandalso tankonhisback,abit ohishandsandalso thesoldier’suniorm.All thesoldier’s uniorm.Allothese othesewill othesewillhelpthe will willhelpthe helpthe vieweridentiywhatishappeninginthescene. vieweridentiywhatis happeninginthescene.

06 06

Directingfocus:IEraseanyexcessive

detailsthatyouknowwillbetoo

muchtoproduceinthetime muchtoproduce muchtoproduceinthetimeyouhavelef.This inthetimeyouhavelef. youhavelef.This isaspeedpaintsoyou isaspeed isaspeedpaintsoyouwillneedtodosome paintsoyouwillneedto willneedtodo do some cutsotherwiseyouwon’tbeabletoocus properlyontheessentialpoints.Youthinkit properlyontheessential properlyon theessentialpoints.You points.Youthink think it maybetoocomplex?Then maybetoocomp lex?Thenmakeitsimple makeitsimpler. r.

Addmoredetailstothemechsuchasthecrosssymbolonh hsuchasthecrosssymbolonhisheadandpaintthehe hsuchasthecrosssymbolonh isheadandpaintthehealingdevice isheadandpaintthehe alingdevice Addmoredetailstothemec

Cropthesceneagain,darkenthecornersandadd Cropthesceneagain,darkenthe cornersandadddetailstotherestofthemech’sbody d detailstothe etailstotherestofthemech’sbody

 

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2DARTISTMAGAZINE 2DARTIST MAGAZI MAGAZINE NE |

ISSUE130

Darkentheareasurrounding thecharactersthenbrighten tthenbrightenthe henbrightenthehealingdeviceandthemech’shead tthe he healingdeviceandthemech’shead Darkentheareasurrounding areasurroundingthecharacters

Theheadsofmaincharactersarevisually importantmostofthetimeso importantmostof thetimesofocusonthese. focusonthese.

08 08

Lightingfocus:Focusonlyonthe

abitoftheareaaroundtheinjection.Makeit abitofthe areaaroundtheinjection.Makeit

lightsfornowasenoughhasbeen

looklikeamagical,powerfullightifnecessary. looklikeamagical,powerfullight ifnecessary.

Evenonamechtheyshowyouwhoandwhat Evenonamechtheyshowyouwho andwhat

donealreadyfortheshapeandtextures.Again, donealreadyfortheshapeand textures.Again,

itis,andwheretolook.Continueworkingon itis,andwheretolook. Continueworkingon

usemultiplelayerstodarkenthecorners. usemultiplelayerstodarkenthe corners.

Nowthattheexplosionandtheinjection Nowthatthe explosionandtheinjection

thegastankandthetool thegastank andthetoolthemechis themechisusing using

Darkeneverythingalittleexcepttheexplosion Darkeneverythingalittleexceptthe explosion

aremuchbrighterthantherestofthe aremuchbrighterthantherestof the

tohealthesoldier.Aga tohealthesol dier.Again,allthes in,allthesedetails edetailsare are

andofcoursetheactionbetweenthetwo

scene,theyarelinked,andthecause

paintedusingtheverybasicRoundbrushwith

maincharacters. mainchara cters.NowwithanOverlaylayer NowwithanOverlaylayer,,

(explosion)andcconsequence(the onsequence(theiinjured njured

100%Hardness.Atthisstage,flipyourimage 100%Hardness.Atthis stage,flipyourimage

brightenthemech’shead, brightenthe mech’shead,theinjection, theinjection,and and

soldier)inthescene’sstoryisclear.

horizontallytogetafreshlookonyourpainting.

PROTIPS Overallconstruction:Cropthe

imageagainandaddsomeambient

07 07

occlusiontohelpcenterthefocusofthe sceneevenmore.UseyourRoundbrushwith

Practicewithin Practic ewithingroups ewithin groups Ifyouwant Ifyouwanttoseesome toseesomeprogressinyour progressinyourspeedpaintingmake speedpaintingmakeoneeveryday, oneeveryday,evena evena twentyorthirtyminuteone.Ofcourseitwon’t twentyorthirtyminuteone.Of courseitwon’tbe be beabsolutelyeverydaybuttrytoachieve absolutelyeverydaybuttrytoachieve thatobjectiveuntilyouthinkyouhavemanagedto thatobjectiveuntilyouthinkyou havemanagedtoreachanew reachanewlevel. level.

0%Hardnessandsettoa 0%Hardnessand settoaverybigsize. verybigsize.Use Use aMultiplylayerandadarkcolor(preferably aMultiplylayeranda darkcolor(preferably

Youcanalsojoinsocialne Youcanal sojoinsocialnetworkgroupsandpa sojoinsocialne tworkgroupsandparticipateinthose.Itisv tworkgroupsandpa rticipateinthose.Itisveryefficientforyour rticipateinthose.Itisv eryefficientforyour

blue)forthecorners.However,do blue)forthe corners.However,donotusetoo notusetoo

learningsince learningsincenotonly notonlyyouwill youwilltrain,and train,and train,andhavefun havefun havefunpaintingthose paintingthoserandomthemes, randomthemes,butyou butyou

muchofthiscoloronthecornersinthesky. muchofthiscoloronthe cornersinthesky.

willalsolearnalotfromtheotherspost willalsolearnalotfromthe otherspostinginthegrou inginthegroup.Youwillsee p.Youwillseecrazyideas crazyideasandget andget usefulcritics,and usefulcritics,andpostingina postinginagroupwillpush groupwillpush groupwillpushyourworkfurtherasyouknowthat yourworkfurtherasyouknowthatpeople people

Addmoredetailsonthemech Addmoredetails onthemechandthelittle andthelittle robotslyingnexttothesoldier.Nowthe robotslyingnexttothe soldier.Nowthe paintingofthemechispracticallydone.You paintingofthemechis practicallydone.You don’tneedtoaddmuchmore don’tneedto don’tneedtoaddmuchmoretohimfora addmuchmoretohimfor tohimfora speedpainting.Thesedetails Thesedetailsincludeanother includeanother crossonthearm(tosuggest crossonthe arm(tosuggestamedicmech amedicmech unit)andnewmetallicpartsofthebody. unit)andnewmetallicpartsof thebody.

willseeandcommentonyourwork.

TheLassotool Thistoolwill Thistoolwillbeyourfriend beyourfriendforspeedpaintings. forspeedpaintings.UsingtheLasso, UsingtheLasso,youwillbe youwillbe youwillbeabletocreate abletocreate aselectionshapeandpainta simplegradientinitinseconds.Forinstance,usingtheLasso seconds.Forinstance,usingtheLasso tool,youcangeta mountainselectionsilhoue mountainselectionsilhouetteandthenuse tteandthenuse gradientstodarkenthetop andbrightenthebottom.Youwill andbrightenthebott om.Youwillhaveamountai haveamountaininthefardista ninthefardistancedoneinten ncedoneintenseconds. seconds.

Thesedetailsaremostlytoppart Thesedetailsaremos tlytoppartsandare sandare onlywhatisnecessarytotellthestory.

andthat TheLassotoolwillletyouhaveperfectcontrol TheLassotoolwillletyou haveperfectcontrolonyourpainting onyourpaintinginsideashape insideashapeandthat shapeedgewill shapeedgewillstayclean.It stayclean.Itwillalsosave willalsosaveyoutimeat youtimeattheendof theendofyour your yourpaintingasyou paintingasyou won’tneedasmuchtimeforcleaning. won’tneedasmuch timeforcleaning.

 

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09 09

Backgroundadjustments:Let’sreturn

tothebackground.Givemoredepth

totheskybyreiningthe tothesky byreiningtheclouds(anycloudy clouds(anycloudyor or dustybrushwilldoorthis).Aclassicwaytogive dustybrushwilldoorthis). Aclassicwaytogive depthistopaintthetopotheskydarkerand depthistopaintthetopo theskydarkerand progressivelypaintbrighter progressivel ypaintbrightertowardsthehorizon. towardsthehorizon. Themiddlegroundneedsabit Themiddleground needsabitoapolish oapolishtoo, too, andaclearerseparationbetweenthisand theoregroundwillhelpthedepth.Usinga basicverysofRoundbrush,addagradientto basicverysofRoundbrush,adda gradientto thebottomothemiddlegroundpickingthe colorromthebottomothe colorromthe bottomothesky.Thenadd sky.Thenadd somedetailstotherocksby somedetailsto therocksbyusingtheLasso usingtheLasso tooltomakesharp toolto tooltomakesharpshapedselectionswitha makesharpshapedselections shapedselectionswith with a Roundbrushorarockybrush.Finally,helpthe Roundbrushorarockybrush. Finally,helpthe explosionlookmorepowerul explosionlook morepowerulbyadding byaddingan an orangegradientinthe orangegradie ntintheareasurroundingit. areasurroundingit.

10 10

FXadjustments:Wecanaddmore

deinitiontothesuraceothegrass deinitiontothesuraceo thegrass

sincethisoccupiesaloto sincethisoccupies alotothepictureand thepictureand isinthemainoreground.Again, isinthemainoregroun d.Again,agrass agrass brushandyourgoodoldbasichardRound brushwilldoorthis.Addsomedetails brushwilldoorthis. Addsomedetails

Addmoredefinitiontotheskyandcreatetexturede reatetexturedetailsonthemiddlegroundmount tailsonthemiddlegroundmountains tailsonthemiddlegroundmount ains Addmoredefinitiontotheskyandcreatetexturede

onthespidertanktoo,such onthespider tanktoo,suchaslightrom aslightrom

theexplosiontogiveitsomevolume. theexplosiontogiveit somevolume.

brightercenterandadarkerouteredge. brightercenterandadarker outeredge.

Inthebackground,reducetheexplosionsize Inthebackground,reducethe explosionsize

Intheoreground,create Inthe Intheoreground,createaColor oreground,createaColorlayerto aColorlayertoadd layertoadd add

whilekeepingitspowerulorangecolor.You

somegreencoloredeffectstothehealing

needtoadjustthesizeo needtoadjust thesizeoyourelementsso yourelementsso

injectionarea.Comparedtotheglobalgray,the

thatthebackgroundisnottakingtoomuch

greenwillbecomethe greenwill greenwillbecomethemainocus. becomethemainocus.Createa mainocus.CreateaColor CreateaColor Color

attentionawayromthe attentionaway romthemainocus. mainocus.Using Using

Dodgelayerortheeffectsnow Dodgelayeror theeffectsnowandusea anduseavery very

acloudbrushpainttheexplosionwitha

sofRoundbrushandabrightcolortobrighten sofRoundbrushandabright colortobrighten

Maketheexplosionsmokierwithparticlesandaddagreenlighteffecttothe agreenlighteffecttothehealingdevice agreenlighteffecttothehealingdevice

 

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2DARTISTMAGAZINE 2DARTIST MAGAZI MAGAZINE NE |

ISSUE130

UseaSelectiveColorlayertorework ayertoreworkyourcolors,grays,whitesandblacks whitesandblacksm whitesandblacksmakingthe makingthe makingthepicturemoredramatic akingthe picturemoredramatic UseaSelectiveColorlayertoreworkyourcolors,grays,

theexplosion,aswellastheinjection.Lastly, theexplosion,aswellasthe injection.Lastly, addsomeparticleswithascattered addsomeparticles withascatteredbrushanda brushanda powerullightonthetipo powerullighton thetipothehealingdevice. thehealingdevice.

“Thisisthepowerofdigital painting,youcanchange colorsandcontrastinthe blinkofaneye”

11 11

Moodcoloring:Themoodothe Themoodothescene scene

isnotquiterightsowewillneedto isnotquiterightsowe willneedto

adjustmostothecolors.Luckilyorus,thisis adjustmostothecolors.Luckily adjustmosto thecolors.Luckilyorus,this orus,thisis thepowerodigitalpainting,youcanchange thepowero digitalpainting,youcanchange colorsandcontrastintheblinko colorsandcontras tintheblinkoaneye.Add aneye.Add aSelectiveColorlayerontopoeverything. Playwiththecolorstomake Playwiththe colorstomakethemwarmeror themwarmeror colderandmakethegrays,blacksandwhites colderandmakethegrays,blacks andwhites shineordisappear.Here shineor disappear.Hereawarmer awarmersepiacolor sepiacolor willgiveanicedarkbattleieldeeling. willgiveanicedark battleieldeeling.

Agradientbetweenthecharactersan Agradientbetween thecharactersandtheforegroundgives thecharactersan dtheforegroundgivesyouaclearerpictureof youaclearerpictureofthem them

Makethemaincharacters Makethe maincharacterscolderin colderincolorso colorso thattheyeelandlookdifferent thattheyeel andlookdifferentromtherest romtherest

medicunit.Byplayingwiththecolorstrytoget medicunit.Byplayingwiththecolorstry toget

oregroundandbyusingasofRoundbrush,

othescene.Blueworks othescene .Blueworksoramorepeace oramorepeaceul ul

anevenbrightereffectontheinjectiontoo. anevenbrightereffecton theinjectiontoo.

withcolorpickedromthesky, withcolorpicked romthesky,addsomelight addsomelight

atmosphereintheoregr atmosp hereintheoregroundcompa oundcomparedto redto thebattleieldinthebackground.Although thebattleieldinthe background.Althoughdo do

Silhouettecleaning:Thereisnot

ogbehindthecontoursoyourcharacters.Try ogbehindthecontourso yourcharacters.Try toaddsomebetweenthecharacterstoo.Doing toaddsomebetweenthe characterstoo.Doing

muchtodoheretotidythesilhouettes. muchtodoheretotidy thesilhouettes.

sowillmaketheirsilhouettescleare sowillmaketheir silhouettescleareranddetach randdetach

notlettheredcrosseson notlet notletthered theredcrossesonthemech’s crossesonthemech’sshoulders themech’sshoulders shoulders

12 12

disappearoryouwilllosethe disappearoryou willlosetheimpressionoa impressionoa

Createalayerbetweenyourcharactersandthe

themurtherromthebattleield.Aferagood themurtherromthe battleield.Aferagood

 

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ontheexplosioninthebackground inthebackground Refinetheforeground Refinetheforegroundsurfaceandpaint surfaceandpaintdebrisanddustontheexplosion debrisanddustontheexplosion

amountofwork,andespeciallywhenspeed amountofwork, andespeciallywhenspeed painting,theclarityofthescene painting,theclarity ofthescenemaybelost maybelosta a bit.Thatclaritymustberepairedifyouwant bit.Thatclaritymustbe repairedifyouwant yourimagetobeeasytoreadatfirstglance. Yourmaincharactersare Yourmaincha ractersareyourmainstoryand yourmainstoryand yourfocuspointsokeepthemclean yourfocus yourfocuspointso pointsokeepthemclean keepthemcleanandclear. andclear. andclear.

13 13

Foreground details:Playingwith

thecontrastsandcolorsspoiledthe

foregroundsurfaceabit. foregroundsurface foregroundsurfaceabit.Atsome abit.Atsomepointyou Atsomepointyoumay pointyoumay may havetorefineitinadifferentway.Todothis, addgroundtextureusingaflat addgroundtexture usingaflatbrushandthen brushandthen somepebblesusingaflatrock somepebblesusing aflatrockbrush.Usingflat brush.Usingflat brusheshelpsyoutopaintsurfaceswithout brusheshelpsyouto paintsurfaceswithout havinganythingpoppingout havinganything poppingouttooabruptly tooabruptlyso so thatthefocuspointstaysonthecharacters. thatthefocus pointstaysonthecharacters. Makethefoglayer Makethe foglayerbetweenyour betweenyourforeground foreground andmiddlegroundbrightertohelpseparate andmiddlegroundbrighterto helpseparate theselayersevenmor theselay ersevenmore.Now,youcan e.Now,youcanstartto startto addlittledustparticlesanddebriseffects.For instance,addsome instance ,addsomedebristothe debristotheexplosionin explosionin thebackground,usingascatteredrockbrush,to suggestanexplosionof suggestan explosionofsoil.Now soil.Nowaddsomedust soil.Nowadd addsomedust add somedust intheforegroundwithalayer intheforeground withalayerontopof ontopofallthe allthe others.Veryimportantly,carryonpushingthe others.Veryimportantly,carryonpushing the detailsonthemechsuch detail sonthemechsuchashishealing ashishealinggastank gastank andtheinjector.Theyareyourkeyelements. andtheinjector.Theyareyour keyelements.

“Addabouncinglightonthe

hairsandshoulderofthe injuredsoldiertolinkhimto theexplosion”

soldierandaddabouncinglightfromtheexplosion soldierandaddabouncinglightfromtheexplosion Paintmoredetailonthemechandsoldierandadda

 

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Storydetails:Nowwewillocus

14 14

tolinkhimtotheexplosion.Itisnotabig tolinkhimtotheexplosion.Itis notabig

onlyonthemaincharactersagain.

detailbutitshowsthattheightisbehind detailbutitshowsthattheight isbehind

Therestotheimageisconsideredinished Theresto theimageisconsideredinished

himandthathewentthroughit.

ISSUE130

oraspeedpainting.Ipushthedetailsonthe oraspeedpainting.Ipushthe detailsonthe andhowthathealingisnecessarybutalso

15 15

difficult.Imakethehandclearersinceafer difficult.Imakethehand clearersinceafer

haveacoupleominutes haveacoupl eominutestosparesousethem tosparesousethem

theace,handsareuseultoshowemotions. theace,handsareuseulto showemotions.

oradjustmentsandpolishing.Playwiththe oradjustmentsandpolishing.Playwith the

injuredsoldiersothatwecan injuredsoldierso thatwecanseehispain seehispain

Finaladjustments:Intheinalstep

thereisnotmuchleftodo.Youshould thereisnotmuchleftodo.  Youshould

contrastothemech’sinjec contra stothemech’sinjectoranddarken toranddarken Continuealsoworkingonthebouncelightrom Continuealsoworkingonthebounce lightrom

themech’sorearm,butmakethegreenreally

theinjectorimpactingonthemech’storsoso theinjectorimpactingonthe mech’storsoso

brightandcolorultoshowit brightandcolorul toshowitisbeingused. isbeingused.

youcanseehimabitmore.Againtheinjured youcanseehimabit more.Againtheinjured soldier,themech’stop, soldier,the mech’stop,andthe andtheinjectorareyour andtheinjectorare injectorareyour injectorareyour

Addsomesmoketothesoldier’s Addsomesmoke tothesoldier’sinjurywitha injurywitha

coreelementssostay coreelem entssostayonthem.Addsome onthem.Addsomegreen green

veryblurred,sofbrushandasuperbrightgreen veryblurred,sofbrush andasuperbrightgreen

colortotheinjectortomakeitclearthatitis colortotheinjectortomake colortothe injectortomakeitclearthat itclearthatit it is

emittingromitshowingaroughhealingprocess. emittingromitshowinga roughhealingprocess.

injectingthegreengasromthemech’stank. injectingthegreengasromthe mech’stank.

Thiswillimprovethe Thiswill Thiswillimprovethedramain improvethedramainthepicture.Finally, dramainthepicture.Finally, thepicture.Finally, makesomesmallcorrections makesome smallcorrectionsonthe onthebrighter brighter

Asalittleextra,adda Asalittle extra,addabouncinglighton bouncinglightonthe the

partsothecharacterssuchastherimlights,and partsothecharacterssuchastherim lights,and

hairsandshoulderotheinjuredsoldier

cleananydirtybrushstrokes,andyou’realldone! cleananydirtybrushstrokes,andyou’re alldone!

 

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TheArtist

ThibaultGirard kailyze.com

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©ThibaultGirard

 

93

 

Designamysterious

character      imageryandmutedcolors

 









 

TheArtist

EmiChen emichenart.com SofwareUsed:

Photoshop EmiChenisafreelance illustratorbasedin Providence,USA.She currentlyworksfor BlizzardEntertainment, andspecializesincreating fantasyillustrationswith dynamiclightingand intensecolor.

FREE CHAPTER

 

 

Gettipsonaddingemotion Gettipsonadding emotion intoyourillustration intoyour illustrations... illustration s... InthistutorialIwillshowmyprocessfor InthistutorialIwillshowm yprocessfor creatingafullyrenderedillustration.Iwill focusontopicsincludingideageneration, creatingmoodandatmosphere,and symbolism.Inaddition,Iwillgoover someformalaspectsofillustrationsuchas composition,design,value,andanatomy. Inthisimagethethemeis“mystery, Inthisimagethe themeis“mystery,”and ”and alotofthedecisionsImakearebasedon alotofthedecisions Imakearebasedon tryingtoportrayamysteriousfeeling;Ineed tocreateanimagethathasanenigmatic sensetoit.Therearemanyaspectsofthis sensetoit.Therearemanyaspectsof this illustrationthatworktowardstryingto achievethattheme,andIwillgothroughallof  achievethattheme,andIwillgothroughall of  themstepbystep.Bytheendofthistutorial themstepbystep.Bytheendof thistutorial youwillhavethetoolsettocreateyour youwillhavethetoolsetto createyour ownillustrationwithamysterioustheme.

01 01

Mindmap:Amindmapis Amindmapisagraphical agraphical

diagramorelatedthoughtsandwords

aboutasubject.Itincludesabranching-out aboutasubject.It includesabranching-out oideasromacentralstarting oideasrom acentralstartingpoint.Inthis point.Inthis case,Iwanttheillustrationtorevolvearound case,Iwantthe illustrationtorevolvearound theconcepto“mystery,”soIcreateamind mapwiththeocusonthiswordandwhat mapwiththeocusonthis wordandwhat comestomind.Fromthere,Ikeepexploring comestomind.Fromthere,I keepexploring variousthemesandsubjects variousthemes variousthemesandsubjectsthatrelatetothe andsubjectsthatrelate thatrelateto to the word.Itrytoexhaustallpossibilities,exploring word.Itry toexhaustallpossibilities,exploring everythingthatIcanuntilIamsurethere everythingthatIcanuntilI amsurethere areabsolutelynomorerelatedideaslef.

“ThisiswhenIbeginto thinkaboutcomposition andwhatwouldlook aestheticallypleasing”

02 02

Thumbnails:OnceIhaveagood

understandingo understandin gotheconceptthrough theconceptthrough

words,Istartcreating words,I startcreatingthumbnails.This thumbnails.Thisis is whenIbegintothinkaboutcompositionand whatwouldlookaesthetically whatwould lookaestheticallypleasing.I pleasing.Ialso also considernarrative.Itypicallylimitmysel considernarrative.Itypically limitmyselto to onlythreevaluesor onlythree valuesorthumbnails.This thumbnails.Thishelps helps mebreakdowntheshapedesignmore mebreakdowntheshape designmore

Themindmapusedforthisillustration.Don’tbe Themindmap usedforthisillustration.Don’tbeafraidtoreally usedforthis illustration.Don’tbeafraidtoreallyexploreatthis afraidtoreallyexploreatthisstage! exploreatthisstage! stage!

easily,andallowsmetoorganizetheimage intomanageableparts.Typically,Imake abouttwentythumbnailsoranillustration, butsometimesImakemoredependingon

Noticehowsmallandroughthese Noticehowsmall Noticehowsmallandroughtheset androughtheset humbnailsare,justfocusingonshapeanddesign humbnailsare,justfocusingonshapeanddesign focusingonshapeanddesign

howmanyideasIcomeup howmanyideas Icomeupwiththatday. withthatday.  

 

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03 03

Sketches: Next,Ichoosethreeo 

thethumbnailsthatIthinkwork

bestbothnarrativel bestboth narrativelyand yandcompositional compositionally, ly, andstarttoleshouttheseideasurther.I andstarttoleshoutthese ideasurther.I begintopaintintheanatomicalgesture,and hintatmaterialtexture.Itry hintatmaterial texture.Itrytoavoidovertoavoidoverrenderinganddetailingat renderingand detailingatthisstage, thisstage,sinceI sinceI knowthatIwilleventuallybe knowthatI willeventuallybethrowingtwoo  throwingtwoo  thesketchesaway.Atthis thesketchesaway .Atthispoint, .Atthispoint,itisstillonly point, itisstillonly aboutthestoryanddesign.Iaddingsomething aboutthestoryanddesign.I addingsomething contributessigniicantlytoeither contributessigniicantl ytoeitherothosetwo othosetwo aspects,Iaddit.Inot,Ileaveitoutornow. aspects,Iaddit.Inot,I leaveitoutornow. romthethumbnails.Theideasthat Theideasthatshowpotential Theideasthatshowpotential Threecompositionschosen Threecompositionschosenromthethumbnails. romthethumbnails.Theideasthat

Ichoosetheirstsketchinimage03totake Ichoosetheirstsketchin Ichoosethe irstsketchinimage03to image03totake

areexploredurtherinthissketchstage

tothenextstepbecauseit tothenext stepbecauseithastheclearest hastheclearest lowandcontrast,andthesmoky,ethereal lowandcontrast,andthe smoky,ethereal backgrounditstheconc backgr ounditstheconcepto“myster epto“mystery.” y.”

04 04

Designingthecharacte Designingthe character: characte r:Nowthat

atclassicalsculptureaswellasancientGreek atclassicalsculptureaswellas ancientGreek

IhavechosenthesketchIwilltake

clothingdesignwhendesigningthecostume.

tocompletion,itistimetoaddspeciicity.

“Idecidetoturntowards Greekmythologyor inspiration;I’vealwaysound

igureistheocusotheimage.Ithereore igureistheocusothe image.Ithereore

05 05

needtomakesurethatit needtomake surethatitiswelldesigned iswelldesignedand and

laidout,Icanstarttoadddetailandrenderthe laidout,I canstarttoadddetailandrenderthe

interestingtolookat.Idecide interestingtolook at.Idecidetoturntowards toturntowards

costume.Atthisstag costum e.Atthisstage,Ipaymoreatte e,Ipaymoreattentionto ntionto

thattheideaoanaferlieis shroudedinmystery”

Greekmythologyorinspiration; Greekmythologyorinspiration;I’vealways orinspiration;I’ve I’ve always oundthattheideaoan oundthatthe ideaoanaferlieisshrouded aferlieisshrouded

makingsureallthematerialsare makingsureallthe materialsarereadable.For readable.For example,urneeds exampl e,urneedstolookluffyand tolookluffyandmetalneeds metalneeds

inmystery,asisthecharacter inmystery,as isthecharacterHades.Ilook Hades.Ilook

tolookrelective.Iworkon tolookrelective. Iworkonreiningmybrushwork reiningmybrushwork

Becausethisisacharacterillustration Becausethisisa characterillustration,the ,the

Addingdetailsandsymbolism: Addingdeta ilsandsymbolism:Now

thatIhavethebasiccharacterdesign

Focus o n the c haracter d esign h ere

In this s tep, s tart to b uild u p the c ostume

 

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sothatitlooksneatandclean. sothat sothatit itlooksneatandclean. looksneatandclean. looksneat andclean.Duringthis D Duringthisstage, uringthisstage,

Ithereorealwaysend Ithereore Ithereorealwaysenduppaintingoverthe alwaysenduppainting uppaintingover over the

Irealizethatitwouldbeconceptua Irealizethat itwouldbeconceptuallystrong llystrong

adjustmentorerasingportionsoit.

toaddascythetotheimagebecauseitevokes toaddascythetothe imagebecauseitevokes themesodeathandtheGri themes odeathandtheGrimReaper, mReaper,awellawellknownigurewhoisalsoconjuresupmystery. knownigurewhois alsoconjuresupmystery.

07 07

Moresymbolism:Inordertoreally

pushthesymbolismandstory

inthisimage,Idecidetoaddsomerams. inthisimage,Idecidetoadd somerams.

Levelsadjustments:Irealizethatthe

06 06

Traditionally,herdingsheepisknowntobean

imagenolongerreadsaswellasthe

actionassociatedwithheavenly actionassociatedwithheavenlyorangelical withheavenlyor or angelical

smallersketchdidbecausethereistoomuch smallersketchdidbecausethereis toomuch

themes.Iwanttousethis themes.Iwant tousethissymbolismtomy symbolismtomy

midtoneanddarknessinit.In midtoneanddarkness init.Inordertocorrect ordertocorrect

advantage;notonlyis advant age;notonlyisthecharacterinspiredby thecharacterinspiredby

this,Iaddmorecontrast,makingtheoverall this,Iadd morecontrast,makingtheoverall

Hades,buttheblackramis Hades,butthe blackramisananimalknown ananimalknown

imagebrighteranddarkening imagebrighter anddarkeningthedarker thedarkervalues. values.

tosymbolizeHadeshimsel.Idecidetoshow himherdingsheep,butwithadarkertwist. himherdingsheep,butwithadarker twist.

UsingLevelsinAdobePhotoshopisagreat UsingLevelsinAdobePhotoshopis agreat

Insteadoholding Instea doholdingashepherd’ ashepherd’sstaff,heis sstaff,heis

waytoaddcontrast,butit waytoadd contrast,butitusuallyleavesthe usuallyleavesthe

controllingtheshee contro llingthesheepusingtheGrimReape pusingtheGrimReaper’s r’s

imagelookingabitmessy,ofenchanging

scythe.Thispresentssomething scythe.This presentssomethingointrigue ointrigueto to

certainareasinawaythatI certainarea sinawaythatIdidnotintend. didnotintend.

theaudience,addingtotheeelingomystery. theaudience,addingtothe eelingomystery.

Correctingtheamountofcontrastinthe imagetoimproveitsreadability

Aclose-upofthesheepandscythe  

2DARTISTMAG.COM

 

2DARTISTMAGAZINE 2DARTIST MAGAZI MAGAZINE NE |

08 08

Checkinganatomy:Inordertomake

suretheproportionsandanatomy

arecorrect,Iproduceaquickoverlaydrawing arecorrect,Iproduceaquick overlaydrawing

ISSUE130

PROTIPS

Attendlocalfiguredrawingsessions Attendlocalfiguredr awingsessions Iyouhaveiguredrawingsessionsavailableinyourarea,youshouldtakeadvantageo 

whereIonlylookattheplacementsothe whereIonlylookatthe placementsothe majorbones.FromhereIcanspotanatomical issuesandmakeadjustments makeadjustmentsaccordingly;I accordingly;I suggestreerencingLLeonardodaVinci’s suggestreerencingLeonardoda eonardodaVinci’s Vinci’sVitruvian V Vitruvian itruvian

them!Figure them!Figuredrawingteaches drawingteachesgesture,and gesture,andallowsyou allowsyoutopractice topracticeworkingunder workingunder workingunderatime atime limit.Thepresence limit.Thepresenceoalive oalivemodelisalso modelisalsogreatorgaining greatorgainingasenseo asenseolightandorm lightandormthat that cannotbeseeninaphoto.Becausetheposes cannotbeseeninaphoto. Becausetheposesareusuallyvery areusuallyveryquick, quick,itpushestheartistto quick, itpushestheartistto captureonlywhatis captureonly whatisnecessary.Even necessary.Eventhe thelongerposes the longerposes longerposesareofen areofenlimitedto limitedtotwentyminutes, twentyminutes,

Man.Hiscalculationsbaseeverythingaround

soIhaveoundthat soIhave oundthat oundthatiguredrawing iguredrawingsessionshave sessionshavetaughtme taughtme taughtmehowtopacemyselwhen howtopacemyselwhen

usingtheheadasareerencemeasure usingtheheadas areerencemeasurement, ment,

drawing.

amethodwhichimprovesaccuracyandhelps amethodwhichimprovesaccuracyand helps tosimpliyeverything.Otherthingsyoucando

Ifyouhaven’talready,learntraditionalmediums

toimproveanatomyareatten toimprove anatomyareattendingliveigu dingliveigure re

Fromane educationalstandpoint, ducationalstandpoint,ttraditionalmediums raditionalmediumsa aregreat aregreatbecausetheyare regreatbecausetheyare becausetheyarelimiting. limiting.

drawingsessionsandmemorizing andmemorizingmuscle muscle

Therearenoundobuttonsorlayers,soworking o orlayers, rlayers,soworkingtraditionallyteaches traditionallyteachesyouto youtothink thinkand think and

shapes.AferIknowwhatneeds shapes.AferI knowwhatneedstobeadjusted, tobeadjusted,

planoutyourdesignbeoreyouwork.Inaddition,therearenoquickcoloradjustment addition,therearenoquickcoloradjustment

Icanstartworkingtomakethosechanges. Icanstartworking tomakethosechanges.

“Althoughdetailslikethisare small,theyreallydohelpalot withthestorytelling,andwith creatingaconvincingimage”

optionseither, optionseither,soyou soyoureallyhave reallyhavetothink tothink tothinkaboutcoloralot aboutcoloralot more.Whenpainting,youhave tomixyour owncolors(ratherthan owncolors(ratherthanselectingthem selectingthemroma romamenu),whichrequiresadvanced romamenu),whichrequiresadvanced understandingo understandin gocolortheory. go colortheory.Personally,my Personally,myavoritetraditional avoritetraditionalm mediumsare ediumsaregraphite, graphite, acrylic,andoil.

Aquickoverlaydrawingofaskeletonontopofthe Aquickoverlaydrawing ofaskeletonontopofthepaintingtohelp paintingtohelp correct the anatomy

Details of the battle scars and hardened skin

 

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2DARTISTMAGAZINE 2DARTIST MAGAZI MAGAZINE NE | Designamysteriouscharacter

Thebrighttriangleonthefigure’sheadisoneoftheelementsadded figure’sheadisoneoftheelementsaddedtoimprovetheimage’sflow toimprovetheimage’sflow Thebrighttriangleonthe

09 09

Addinganatomicaldetails: Addinganatomic aldetails:Iwant

thecharactertohaveamoreworn-

down,oldlook,asifhehasbeenthroughsome down,oldlook,asif hehasbeenthroughsome hardbattles.Thiswilladdtothenarrative hardbattles.Thiswilladd tothenarrative behindtheimageandinvitetheviewerto wonderwherehehascomefrom. wonderwherehe hascomefrom.Iaddsome Iaddsome texturesandbattlescars texturesand battlescarstohis tohisskin,makinghis tohisskin, skin,makinghis skin, makinghis exteriorslightlytighterto exteriorslightly exteriorslightlytightertoimplythat tightertoimplythathe’snot implythathe’snota he’snotaa younghero.Althoughdetails younghero. Althoughdetailslikethis likethisaresmall, aresmall, theyreallydohelpalot theyreallydo helpalotwiththestorytelling, withthestorytelling, andwithcreatingaconvinci andwithcreat ingaconvincingimage. ngimage.

“Beingabletomovethrough theimagewitheaseisoneof  themostimportantelements inestablishinggracefulness indesign”

10 10

Improvingflowandcomposition: Improvingflowand composition:

Inordertoimproveflow,Iaddabright Inordertoimproveflow,Iadda bright

trianglenearthetop trianglenear trianglenearthetopof thetopofthefigure’shead. ofthefigure’shead.This thefigure’shead.This This helpsdirecttheviewer’s helpsdirect theviewer’sattentionto attentiontothefocal thefocal point.I’vefoundthattriangleshapesaregreat point.I’vefound thattriangleshapesaregreat toworkwithcompositional toworkwith compositionallybecausetheycan lybecausetheycan actasarrowsthatpointtheviewerintheright actasarrowsthatpointtheviewerin theright direction.Otherpartsoftheimagethathelp improveflowarethelinesinthebackground, improveflowarethelinesin thebackground, whichallleadtothefigure. whichalllead tothefigure.Inmyopinion, Inmyopinion, beingabletomovethroughtheimagewith beingabletomovethroughthe imagewith easeisoneofthemostimport easeisoneofthe mostimportanteleme antelements nts

inestablishinggracefulnessindesign.

11 11

Abstractdetails: Abstractde tails:Thisimagein

particularhasalotofabstractqualities

Addingsomeinterestingwater-likeabstr ater-likeabstractdetailstothepainting ater-likeabstr actdetailstothepainting Addingsomeinterestingw

toit(whicharenecessaryfor toit(which arenecessaryforthethemeof  thethemeof   

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“mystery”).Agreatwaytogetquickabstract “mystery”).Agreatwaytoget quickabstract amorphousshapesistousetheForwardWarp toolintheLiquiyilterinPhotoshop.It toolintheLiquiy ilterinPhotoshop.Itcreates creates analmostwater-liketexturewhichits analmostwater-liketexture whichitsverywell verywell intotheoverallimage.However,it’simportant nottogooverboard.Imake nottogo overboard.ImakesureIonly sureIonlychoose choose aewplacestousethis aewplaces tousethistechniqueinas techniqueinasthe the imagecanquicklylookgarishi imagecanquickly lookgarishiitisapplied itisappliedtoo too much.Lookatreeren much.Loo katreerencesosmoke cesosmokeandwater andwater iyouarepaintingthiseffecttraditionally. iyouare paintingthiseffecttraditionally.

12 12

Addingmutedcolor: Addingmutedc olor:NowIstartto

addahintocolor.Idon’twantthis addahintocolor.Idon’t wantthis

imagetobetoo imageto betoosaturated,because saturated,becausethatwould thatwould takeawayromits takeaway romitsenigmaticquality. enigmaticquality.Ioptor enigmaticquality.Iopt Ioptor Ioptor alimitedpalettewit alimited palettewithredastheaccen hredastheaccentcolor. tcolor. Inordertoquicklyaddcolortoablackand Inordertoquicklyaddcolortoa blackand whiteimage,IusePhotoshop’sColorBalance eature.Thisallowsme eature.This allowsmetocontrol tocontrolthehue tocontrolthehueothe thehue thehueothe othe highlights,midtones,andshadowsseparately highlights,midtones,and shadowsseparately... shadowsseparately. Inaddition,itmakesverysubtlechangesto thevalues,whichareusuallypleasing.

13 13

Darkeningtheimage:Aferlooking

attheimageoralongtime,Irealize

thatthelightingwouldmakemore thatthelighting wouldmakemoresenseithe senseithe igurewasbacklit,puttinghiminsilhouette. Havingasilhouetted Having asilhouettedcharacter characterwillhelpmy willhelpmy goalocreatingmystery goalo creatingmysterybecausethe becausethecharacter character willbedarkenedandthusappearmore willbedarkenedandthus appearmore obscured.Thisstepalsohelpstosimpliythe composition, compos ition,makingtheimageeasi makingtheimageeasiertoread ertoread visually.Itendtolip visual ly.Itendtoliptheimagehori theimagehorizontal zontallya lya lotduringtheseinal lotduring theseinalstagesto stagestomakesure stagestomakesurethere makesure makesurethere there arenosmallerrorsormist arenosmall errorsormistakesintheima akesintheimage. ge. Lasttweaks:Inowreinethetiny

14 14

detailsandrenderthingsout.This

isthestepwhenIcanrelaxandnotreally ocusonmakinganymajorchanges.All ocusonmakinganymajorc hanges.All thehardworkisdone;Icanjustocuson thehardworkisdone;I canjustocuson gettingalltheinaldetailsrighttoenhance theeelingomysteryintheillustration. theeelingomysteryin theillustration.

AVAILABLEINTHE3DT AVAILABL EINTHE3DTOTAL EINTHE3DT OTALSHOP OTAL SHOP

Addingsubtlecolorintotheblac Addingsubtlecolorintotheblackandwhiteimage kandwhiteimage

ISSUE130

Flippingtheimagetocheckforerrors  

101

 

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The Beginner’sGuideseriesisbackwithaclearandcomprehensivelookatworkinginAdobePhotoshopElements. Inthissequeltothebest-selling Inthissequelto thebest-selling Beginner'sGuidetoDigital  PaintinginPhotoshopbook,anewsetotalentedartists PaintinginPhotoshop book,anewsetotalentedartists breakdownthebestandsimplesttechniquesorcreating breakdownthebestand simplesttechniquesorcreating amazingartworkinPhotoshopElements.Thisundamental guideofferseasy-to-ollowstepsthatguideyouthrough youthrough settingupyoursofware,workingwithbrushesandbasicart basicart theory,aswellaschaptersoncreatingcertainartistic theory,aswellaschapterson creatingcertainartisticstyles. styles.

Withasimpliiedinterac Withasimpliied interaceandewer interac eandewervariableparamet eandewer variableparameterstol variableparamet erstolearnthan erstol earnthan itsbig itsbigbrother,Photoshop, brother,Photoshop,PhotoshopElements PhotoshopElementsisan isanidealtool idealtoolor or orany any artist’sirstdigitaladventure.Thisbook artist’sirstdigitaladventure. Thisbookis isthereoreaperectresourceor: is thereoreaperectresourceor:

•NewcomerstoPhotoshopanddigitalpainting •Artistslookingtoswitchfromatraditionalmedium traditionalmedium •Lecturersandstudentsteaching/studyingdigitalartcourses • o y s sw owan  o ea e arnuse u  ps

 

Availablefromwww.3dtotal.com/shop  

Paintaplein Paintaplein

airsunset

CathleenM Cathle enMcAl cAllis lister terdem demons onstra trates teshow howdi di ita itall lei leinai nairst rstudi udiesc escanb anbe e usedtopracticelight,colorandvaluepainting

 

 

TheArtist

CathleenMcAllister cathleenconcepts.com SofwareUsed:

Photoshop CathleenMcAllisterisa visualdevelopmentartist fromLosAngeles,USA. Shecurrentlyworksfor animationcompanyReel FX.Shespecializesin paintingenvironments, architecture,props,and generatingmoodpaintings.

 

 

2DARTISTMAGAZINE 2DARTIST MAGAZI MAGAZINE NE | Paintapleinairsunset

Gettipsforworking outsideandpaintinga changingenvironment...

usingProCreateontheiPadoraquick

02 02

block-in,andexportthelayeredimageto block-in,andexportthe layeredimageto

torememberthattheskyatsunsetchanges torememberthatthe skyatsunsetchanges

Photoshopduringthelatersteps.ProCreate Photoshopduringthe latersteps.ProCreate

rapidly,andcango rapidly,and cangorombeautiul rombeautiulandbright, andbright,

Inthistutorial,wewillcoverhowtopainta

isaninexpensiveapp, isan inexpensiveapp,especiallyi especiallyiyou you

tonight-timeveryquickly!Forthis tonight-timevery quickly!Forthisreason,itis reason,itis

cloud-filledsunsetfromlifeonadigitalplein

alreadyhaveaniPadorevenaniPhone,and

importanttosetup importantto importanttosetupearly,at setupearly,atleastan early,atleastanhourand leastanhourand hourand

airsetup.Goldenhour,thehourbeforethe

workswellwithaWacomorApplestylus.

ahalbeoresunset.Thisway, ahalbeore sunset.Thisway,youcando youcandoyour your

sunsets,isoneofthemostbeautifuland sunsets,isoneofthe mostbeautifuland

AlthoughIwillbeexplainingthistutorialin

sketchingandvaluecompositions sketchingand valuecompositionsirst,and irst,andthen then

engagingtimesofday.Learningwhatareal

Photoshop,itshouldberelativelyeasytoollow Photoshop,itshouldbe relativelyeasytoollow

ocusonjustthecolorswhen ocusonjust thecolorswhenthelightingis thelightingisideal. ideal.

sunsetlookslike,andhowtopaintit,can sunsetlookslike,andhowtopaintit, can

alongwithProCreate alongwith ProCreate.Regardle .Regardlessowhich ssowhich

reallyhelpyourconceptartandillustration.

setupyouchoose,makesureyourdevices setupyouchoose,makesure yourdevices

Whenlookingoraspot,Ilovetoindhiking Whenlookingoraspot,I lovetoindhiking

areullychargedbeore areullychar gedbeoregoinganywher goinganywhere! e!

trails,ields,parks,orevenoutdoorcaésthat

Alternatively,youcan Alternative ly,youcanollowthistutorial ollowthistutorial

Findingaspot:Whenpainting

duringgoldenhour,itisimportant duringgoldenhour,itis important

Pleinairpaintingisavitalskillforany Pleinairpaintingisavitalskill forany conceptartistbecauseyoucanbuilda mentallibraryofcolorpalettesandlighting scenariostouseinyourpaintings.Inthis tutorial,wewillcovercomposition,value, color,lighting,and color ,lighting,andshapedesign,andhow shapedesign,andhow allofthesefundamentalscometogether inpleinairpainting.Iwillbeworkingona inpleinairpainting.Iwillbe workingona laptopandWacomtabletforthistutorial, butyoucanalsouseProCreateonaniPad.

01 01

Digitalpleinairsetup:Myplein

airsetupconsistsoalaptop airsetupconsists oalaptop(Iusea (Iusea

SuracePro4)stacke Surac ePro4)stackedontopoasmallIntu dontopoasmallIntuos os Protablet,andaglareprotection Protablet,and aglareprotectionhood.Ihave hood.Ihave allothebuttonsIwill allothe buttonsIwillneedhot-keyedinto needhot-keyedinto thetablet.Theseincludeshortcutsto:Brush Size,Zoom,theLassotool,Alt, Size,Zoom,the Lassotool,Alt,Shif,theHand Shif,theHand tool,FreeTransorm,Enter,andamenuo  commonPhotoshopa adjustmentslike djustmentslikeH Hue/ ue/ Saturation,Levels,and Saturation ,Levels,andColorBalance. ColorBalance.

Cathleen’ssetupofalaptop,Wacom andaglareprotectionhood Cathleen’ssetupof alaptop,Wacom alaptop,Wacomttabletandpen, abletandpen,andaglare a ndaglareprotectionhood

Ahugestormcloudatabout5or6pmsomewhereinthemiddleofC Ahugestormcloudata bout5or6pmsomewhereinthemiddleofCaliforniaisthereferen bout5or6pmsomewhereinthemiddleofC aliforniaisthereferenceforthispiec aliforniaisthereferen ceforthispiece ceforthispiec e  

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have Treatcloudsassolidformswhichneedtohave flowingforms,weightandcastshadows

Takeplentyofyourownreferencephotoswithdifferent Takeplentyofyourownreference photoswithdifferentlightfocusesto photoswithdifferentlightfocusestohelp lightfocusestohelp helpyoustudycloudforms youstudycloudforms

haveagoodviewothe haveagood viewothehorizonandthe horizonandthesky. sky.

sameprinciplesoorm,color,andshadingthat sameprinciplesoorm, sameprinciples oorm,color,and color,andshading shading that

toormataspeciicheight,andthenget toormataspeciicheight, andthenget

Findashadyspottominimizescreen Finda Findashadyspot shadyspottominimizescreen tominimizescreenglare,and g glare,and lare,and

youhaveoranysolidobject youhaveor anysolidobjectapplytothem. applytothem.

wispytowardsthetopswherewindmay wispytowardsthetopswherewind may beblowingthem,whichwillcausethemto

makesuretochoosesomewherecomortable makesureto choosesomewherecomortable

havelatterbottomsandluffiertops.

thatwon’tleaveyourlegsnumb thatwon’tleave yourlegsnumbaferaew aferaew

Theirstthingtokeepinmindisshape.Itcan Theirstthingtokeepinmindis shape.Itcan

hours.Forthisparticulartutorial,I hours.Forthis particulartutorial,Iwillbeusing willbeusing

beeasytorepeatthesamesiz beeasytorepe atthesamesizedbumpswhe edbumpswhen n

aninterestingcloudthatIsawonaroadtripor aninterestingcloudthatIsaw aninterestingcloud thatIsawonaroad onaroadtrip trip or

paintingacloud,sotrytomakeaconscious paintingacloud,sotryto makeaconscious

Anotherimportantaspectocloudsistheir

reerence.Iwasn’tabletostopin reerence .Iwasn’tabletostopinthemiddleo  themiddleo 

efforttomakeavarietyosiz efforttomak eavarietyosizesoshapes esoshapes..

soliditywhichwillimpactthewayyourender

theroadtopaint,butImadesuretomemorize theroadtopaint,butI madesuretomemorize

Youcanseeinimage02thatt Youcanse einimage02thatthecloudonthe hecloudonthe

theshadows.Iwilldiscussthisinlatersteps,but theshadows.Iwilldiscussthis inlatersteps,but

thecolorsIsawandtake thecolorsI sawandtakeplentyophotos. plentyophotos.

righthasabigbump(whichmakesup75%o 

makesuretostudythecast makesureto studythecastshadowsoclouds shadowsoclouds

thecloud)nexttoamuchsmallerone(which thecloud)nexttoamuch smallerone(which

uponothercloudswhenyouareintheield! uponothercloudswhenyouareinthe ield!

03 03

Demystifyingclouds:Cloudsmay

makesup25%).Tog makesup25%). Togetherthesedifferentlysized etherthesedifferentlysized

seemlikeachallengetopaint,but

shapesmakeupthewholelength shapesmakeup thewholelengthothecloud. othecloud.

04 04

constantlymoving,it constan tlymoving,itcanbeimpossible canbeimpossible

theycanalsobeoneothemostunthings theycanalsobeoneothemost unthings

 

Referencephotos: Becausecloudsare

topaintiyouunderstandthem.Themost

Cloudsalsohaveagreatdeal Cloudsalsohave agreatdealoweight,so oweight,soto to

topaintthesameexactcloud topaintthe sameexactcloudormorethan ormorethanaew aew

importantideatokeepinmind importantideato keepinmindisthatclouds isthatclouds

conveythisweightwewillmakethebottoms conveythisweightwewill makethebottoms

minutes.Itisimportanttotake minutes.It minutes.Itis isimportanttotakelotso importanttotakelotsoreerence lotsoreerence reerence

a

otheclouds thecloud smuc much hmore morela lat. t. Cloudstend Cloudstend  

ima es on our hone or camera or ou to use.

ea earrtobesol tobesolido s.Thisme thatth atthe   idorm  rms.Th  ismean  anssth  e

107

 

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Aquickblackandwhitecompositionsket Aquickblackandwhit ecompositionsketchwithapreviousrough chwithapreviousroughdrawingunderneath drawingunderneathit it

Drawarrowsrepresentingwhereyouwant ttheeyeto heeyetotravel.Whenswitchingfromlineto Drawarrowsrepresentingwhereyouwanttheeyetotravel.Whenswitchingfromlineto value,someeditswillimprovethecomposition value,someeditswill improvethecomposition

Unfortunately,photos Unfortunate ly,photoswillalter willalterperspective, perspective,

Whentakingphotosoftheskywithyour

color,andvalue,but color, andvalue,buttheycanbeagreatref theycanbeagreatreference erence

phone,makesureyou phone,make sureyoutakeseveral takeseveralphotos.In photos.In

05 05

forcloudshapes,texture,andcomposition. forcloudshapes,texture,and composition.

someofyourphotostapto someofyour photostaptofocusonthe focusonthelight light

thatestablishestthegroundplaneand thatestablishestheground hegroundplaneand planeandgeneral g general eneral

areas,andinothersfocuson areas,andin othersfocusonthedarkareas. thedarkareas.

placementofshapes.Inthisstepfocuson

Sincephotosarenotcomplet Sincephot osarenotcompletelyreflec elyreflectiveofwhat tiveofwhat

Thiswaywhenyoulookat Thiswaywhen youlookatthemlater,you themlater,you

creatingdepthbyoverlapping creatingdepth byoverlappinglittlecloud littlecloudshapes shapes

youseeinreal yousee youseeinreallife, inreallife,itisvital life,itisvitalthat itisvitalthatyouaccurately that youaccurately

willbeabletoseethediffere willbeable toseethedifferencebetwe ncebetweenthe enthe

overthehugecloud.Theselittle overthehuge cloud.Theselittlecloudswillget cloudswillget

Compositionsketch:Tobeginthe

pleinair,wewilldoagestur pleinair ,wewilldoagesturalsketch alsketch

paintthecolorsand paintthe paintthecolorsandvalueswhileinthe colorsandvalueswhile valueswhileinthefield.Here inthefield.Here field.Here

overexposedphotosandthetoo-darkphotos.

createaniceillusionofdepth.Additionallythe createaniceillusionofdepth. Additionallythe

isaphotoItookfromadifferentlocationand isaphotoItookfroma differentlocationand timeofdaythatbetterdemonstrate timeofdaythat betterdemonstratestheforms stheforms ofclouds.Iwillbeusingthisphoto,inadditionto ofclouds.Iwillbe usingthisphoto,inadditionto myoriginalphoto,whenIstartrenderingforms. myoriginalphoto,whenI startrenderingforms.

smallerastheygobackin smallerasthey gobackinspace,whichwill space,whichwill

“Focusoncreatingdepth byoverlappinglittlecloud shapesoverthehugecloud”

sketchshouldencourageyour sketchshould encourageyoureyeto eyetomove. move. Iliketodovariationsof Iliketo dovariationsofthesketchby thesketchbylowering lowering theopacityofthefirstsketch, theopacityof thefirstsketch,andthenredrawing andthenredrawing

 

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Someofthebrushesthatcanbeusedforpaintingclouds

thesketchonanewlayer.Thi thesketc honanewlayer.Thiscanberepeat scanberepeated ed

whichwillcreateinterestingcolorsandtexture andtexture

asnecessary,andkeeps asnecessary, andkeepsyoursketches yoursketcheslooseand looseand fastinsteadofdrawing, fastinste adofdrawing,erasing,andredr erasing,andredrawing. awing. Trytokeeptheeyemoving Trytokeep theeyemovinginacircle inacirclearoundthe aroundthe compositionbycreatingshapes compositionby creatingshapesthatflow. thatflow.Keep Keep messingaroundwithyour messingaround withyourcompositionuntil compositionuntilyou you feelthatyouhavefoundaninterestingrhythm, feelthatyouhavefound aninterestingrhythm, anddon’tbeafraidtostylize, anddon’t anddon’tbeafraid beafraidtostylize,simplify,or tostylize,simplify,oreven simplify,oreven even completelychangewhatyousee complete lychangewhatyouseeinthefield! inthefield!

06 06

Valuepass: Valuepa ss:Agoodpaintingmustread

firstinblackandwhite.Ialwayscreate firstinblackandwhite.I alwayscreate

aquickvalueblock-inforplein aquickvalue block-inforpleinairworksby airworksby paintingmajorshapeson paintingmajor shapesonseparatelayers. separatelayers.Ichose Ichose tomakethebiggestclouddarker tomakethe biggestclouddarkerthanthesky. thanthesky. Ithenmaketheforegroundcloudsdarkerstill, Ithenmakethe foregroundcloudsdarkerstill, becausethebiggestcloudiscastingashadow overthemandtheyarecloser overthemand theyareclosertothecamera. tothecamera. areasofsmudgingwherewindmaybeblowing. areasofsmudgingwherewindmaybe blowing.

brush,usebrushesthathavealotofscattering,so brush,usebrushesthathavealot ofscattering,so

Itisimportanttomaintainthisvaluestructure Itisimportantto maintainthisvaluestructure

Forthisreason,usesolidbrusheswithabitof  Forthisreason,usesolidbrushes Forthisreason, usesolidbrusheswithabit withabitof 

thatwhenyousmudge,itcreatessometexture. thatwhenyou smudge,itcreatessometexture.

whenyoumoveontocolor.Aneasywayto

texturetoblock-inshapes textureto block-inshapesandlighting. andlighting.Then Then

checkthisistogotoView>ProofSetup> checkthisistogo toView>ProofSetup>

usetheSmudgetoolonlywhennecessary. usetheSmudgetoolonlywhen necessary.

“Painttheskyasagradient

Customandselect“WorkingGray-DotGrain Customandselect“Working Customand select“WorkingGray- Gray-Dot Dot Grain 20%”under“DevicetoSimulate.”Nowwhen

Forthebrushes,turnonaslightcolorjitterby Forthebrushes,turnona slightcolorjitterby

youpressCtrl+Yitwilltoggle youpressCtrl+Y itwilltoggletoblackand toblackand

goingintoBrushSettings,andturnonColor goingintoBrushSettings,andturn onColor

fromdarkbluetoapink,and thenyellowishorcyanwhere thesunisstrongest”

white,allowingyoutocheckthevalues. white,allowingyoutocheck thevalues.

Dynamicsanduncheck“ApplyPerTip.”Byslightly

Aquicknoteonbrushes: Aquicknoteon brushes:Whenpeople

keepingtheBrightnessjitter keepingthe keepingtheBrightnessjittervery Brightnessjitterverylow,youcan verylow,youcanget low,youcanget get

08 08

paintclouds,thereisatendencyto

moreinterestingcolorswith moreinteresting colorswitheachstroke. eachstroke.Thisis Thisis

factorthatwillaffectthecolors factorthatwill affectthecolorsisthesky isthesky

makethemlooktoomushy,blurry,orsmudgy.

similartohowyoumaypickuprandomcolors similartohowyoumaypickup randomcolors

gradient.Thecoloroftheskywillfillinallof  gradient.Thecolorofthesky gradient.Thecolor oftheskywillfillin willfillinallof 

Cloudsinrealityare Cloudsin Cloudsinrealityarevery realityareverysolidshapes,with verysolidshapes,withsmall solidshapes,withsmall small

withatraditionalpaintbrush.FortheSmudge withatraditionalpaintbrush.Forthe Smudge

theshadowedareasofthepainting.Keeping theshadowedareasofthe painting.Keeping

increasingtheHueandSaturationjitter, increasingtheHueand HueandSaturationjitter, Saturationjitter,and a and nd

07 07

Blocking-inshadow:Inan

environmentpainting, environme ntpainting,themain themain

Ifthecloudsareonlylitb byambientskycolortheywill yambientskycolortheywillbemostlyblueincolor bemostlyblueincolor  

109

 

2DARTISTMAGAZINE 2DARTIST MAGAZI MAGAZINE NE | Paintapleinairsunset

thisinmindwillhelpto thisinmind thisinmindwillhelptokeepthecolorsothe willhelptokeepthecolors keepthecolorso o the

tocheckthegrayscaleversio tocheckthe grayscaleversionoyour noyourimage image

romtheblueshadowtotheyellowhighlight,

paintinguniied.Forthisreason,I paintinguniied.For thisreason,Iliketojump liketojump

aferyouhavedonesomeren aferyouhav edonesomerendering deringtomake tomake

trytopaintmid-transitioncolorsinsolidstrokes. tryto paintmid-transitioncolorsinsolidstrokes.

intocolorbyestablishing intocolor byestablishingthesky theskycolorsirst. colorsirst.

sureyourvaluesstillwork.Whenyouare

Thiswillhelptokeepthepainterly Thiswill Thiswillhelpto helptokeepthepainterly keepthepainterlyessenceoa essenceoa essenceoa

happywiththevaluesmakeamergedcopy happywiththe valuesmakeamergedcopy

pleinair,andis pleinair, pleinair,andisalso andisalsomorevisuallyinteresting. alsomorevisuallyinteresting.It morevisuallyinteresting.It It

otheimageandcomplet otheimage andcompletelypaint elypaintontop! ontop!

alsohelpsviewersreadplan alsohelps viewersreadplanechangesbett echangesbetter, er,

Duringasunset,theskyturnsadark,richblue

ratherthanlookatasmooth,airbrush-like

orpurple,andtheredsandpinkscomerom orpurple,andtheredsandpinks comerom lightpassingthroughcloudsoratmosphere. lightpassingthroughcloudsor atmosphere.

Itisimportant,duringthisstep,tonotblend Itisimportant,duringthisstep,to notblend

mess.UsingtheSmudgeandBrushtoolsas

Althoughthereerencephotoisabitwashed Althoughthereerencephotoisa bitwashed

thecolorsintomud.Topreventthisrom thecolorsintomud. thecolors intomud.Toprevent Topreventthis this rom

mentionedinstep07,blendsome mentionedinstep 07,blendsomeothevery othevery

outbecauseothestrongsunlighthittingthe

happening,thinkabouttransitioncolors.For

hardedgeswhilestill hardedges whilestillmaintainingthe maintainingtheoriginal original

clouds,painttheskyasa clouds,paintthe skyasagradientromdark gradientromdark

example,insteado example,insteadohavinga ohaving havingasmoothgradient asmoothgradient smoothgradient

lightshape.Thesunsetstudyisnowcomplete! lightshape.Thesunsetstudy isnowcomplete!

bluetoapink,andthenyellowishorcyanwhere bluetoapink,and thenyellowishorcyanwhere thesunisstrongest.Fortheclouds,select thedarkestcolorinthesky thedarkestcolor intheskygradient,shifit gradient,shifit moretowardspurple,saturateit,anddarkenit moretowardspurple,saturate moretowards purple,saturateit,and it,anddarken darken it (makingsuretthevaluematchesthe (makingsurethe hevaluematchesthe valuematchesthegrayscale grayscale grayscale composition).Onceyouhave composition).Once youhavedonethis donethisor donethisorallo  or orallo  allo  theclouds,wewillmoveontothelightshapes. theclouds,wewillmoveon theclouds,we willmoveontothelight tothelightshapes.

09 09

Renderingtheforms:Tokeepyou

PROTIPS

Thebenefitsofpleinair IlearnedalmosteverythingIknowaboutlightand IlearnedalmosteverythingIknow aboutlightandcolorromplein colorrompleinairpaintingand airpaintingand studyingdifferentlightingscenarios.Eveni studyingdifferentlightingscenarios. Eveniyoulive youlivein in inanurbanareaandyou anurbanareaandyou thinkthe skiesaregenerallysimilar,youwould ,youwould besurprisedto besurprisedtoseehowmuch seehowmuchlightingcanchange seehowmuch lightingcanchange simplybased simplybasedonthe ontheatmosphereand atmosphereandweather!Knowing weather!Knowingwhich which whichcolorsandvaluestousein colorsandvaluestousein alargeamountolightingscenarios alargeamounto lightingscenarioswillgreatly willgreatlybeneityour beneityour beneityourillustration illustration,andmake illustration ,andmake your painti paintingseelmoregrou ngseelmoregroundedinrealit ndedinreality. y.

romrushingintodetailtooquickly,

block-inthelightshapesusingclippingmasks. block-inthelightshapesusing clippingmasks. Clipanewlayertoeach Clipanew layertoeachindividualcloudshape individualcloudshape byholdingdownAlt,hoveringbetweenthe byholdingdownAlt, hoveringbetweenthe twolayersuntila twolayers twolayersuntilalittle untilalittlearrowappears,and littlearrowappears,andthen arrowappears,andthen then clicking.Thisensuresthatanythingyoupainton clicking.Thisensuresthatanythingyou painton thenewlayerwillbelocked thenewlayer willbelockedtotheone totheonebelowit. belowit. Topaintthelight Topaint thelightshapesstart shapesstartwith shapesstartwithamediumwith withamediumamediumlightcolorthatyoucansee;inthiscase,itis lightcolorthatyoucansee; lightcolorthat youcansee;inthiscase, inthiscase,it it is aslightlydesaturatedpurplish-pink.Iliketo aslightlydesaturatedpurplish-pink.Ilike to paintshapesthatIindappealing,andthen paintshapesthatI indappealing,andthen cutbackintothoseshapeswiththeEraser. Thenicethingaboutclippingmasksisthat theyallowyoutoocuson theyallowyou toocusonthelightshape thelightshape withoutaffectingthecolorunderneath.

Anotherthingtonote Anotherthing Anotherthingtonoteis tonoteisthepresenceo isthepresenceobounce thepresenceobounce bounce lightandsub-suracescatteringinthecloud. lightandsub-suracescatteringinthe cloud. Thecloudisasolidorm,butsinceitismade Thecloudisasolidorm,but sinceitismade owatervapor,light owater vapor,lightcanstill canstillpassthrough passthrough itandbouncearound,creatingavarietyo  itandbouncearound,creatinga varietyo  colors.Maketheundersideothebiggest colors.Maketheundersideothe biggest cloudmorecyantoimitatethelightbouncing cloudmorecyanto cloudmore cyantoimitatethe imitatethelight light bouncing romthegroundintothecloud. romtheground intothecloud.Alsogivethe Alsogivethe cloudasmallamountorimlighttowards thelefsideandmaketheskymor thelefside andmaketheskymoreyellowto eyellowto harmonizewiththewarmtonesotheclouds. harmonizewiththewarmtoneso theclouds. Finishingtouches:Oncethelight

Thetransitioncolorsonthelefgradientlookmuddywhilethe gradientlookmuddywhilethe scaleontherightislively,withcolorsthatappeartopopout

10 10

andshadowshapeshavebeen andshadowshapeshavebeen

established, establ ished,mergethelayerstoworkmore mergethelayerstoworkmore efficientlyandemulatemore emulatemorecloselytraditional closelytraditional painting.Forawhile,Iwill painting.Fora while,Iwillstillkeepthe stillkeeptheclouds clouds ondifferentlayers,butImerge ondifferentlayers, butImergethelightshape thelightshape  

 

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Thecloudsnowhavebasiclight havebasiclightshapespaintedonto Thecloudsnowhavebasiclight shapespaintedontothemtoindicatebounceandrimlight shapespaintedontothemtoindicate bounceandrimlight

ISSUE130

 

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ISSUE130

TheArtist

CathleenMcAllister cathleenconcepts.com

©CathleenMcAllister ©Cathleen McAllister

 

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TheArtist

JuanNovelletto novelletto.com.ar SofwareUsed: Photoshop

JuanNovellettoisaconcept artistandillustratorfrom BuenosAires,Argentina. HeworksatNGDStudios, developingtheMasterof  Orionrebootandisalso ArtDirectoratindiegame studioNastycloud.

Re-imaginethe allo   alloIcarus Icarus

 

Discoverhowyoucancreatestrikingimagesbytakingafresh approachwithfamiliarlegends

 

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ISSUE130

Learntousemasks, transformtoolsandblur

01 01

effectstosavetime...

aconcept,Istartsketchingsomeideasin aconcept,I startsketchingsomeideasin theformofthumbnails.Thesearesmall theformof thumbnails.Thesearesmall

WithsecurityIcansaythatthemajorityof  WithsecurityIcansaythatthemajority of 

illustrationsthatgiveyou illustrationsthat giveyouafast afastidea afastideaforan idea ideaforan foran

peopleknowtheGreekmythofIcarus.Ifnot, peopleknowtheGreekmythofIcarus.If not,

image,focusingonlyon image,focusing onlyonexploringideas exploringideasand and

thethirdoption.SoIscaleittothefinalsize thethirdoption.SoI scaleittothefinalsize

I’llsummarizeitinafewwords:Daedalus,

notcreatingsomethingfinished. notcreating somethingfinished.Inthis Inthiscase case

thatIwantthefinalimagetobe.Inthiscase thatIwantthefinalimage thatIwant thefinalimagetobe.In tobe.Inthiscase

fatherofIcarus,manufacturesforhimself 

Istartingrayscale Istartin grayscale,paintingthreeoptions. ,paintingthreeoptions.

Iwillneedaverylargeimage,about4,000 Iwillneedavery largeimage,about4,000

Sketchingthreeideas: Whenever

fromaheight,andpossiblygiving fromaheight, andpossiblygivingtheideathat theideathat

Ihavetostartanillustrationor Ihavetostart anillustrationor

thevieweristheonewhobroughtIcarusdown. thevieweristheonewho broughtIcarusdown.

02 02

Initiallineart:Ichoosethe

thumbnailI’mgoingtoworkwith,

pixelsinwidthandaresolution pixelsinwidth andaresolutionof300dpi. of300dpi.

andhissonartificialwingsmadeoffeathers andhissonartificialwingsmade offeathers andwaxtoescapefromtheislandofCrete. andwaxtoescapefromtheisland ofCrete.

InthefirstthumbnailItrytobedynamic,andplay InthefirstthumbnailItr ytobedynamic,andplay

DaedaluswarnsIcarusnottoflytoohigh, DaedaluswarnsIcarusnottoflytoo high,

withtheideaofIcaruslooking withtheidea ofIcaruslookingattheviewer. attheviewer.Inthe Inthe

Byscalingtheimageitwill Byscalingthe imageitwillhaveahigh haveahighquality quality

becausethesuncouldburnthewings,nor

secondoptionImovetosomethingmoreclassic secondoptionImoveto somethingmoreclassic

fromthebeginningandIwill fromthebeginning andIwillnottohave nottohaveto to

toolowbecausehemayfallintothesea. toolowbecausehemayfallinto thesea.

showingIcarusfallingwithhisback showingIcarusfalling withhisbackinview.In inview.Inthe the

redoanythinginthefuturebecauseofthe

Icarusdoesnotlistenandflieshighereach Icarusdoesnotlistenandflies highereach

thirdoptionIshowIcarusalreadyfallen, thirdoption thirdoptionI IshowIcarusalreadyfallen, showIcarusalreadyfallen,butplace b butplace utplace

lowresolution.Onthe lowresolution. Onthescaledthumbnail scaledthumbnailII

timeuntilhiswingsaredestroyedbythesun.

thecamerafullyoverhead. thecamera thecamerafullyoverhead.Ichoosethethird fullyoverhead.Ichoose Ichoosethe the third

lowertheopacityby50%sotheimageis lowertheopacityby50%sothe imageis

Asaresult,Icarusfallstotheseaanddies.

optionbecauseIliketheidea optionbecauseI liketheideathattheviewer thattheviewer

barelyvisible.Ichooseahardbrush,and

willbeinthepositionofaGod,observingIcarus willbeinthepositionofa God,observingIcarus

quicklystarttodefinethelines,without

Inthistutorialwearegoingtorethinkthis mythandsetitinanewcontextwithan mythandsetitina newcontextwithan illustrationpaintedentirelyinPhotoshop. Wewillstartwithsomeideasintheform Wewillstartwithsomeideasinthe form ofthumbnails,withoutworryingsomuch aboutaesthetics.Then,choosingoneof  thesethumbnails,wewillrefinetheidea untilwehaveaneatlinedrawingtopaint. Wewillalsoexplorevaluestoplaywithlight Wewillalsoexplorevaluestoplay withlight andhelpfocusthecompositiontowhere andhelpfocusthecompositionto where wewanttheattentionoftheviewer.With wewanttheattentionof theviewer.With sometextureswewillaimtoquicklyand realisticallycreateanenvironment.Finally, realisticallycreateanenvironment. Finally, withvarioustricksandeffectswewillgive Threeoptionsdrawnquickly,focusingexclusively drawnquickly,focusingexclusivelyongeneratingideas o on ngeneratingideas n generatingideas

thefinaltouchestotheimage,soitgains dynamismanddrama.So,let’sbegin! dynamismanddrama.So, let’sbegin!

Roughlinesdrawno overtheoriginalthumbnailfocusingon overtheoriginalthumbnailfocusingontheproportionsof vertheoriginalthumbnailfocusingon thumbnailfocusingontheproportionsof theproportionsofthecharacter thecharacter thecharacter  

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Repeatthesameprocessasstep02anumberoftimesuntil Repeatthesameprocessasstep 02anumberoftimesuntilyouobtainawelldefinedline youobtainawelldefinedline

beingveryneat.Focusontheproportions

Chooseanelementandrepeatittosavetimeand

andelementsthatmakeupthescene. andelementsthatmakeupthe scene.

keeptheimagetidy

“Uncertaintyisaverygood thinginanillustration becauseitleavestheviewer withalotofquestions”

03 03

Newelementsandlineart:To

improvethelineartIrepeatalmost improvethelineartI repeatalmost

thesameprocessasinthepreviousstep. Tothefirstsloppy Tothe Tothefirstsloppylines,I firstsloppylines,Ilowertheopacity lines,Ilowertheopacity lowertheopacity andputthemonawhitebackground.I alsoaddalittlemorecanvas,togivemea margintoplaywithapossiblereframing. margintoplaywitha possiblereframing. Nowitistimetochoose Nowitis timetochoosetheidea.Even theidea.Eventhough though thereisnothingconcrete,theidea thereisnothing concrete,theideaofasci-fi ofasci-fi Icarusistempting.Icaruswasbroughtdown bychallengingtheGreekgods,as bychallengingthe Greekgods,ashewasa hewasa simplehumantryingtoreachthesun. WhynotthinkofIcarusisasimplehuman, WhynotthinkofIcarusis asimplehuman, tryingtochallengetomachineswith roboticwings?Uncertaintyisaverygood roboticwings?Uncertaintyisavery good thinginanillustrationbecauseitleaves thinginanillustrationbecauseit leaves theviewerwithalotofquestions. theviewerwithalotof questions.

 

Withthisinmind,startnowtodefine

04 04

beworkingfromstains beworking fromstains(abstractblotches (abstractblotcheswhich which

withlinesthedesignofthecostumeand

processagain,drawingthefinallineartneatly,

canbeusedasastarting canbeused asastartingpointfordeveloping pointfordeveloping

thecharacterasawhole,stillworkingin

andwithalmostallofthe andwithalmost alloftheelementsthatthe elementsthatthefinal final

forms),andIrecommendthismethodwhen forms),andI recommendthismethodwhen

asloppyway.Forthedesign asloppyway. ForthedesignImixsci-fi Imixsci-fi

imagewillhave.Thisprocesshastheadvantage

youhavenoideaofwhat youhaveno ideaofwhatyouwantto youwanttodo. do.

themeswithasuperherocostume,since

ofallowingustoconcentrateonimprovingthe

Everyprocessisunique,butyouhaveto Everyprocessisunique,butyou haveto

supe superr er eroe oes sare a rea a  in o mo er ern nmyt m yt .

pa pain inti ting ngan t eren r en erin ering g ec ecau ause set ei ea

c oo oose seon one et at atwi  eec eecom e e co om mo or orta rtta a e ea an n iis s

Finallineart:Withthelinesketches

becomesmorerefined.Anotheroptioncould

fromthepreviousstep,werepeatthe fromthepreviousstep,we repeatthe

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bestortheimage.Wingsare bestorthe image.Wingsarethelastaddition thelastaddition tothelineart.Toacceler tothelineart .Toacceleratethispro atethisprocessI cessI drawasingleelement drawasingl eelementandthenrepea andthenrepeatitto titto createullwings.Usethetransormtoolsto locatetheindividualelements locatethe individualelementsonthe onthewings. wings.

Lightsandshadows:Oncethe lineartisready,proceedtogivethe lineartis ready,proceedtogivethe

05 05

imagevolume,workin imagevolu me,workingingrayscale gingrayscale.Adetailed .Adetailed andrealisticwaytodothis andrealisticway todothisistoimagine istoimagine

youhavetorenderpasse youhavetoren derpassesoa3Dprogram. soa3Dprogram. Butinthiscasewearepaintingthem. TheirstthingIdoismakealayeroambient TheirstthingIdo ismakealayeroambient occlusionwhichcreatetheshadowsproduced byambientlight.Ipainttheseshadowswith asofbrushcreatingshadowssimilartothose asofbrush creatingshadowssimilartothose onacloudyday,andadd onacloudy day,andaddaMultiplyblend aMultiplyblend modetothem(alwayskee modetothem (alwayskeepingthelin pingthelineartlayer eartlayer above).ThenIseparate above).Then above).ThenIseparatetheigureromthe Iseparatetheigure theigurerom rom the backgroundintwovalues,withaplaincolor, backgroundintwovalues,witha plaincolor, becauseeachmaterialhas becauseeach materialhasitsown itsownvalue. value. Finallyaddtwourtherlayers.Theirstlayer Finallyaddtwourtherlayers.The irstlayer isorprojectedshadowsandthesecond isorprojectedshadowsand thesecond layerisorthelightswhich layerisor thelightswhichwillprojectthe willprojectthe shadows.Differentshadowswillbeprojected accordingtowherethelightisplaced,and accordingtowherethelightis placed,and wecanalsosuggest wecan alsosuggestelementsjust elementsjustusing using shadows.Lightcanalsobeusedtoguidethe shadows.Lightcanalsobeused toguidethe humaneye,whichiswhyIamonlygoingto humaneye,whichiswhyI amonlygoingto illuminatethepartthat illuminatethe partthatinterestsme interestsmemost. most.

Allthelayerstogetherformthevolumesoftheimage Allthelayerstogetherf  ormthevolumesoftheimage

ISSUE130

Colorpalette:Wenowreturnto

thelines,anddeactivatethelayers

06 06

romthepreviousstep.Inthis romtheprevious step.Inthisstepwewill stepwewill concentrateonlyonthecolorpalette.Deine

somecomplementar somecomple mentarycolorpalettes ycolorpaletteswhich which  

alwaysworkandusethemtopopulatedifferent alwaysworkandusethem topopulatedifferent

Separatecolorsinsquaresasidefrom Separatecolorsin squaresasidefromy yourcanvasto ourcanvastomaintainaconsistentpalette maintainaconsistentpalette

117

 

2DARTISTMAGAZINE 2DARTIST MAGAZI MAGAZINE NE | Re-imaginethefallofIcarus

ColorBalanceadjustmentlayerscandramatically ColorBalanceadjustment layerscandramaticallychangethecolorofyourimage changethecolorofyourimage

partsofIcarus’scostume, partsof Icarus’scostume,andthe andthebackground. background. Inthiswaywearedefiningthematerials. Inthiswaywe aredefiningthematerials. Youalwayshavetothin Youalw ayshavetothinkaboutthebalanc kaboutthebalance e ofcolors,andawayto ofcolors,and ofcolors,andawaytodothisisthroughthe awaytodothisis dothisisthroughthe proportionofbrightnessbetweencolors.For example,usethebrightest example,use thebrightestcolorsthe colorstheleast least andthedullercolorsingreaterquantities. andthedullercolorsin greaterquantities. Combinecolorwithvalues:

07 07

Combinethetwoprevioussteps toshowtheimagewithcolorandvalues.To dothis,replacethevalueslayerfromstep dothis,replacethe valueslayerfromstep 05withthecolorlayerfromstep06.Then, 05withthecolorlayerfromstep06. Then, addaColorBalance adda ColorBalanceadjustmentlayer adjustmentlayerover over theimage.Ichoosewarmcolors,sincethese theimage.Ichoose warmcolors,sincethese willbevisibleintheilluminatedareas. willbevisiblein theilluminatedareas. AddanewColorBalancelayer,thistime Addanew ColorBalancelayer,thistime usingcoldcolors.Tothislayergen usingcoldcolors. Tothislayergeneratea eratea maskselectingtheshadows,soonlythese maskselectingtheshadows,soonly these areaffected,andacontrastbetweencold

andwarmcolorsis andwarm colorsisgenerated.With generated.Withthat, that, wearereadytostarttopolis weareready tostarttopolishtheimage. htheimage.

08 08

Detailingwithpaint:Nowcomes

theslowerpartoftheprocesswhich

Paintdetailstofocalpoints

istobegintodetailtheimage.Istarttopaint  

likethefacethataddmore

thepartwhichhasthemost thepartwhich hasthemostimportanceinthe importanceinthe

informationtotheimage

2DARTISTMAG.COM

 

2DARTISTMAGAZINE 2DARTIST MAGAZI MAGAZINE NE |

imagewhichistheilluminate imagewhichisthe illuminatedareaofthe dareaoftheface face

FinaldetailspaintedonIcaruswithoutadetailedbackground adetailedbackground

andthebody.Iaddmore andthebody. Iaddmoredetail,sincethis detail,sincethisis is goingtobethefocalpoint.Donotplay goingtobethefocalpoint. Donotplaywith with reboundlightsyet,butsimplypaintvolumes reboundlightsyet,but simplypaintvolumes intheshadedandilluminatedarea intheshadedand illuminatedareas. s. Continuethisprocess,repeatingit throughouttheimage.However throughouttheimage. However,always ,always focusontheareasthatareofimportance focusontheareasthat areofimportance tothesceneandarevisible tothescene andarevisibleinthelight. inthelight.

09 09

Paintfinaldetails:Keeponpainting

alltheareasthatarelack allthearea sthatarelackingdetai ingdetail,but l,but

alwaysconcentrateonthefocalpoints.In alwaysconcen trateonthefocalpoints.Inthis this stepwewilldothesamethingwedidinstep stepwewilldothesame stepwewill dothesamethingwedid thingwedidinstep 03withthewings:paintsomethingandrepeat 03withthe wings:paintsomethingandrepeat it,thenpositionthemwithtransformtools.For it,thenposition themwithtransformtools.For nowyoudonotneedto nowyoudo notneedtochangethecolors, changethecolors,since since wewilldothisinalaterstep.Oncethisprocess wewilldothisina laterstep.Oncethisprocess ofpaintingdetailsis ofpainting detailsisfinished,we finished,weare finished,wearegoingto are aregoingto goingto focusonthebackgroundandaddtextures. focusonthebackgroundand addtextures.

Addingphototextures: Addingphotote xtures:Now concentrateonthebackground,since

10 10

itisstillwithoutdetail.I itisstill withoutdetail.Iwillusephoto willusephototextures textures togiverealismand togive realismandquicklycover quicklycoverthis quicklycoverthisstageofthe this thisstageofthe stageofthe illustration.Becarefulnottousetoomany,since thebackgroundisnotcomple thebackgr oundisnotcomplex.Formyreferenc x.Formyreferences es

Thethreetexturesusedwithblendmodesto quicklycreatearealisticbackground quicklycreatea realisticbackground

ISSUE130

 

119

 

2DARTISTMAGAZINE 2DARTIST MAGAZI MAGAZINE NE | Re-imaginethefallofIcarus

Iusethesite Iuse thesitehttp://reetext http://reetextures.3dtotal.c ures.3dtotal.com om whereyoucanindalot whereyoucan indalotoreetextures. oreetextures. CutoutthesilhouetteoIcarusandseparate Cutoutthe silhouetteoIcarusandseparate itromthebackgroundsothe itromthe backgroundsothetexturesdonot texturesdonot affectit.Thenpasteaconcrete affectit. affectit.Then Thenpasteaconcretetextureon pasteaconcretetextureonthe textureonthe the loorandselectMultiply, loorand selectMultiply,loweringthe loweringtheopacity. opacity. Withthisyougetdetailandrealismquickly. Withthisyou getdetailandrealismquickly. Dothesamethingwithtwo Dothesame thingwithtwomoretextures,and moretextures,and generatecertainrandomormsthatsuggest detailshiddeninthedark.This detailshiddenin thedark.Thisissomethingthat issomethingthat youcandoasmuchasyouwant,since youcando youcandoasmuchas asmuchasyouwant,sinceitisun youwant,sinceitisunto itisunto to combinephotosandbuild combinephotos andbuilddetailsand detailsandneworms. neworms.

“Paintsmokewithasofbrush onbothwings,thisreinorces theideathatIcarushasbeen broughtdown”

11 11

FXandsecondarylights: Wenow

haveanalmostinish haveanalmo stinishedimageand edimageandare are

atthemostunpartotheprocess;adding atthemostunparto theprocess;addingFX.In FX.In thiscasewewilladdire, thiscasewe willaddire,smoke,andsparks smoke,andsparksto to

Paintsmokewithasof

theimage.Theirstthingtodoistopaintsmoke theimage.Theirstthingtodois topaintsmoke

brushonbothwings

withasofbrushonbothwings,thisreinorces withasofbrushon bothwings,thisreinorces theideathatIcarushasbeen theideathat Icarushasbeenbroughtdown.As broughtdown.As thesmokeisgenerate thesmoke isgeneratedbyireweneedtopai dbyireweneedtopaint nt abitoireatthebaseothe abito abitoireat ireatthebaseothesmoke.Dothis thebaseothesmoke.Dothiswith smoke.Dothiswith with asofbrushinOverlayto asofbrush inOverlaytolightthatarea lightthatareaslightly. slightly. Finally,addaewsmall Finall y,addaewsmallsparksinaColor sparksinaColorDodge Dodge layer.Alltheseeffects layer.All theseeffectsaresecondary aresecondarylight light sources,soIpaint sources,so sources,soIpaintsome Ipaintsomereboundsonto somereboundsontoIcarus’s reboundsontoIcarus’s Icarus’s armor.Youcanalsousethi armor. Youcanalsousethismethodtoadd smethodtoadd effectsinareasthatyouwanttoilluminate.

12 12

Finalretouche Final retouches: retouche s:Itis Itistimetoconclude timetoconclude

theimage.TheirstthingIdoisrerame theimage.TheirstthingIdo isrerame

theimagebycuttingmarginstoputgreater theimagebycutting marginstoputgreater importanceonIcarus.Then importanceon Icarus.Thenaddsome addsomemore more ireandparticleeffectstogiveita ireandparticleeffectsto giveitagreatervisual greatervisual impact.Finally,duplicatethe impact.Finally, duplicatethewholeimage wholeimageand and addaRadialBlurthatwillgivedynamism.

SonowweareinishedwithIcarus.Ihope SonowweareinishedwithIcarus.I hope thatthistutorialhasbeenuseuloryou, andnowthebigquestionloomingover andnowthebig questionloomingover

PROTIPS

MotionBlurtogeneratedynamism

WithMotionBlur WithMotionBluryoucanquickly youcanquicklycreatedynamismin createdynamisminanimage.In animage.InthiscaseI thiscaseIcut cut cutpieceso  pieceso  theimageand theimageandapplytheMotion applytheMotionBlurinthe BlurinthedirectionthatI directionthatI directionthatIwant,soitgivesthesensation want,soitgivesthesensation thatitismoving.Forelementsintheoreground thatitismoving.Forelements intheoregroundyoucanalso youcanalsousethisto usethistogiverealism. giverealism.

ourillustrationis“Whoshotdownour modernIcarus?”Iwillleavethattoyou! modernIcarus?”Iwill modernIcarus?” Iwillleavethat leavethatto to you!

 

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FORMOREINFORMA FORMORE INFORMA TIONONTHE FOLDER,WORKBOOKS,ANDDRAWING FOLDER,WORKBOOKS,AND DRAWING TOOLSAVAILABL TOOLSAV AILABLE,PLEA AILABL E,PLEASEVISIT: E,PLEA SEVISIT:  

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Developinganimation st leenvironm environments ents        environmentusinglimitedbrushesandtextureeffects

 

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Allimages©LorenzoLanfranconi Allimages©LorenzoLanfranc oni

 

TheArtist

Lorenzo Lorenz oLanra Lanranconi nconi

facebook.com/RENDIHsART SofwareUsed:

Photoshop LorenzoLanfranconiisa 2DartistfromItaly.Heis currentlyworkingonsome editorialprojectsincluding ALPHAb ALPH  Abeta  Abeta etatest test,apersonal artbookbasedonan environmentaljourney.

 

 

2DARTISTMAGAZINE 2DARTIST MAGAZI MAGAZINE NE | Developinganimationstyleenvironment

Pickuptipsonhowto quicklycreateatmospheric depthandaddtexture...

primordialislandenclosedonlybythesound

thesensationofbeingintheenvironment, thesensationofbeingin theenvironment,

owildnature.Istartedsketchingwiththis owildnature.I startedsketchingwiththis

walkingfromtheforeground walkingfrom theforegroundtothe tothebackground. background.

inmindandwhenIoundtherightcolorsto inmindandwhenI oundtherightcolorsto

Ichoseafewkeycolorsandalwayskeptthe Ichoseafewkey colorsandalwayskeptthe

givelietothesensationsIcouldinallystart givelietothesensationsI couldinallystart

brushopacityat100%.Inevertouchthe

InthisarticleIwillshowyouhowIcreated InthisarticleIwill showyouhowIcreated

working,eelinghighlyinspired.Formethis

opacity,asitisbettertocalibrate opacity,as opacity,asitis itisbettertocalibrate bettertocalibrateusingthe u usingthe singthe

acompleteenvironmentusingjustasingle

isthekeytoenjoyingmyworkandtogiving isthekeytoenjoyingmyworkand togiving

PenPressurefromthebrushpaneloptions PenPressurefromthebrush paneloptions

brush.Byavoidingtheuseomanydifferent brush.Byavoidingtheuseomany different

lietotheinaldrawing.Rememberthatthe

whichcreatesamorecarveddesign. whichcreatesamorecarved design.

texturedbrushes,Ihadamoreuniormand

mostimportantthinginanillustrationisthat

personalwork.InmyworksIofenchange

ithastotransmitsomethingtotheobserver. ithasto transmitsomethingtotheobserver.

onewhichfeltbetter, onewhich feltbetter,askingsome askingsomefriends friends

techniquebecauseI’malwaystryingtoinda bettersolutiontorenderrealisticthingswith ewerbrushstrokes,butIoundinthisbrush theperectbasicinstrumentormymethods.

WhenIhadsomesketches,Ichosethe

01

Roughcolorsketching: Istarted

whichwasthebestone.Itisalwaysgood whichwasthebestone.It isalwaysgood

sketchingquickcompositions

toshareyourworkwithsomeoneexternal toshareyourwork withsomeoneexternal

rememberingthatitwasonlya rememberingthatit wasonlyasketch,soI sketch,soI

whocangiveyousomefresh whocangive yousomefreshadvice. advice.

didnotlosetimeonit.Iwasimpulsive,and didnotlosetimeonit. Iwasimpulsive,and FormyseriesALPHAbetatestIusuallystartto

putdowncolorswithroughbrushstrokes.

workbythinkingaboutthesensationIneed toinstillintheimage.InthiscaseIimagined toinstillintheimage.Inthis caseIimagined beinglostsomewhereintheoceanona

Aperspectivegridhelpedmetobringthe observer’seyesintothecompositiongiving observer’seyesintothe compositiongiving

Aroughcolorsketchcreated Aroughcolorsketchcreated etchcreatedbychangingPenPressu bychangingPenPressureononebrush bychangingPenPressu reononebrush

02

Tonalsketching: NowIhadto

transformthecolorconceptinto

somethingmoreconcrete.I somethingmoreconcrete .Iappliedan80% appliedan80% whiteLevelsadjustmentand,withathird

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2DARTISTMAGAZINE 2DARTIST MAGAZI MAGAZINE NE |

layeronthetop,startsketchingmyinal layeronthetop, startsketchingmyinal ideaortheillustration.Idid ideaorthe illustration.Ididnotwantto notwantto makeanicedrawingbecauseIwoulddo makeanicedrawingbecauseIwould do thislaterwithcolors.Thissketch thislaterwith colors.Thissketchwaslikea waslikea secondconceptbasedon secondconcept basedontheirst theirstone. one. Iusedgraytonestostart Iusedgray tonestostartstudyingthedepth studyingthedepthand and ofenlippedthecanvashorizonta ofenlippedthe canvashorizontallytoadjust llytoadjust theelementsandcalculate theelements andcalculatethecorrect thecorrectweight weight othecomposition.Youcanalso, othecomposition. Youcanalso,iyouwant, iyouwant, studythelightusingtwogray studythelight usingtwograytonesoreach tonesoreach element.InthiscaseIdidnotdoitbecause element.InthiscaseIdidnot doitbecause itwasmoreorlessmid-dayinthe itwasmoreor lessmid-dayintheillustration illustration andtherewerenoparticularlighteffects. andtherewerenoparticularlight effects.

“Togiveatmosphericdepth Iusedgradientlayers,with acyancolor,todistancethe backgroundelements” Givinglifetotheidea: Ithenrebuilt

03

thetonalsketchusingthecolorsrom thetonalsketchusingthe colorsrom

theirstone.Rememb theirst one.Remembertocreate ertocreatealayeror alayeror eachelementyouthinkisconvenien eachelementyouthinkis convenient;you t;youcan can mergethemlateri mergethem mergethemlateriyou lateriyouthinkthereare youthinktherearetoomany. thinktherearetoomany. toomany. Alwaysgiveanametoyourlayerssoyouwillnot losetimeindingtherightone losetimeinding therightoneinyourpanel. inyourpanel. InthisstepIhadtoreturnmentall InthisstepIhad toreturnmentallytothe ytothe irstone.AferIhadcreatedsilhouettes irstone. irstone.AferI AferIhadcreatedsilhouettes hadcreatedsilhouettesothe o othe the elements,andblockedthe elements,and blockedthelayers,with layers,withrough rough brushstrokesIstartedstudyingthelightand atmosphere.Togive atmosphere.T ogiveatmosphericdepth ogiveatmosphericdepthI atmosphericdepthI usedgradientlaye usedgrad ientlayers,withacyan rs,withacyancolor,to color,to distancethebackgroundelements.Youcould givethedifferentlayerscolorswhich givethedifferentlayers colorswhichhelps helps alotiyouhavemanydifferen alotiyouhaveman ydifferentelement telements. s.

04

Developingthescene:Istilldidnot

worryaboutthetextures,ormethis

stepwasonlyatransitionromtheprevious stepwasonlyatransitionromthe previous steptothenext.Ispentmytimestudying steptothenext.I spentmytimestudying thelightsandtheatmosphere.Youcould thelightsandthe atmosphere.Youcould alsoaddorclearsomeelementstoadjust alsoaddorclear someelementstoadjust thecomposition.InthiscaseIaddedsome rocksonthebeachtoincrease rocksonthe beachtoincreasethesenseo  thesenseo 

Thetonalsketchwasrebuiltwithcolors

ISSUE130

involvementwith involv ementwiththeenvironme theenvironmentandIerased ntandIerased apeaktogivemorespaceinthebac apeaktogivemor espaceinthebackgroun kground. d. Tohelpmecreatetherightatmosphere Iimaginedpartothescene Iimaginedpart othescenesoIcould soIcould eelsensationslikethe eelsensations likethewarmsunlight warmsunlightor or thedam thedam o orest. rest.Iwasa IIwasa wasa was a iratessearchin earchin

 

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treasureandneedingto treasureand needingtoexplorethe exploretheisland island

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2DARTISTMAGAZINE 2DARTIST MAGAZI MAGAZINE NE | Developinganimationstyleenvironment

throughtheillustration.Bringingoutmy fantasyhelpedmetotel fantas yhelpedmetotellthestory. lthestory.

05

Texturetime: Thisstepwasperhaps

thelongestbutitwasalsoessentialto thelongestbutit wasalsoessentialto

thework.Ihadtorendereverysinglematerial thework.I hadtorendereverysinglematerial (rocks,plants,water,andsoon).Rememberthat (rocks,plants,water,andsoon). Rememberthat thereisnota“fixedcode” thereisnot a“fixedcode”foreacheleme foreachelementsoyou ntsoyou havetomeditateontheeffectyouwanttogive andtrytorenderitwithyourbrush.Ifyoucan’t makesomethingdon’tgiveup,justremember makesomethingdon’tgiveup,just remember thatifsomeoneelsecandoit,youcantoo. thatifsomeoneelsecandoit,you cantoo. Isearchedphotographicreferences Isearched photographicreferencestosee toseehow how lightreflectsondifferent lightreflects ondifferentelementsand elementsandtriedto triedto recreateit.Tomakerealistictexturesyoudon’t havetomakethousandsofstroke havetomakethous andsofstrokessearchin ssearching g forthesmallestdetails,rememberthat forthesmallestdetails, rememberthatyou you onlyneedtofindafewessentialstrokes. onlyneedtofinda fewessentialstrokes.

06

Givingdepthtothesky:Generally

Ileavethissteptothelastpart

ofmyprocessbecauseIlovecloudsand

“GaussianBlurandMotion BlurromtheFiltersmenuare interestingPhotoshopeffects tomixwithbrusheswhen renderingclouds”

Eachelementwastexturedindividually

CloudswererenderedwithasofbrushandtheSmudgetool brushandtheSmudgetool

 

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becauseinishingtheskyandadding becauseinishingtheskyand adding

ISSUE130

latcolorandashadowlayer latcolorandashadowlayer Smallcharacterswereaddedwithsimplelineart,latcoloranda

charactersmeansthatall charactersmeansthatallthe thatallttheotherelements heotherelements otherelements arecompleted.Obviouslyi arecomplete d.Obviouslyitheskyis d.Obviouslyitheskyisthe theskyisthe subjectyouhavetowork subjec tyouhavetoworkonitearlier. onitearlier. ForthecloudsIemployedthesamebrush thatIusedortheotherelements.Istarted thatIusedorthe otherelements.Istarted paintingsomestrokesand paintingsome strokesandthenmixed thenmixedand and blurredthemwiththeSmudgetool(seeimage blurredthemwiththe Smudgetool(seeimage 06)withabasicsofbrushwith70%opacity. 06)withabasicsofbrush with70%opacity. Therearemanydifferent Thereare Therearemanydifferentcloudsandasthey manydifferentcloudsand cloudsandas as they aregassyelementsyoucanserenelywork themwithdifferentbrushesiyoupreer. themwithdifferentbrushesi youpreer. GaussianBlurandMotionBlurromtheFilters GaussianBlurandMotionBlurrom theFilters menuareinteresting menuareinter estingPhotoshop Photoshopeffectsto effectsto mixwithbrusheswhenrenderingclouds. mixwithbrusheswhen renderingclouds.

07

Addingcharacters: acters:FinallyIcould Addingchar

workonthecharacters.Iadded

styleimageIusedthinline styleimageI usedthinlineartilledwith artilledwithlat lat

youreyesoralittlewhile. youreyesor alittlewhile.Then,openthem Then,openthem

theminattheendsoIcouldworkonthe theminattheendsoI couldworkonthe

colorsandjustashadowlayer.Thishelped colorsandjusta shadowlayer.Thishelped

againandwithsomeadjustmentlayers,

entireillustrationasiitwereananimation entireillustrationasiitwere ananimation

mealottodetachthe mealot todetachthecharactersromthe charactersromthe

regulatetheCurves,saturationandcolors. regulatetheCurves, saturationandcolors.

background.Inthiscasetherewereonlysome background.Inthiscasethere wereonlysome

environmentandto environme ntandtogivemyworka givemyworkastyle style

littlemonkeysintheoregroundandbirdsin littlemonkeysinthe littlemonkeys intheoregroundand oregroundandbirds birds in

similartoananimatedilmscreenshot.

thecentertoadd.Theywer thecente rtoadd.Theywerereallysma ereallysmallsoI llsoI workedthemdifferent worked themdifferentlyrommyusualstuff. lyrommyusualstuff.

InthisworkIincreasedthecontra InthisworkI increasedthecontrastalittle stalittle andbalancedmoreothecolors andbalancedmore othecolorsinthelight, inthelight,

08

Finaladjustments:Nowmywork

mid-tonesandshadowstoaccentuat mid-tonesandshadowsto accentuatethe ethe

wasalmostdone!Whenyougetto

warmsunlight.Isuggestthatyouaddalayer warmsunlight.Isuggestthatyouadda layer

UsuallyiIhavebiggercharacters UsuallyiI havebiggercharactersIliketo Iliketo

thispointotheprocessinyourownworkI thispointotheprocessinyour ownworkI

maskortheseadjustmentssoyoucaneasily

renderthemrealisticallybut renderthem realisticallybutwithan withananimation animation

suggestthatyoucloseyourworkandrelax

modiyeverysinglecontrolineachmoment. modiyeverysinglecontrolineach moment.

Aferabreak,thecolorsandcontrastswe Aferabreak,thec olorsandcontrastswereadjustedslightlytoinishthepiec olorsandcontrastswe readjustedslightlytoinishthepiece readjustedslightlytoinishthepiec e

 

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TheArtist

LorenzoLanfra Lorenzo Lanfranconi nconi facebook.com/RENDIHsART

 

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KenBarthelmey theartofken.com SofwareUsed:

Photoshop KenBarthelmeyisanillustrator specializingincreatureand characterdesign.Hehas workedonmanyfilmprojects including TheMazeRunner and TheScorchTrials.Kenalso worksonhisownIPproject.

 

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2DARTISTMAGAZINE 2DARTIST MAGAZI MAGAZINE NE | DigitalArtMaster:KenBarthelmey

ThefirstthingIliketodobeforeIstartto ThefirstthingIliketodob eforeIstartto paintmyfantasycreaturesisenvisagea backgroundstoryforthem.Ipushmyselfto

Herearesomeofmyscribblestocomeupwithideas.Asyoucansee, Herearesomeofmyscribbles tocomeupwithideas.Asyoucansee,someofthese someofthese sketchesareveryroughanddon’thavemanydetails

makemycreationsasrealisticandbelievable aspossible,sohavingabackgroundstory aspossible,sohavinga backgroundstory inmindhelpsmetoreachthatgoal. inmindhelpsmeto reachthatgoal. Iconsiderwheretheylive,whattheyeator whatevolutionaryadaptationtheyneedto surviveintheirlivingenvironment.Inthis image,whichwascreatedasapersonal image,whichwascreatedasa personal project,Idesignedahybridcreaturethatwas somewherebetweenareptileandamonkey. somewherebetweenareptileanda monkey. ItiscalledCantorisanditfeedsoninsects. Thesecreaturesmakebeautifulsoundsand areknownasTheSingersoftheForest. Iknowalotaboutanatomyand subsurfacescatteringbutitisalways ahugechallengetopaintcolorfulskin thatlooksauthentic.Mytechniqueis verysimilartoclassicoilpaintings. Theinitialsketch,coloredin Sketching&findingakeypose

BecauseIwantedtobendthevisual characteristicsoachameleonandmonkey, Iusedseveralreerenceimagesromthese animalsthathelpedmetogetstarted. Todesignaninterestingcreatureitisalsovery useultomakealotopencilsketchesirstto comeupwithideas.Lateron,Iusuallydoodle severalthumbnailstoindagoodcomposition severalthumbnailstoind agoodcomposition andaninterestingposeortheinalillustration. Thesedrawingsdon’tneedtobedetailed.It’sa greattricktoscribbleveryastandjustputdown greattricktoscribbleveryastand  justputdown onpaperallthespontaneousideasthatcomeup. Usually,IuseapenciloraCopicMarkeror Usually,Iuseapencilor aCopicMarkeror thesemessydrawings.WhenIwassatisied withthedesignIstartedtoworkonamore detailedpencilsketch,whichIthenscanned intomycomputerorworkinPhotoshop. intomycomputerorworkin Photoshop. Theinalsketchcanbemoredetailed.The headwastheocusothispainting,soIput

Photoshop.Shadowsorother detailswereuselessbecauseit wasjustthebase

mostomyattentionintothisarea.Thissketch mostomyattentionintothis area.Thissketch servedasaguidelineandabase,makingit easierormetocolorthepictureaferwards.

“Icarefullymixedacolor palettewiththemain     mypainting’”

 

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Findthebasecolors

Itwasthentimeforoneofthemostimportant Itwasthentimeforoneofthe mostimportant steps:addingcolor.ThetechniqueIuseforthis steps:addingcolor.ThetechniqueI useforthis isverysimilartothoseusedwithtraditional isverysimilartothoseusedwith traditional oilsoracrylicpaint,inthatIapplycolor oilsoracrylicpaint,in thatIapplycolor throughtheshadesfromdarktolight.At throughtheshadesfromdarktolight. At thisstage,itwasveryimportant thisstage,it wasveryimportantthatIchose thatIchose therightcolorsatthisstagebecausethe paintingwouldbebuiltuponthispalette. paintingwouldbebuiltupon thispalette. IntheMultiplylayerIcould IntheMultiplylayerIcouldpaintunderneathtofillthebasiccolorswithout paintunderneathtofillthebasiccolorswithout

Ichangedthelayerofthe Ichangedthe layerofthesketchtoMultiply sketchtoMultiply blendingmodeinPhotoshop.Bydoing

Iprefertohaveafullviewofthe Iprefertohaveafullviewof the paintingsoIcanseethatthe colorswillmatch

losinganystrokes

ISSUE130

 

137 20%DISCOUNTCODE: DAMV920

 

2DARTISTMAGAZINE 2DARTIST MAGAZI MAGAZINE NE | DigitalArtMaster:KenBarthelmey

this,Icouldpaintbeneaththesketch.Ithen placedanotherlayerundertheMultiplylayer (thesketch)toilloutthebasiccolors. Icareullymixedacolorpalettewith themaincolorsIwantedtouseinmy painting.Iusedaseparatelayerorthis. Aferwards,Ipickedthecolorswiththe EyedropperTool.Ididn’tzoominonthepicture EyedropperTool.Ididn’tzoominonthe picture whilepaintingthesebasiccolors,sothatI hadaullviewoit.Theseareonlythebase colors,soIdidn’tocusonthedetailsyetand triedtoworkwithonlyaewbrushstrokes. Thecharacterslowlycomestolie.Ilovethelook orealoilpaintings,soIuseddifferentcustom brusheswithatexturetoachieveasimilarlook. Usingdifferentbrushesgivesthepaintingamore artisticlooksothatitdoesn’tlooktoodigital.

“Addingdetailsandtextures givesthepicturearealistic look.Howeverit’simportant thatthedetailsalwaysfit thepicture” It’salwaysgoodtoworkwithmanylayers becauseiyoumakeamistake,youcancorrect itveryastandeasily.Ithedocumentistoo itveryastandeasily.Ithe documentistoo big,Isimplyconvertthelayersintoone. Paintingdetails&lightingsetup

AferinishingthebasiccolorsIstartedwiththe

Iofenpaintthebackgroundirstanduseseparatelayersorthebackgroundand

detailedwork.Ibegantooverpaintthesketch,

orthecreature

creatinganewlayerandplacingitabove.Ilove Herearesomeomyscribblestocomeupwithideas.Asyoucansee, Herearesomeomyscribblestocomeupwithideas.Asyoucansee, tocomeupwithideas.Asyoucansee,someothese someothese sketchesareveryroughanddon’thavemanydetails

 

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2DARTISTMAGAZINE 2DARTIST MAGAZI MAGAZINE NE |

ISSUE130

paintingtexturedetails;thispart paintingtexturedetail s;thispartisthemost isthemostun un

ismissing:sometimesthe ismissing: sometimesthecolorsare colorsaretoo too

Experimentingwithcolor

and,accordingly,takesthemost and,accordingly ,takesthemostamountotime. amountotime.

darkorjustnotasgorgeousasyouwould darkorjustnotas gorgeousasyouwould like.Asweworkdigitally,wecansolve like.Aswework digitally,wecansolve

Designingandpaintingcreatur Designingandpainti ngcreaturesisalwayshuge esisalwayshuge unorme.Iusuallyadd unorme. Iusuallyaddmorebrownishtones morebrownishtones

Addingdetailsandtextures Addingdetails andtexturesgivesthe givesthepicture picture

theseproblemsveryquicklyandeasily theseproblemsveryquicklyand easily..

tomypaintings,so tomy tomypaintings,somakingthis paintings,somakingthisimagewasa makingthisimagewasa imagewasa

arealisticlook.However arealistic look.Howeverit’simportant it’simportantthat that

veryreshandenjoyableproces veryreshand enjoyableprocess.I s.Ienjoyed enjoyed

thedetailsalwaysitthepicturebecausetoo thedetailsalwaysit thedetails alwaysitthepicture thepicturebecause because too

Iusedseparateadjustmen Iused separateadjustmentlayersincluding tlayersincluding

workingonthecolorulskin,asthestrong

manydetailscandestroytherealism.Iyou

LevelsandColorBalance, Levelsand ColorBalance,toslightly toslightlybrighten brighten

rimlightofferedthepossibilityto rimlightoffered thepossibilitytotaptheull taptheull

drawalot,withtimeyouwilldevelopaeeling drawalot,withtimeyou willdevelopaeeling

thepaintingup.Fortheinal thepaintingup. Fortheinaltouchesandto touchesandto

potentialothecolors.I’malsoveryhappy

orbalance.Bypainting orbalance. Bypaintingasuggestive asuggestivedeptho  deptho 

increasetheimpressionoaclassically-inspired increasetheimpressiono aclassically-inspired

withtheposeasIeelthatitlooksdynamic withtheposeasI eelthatitlooksdynamic

ield,Iwasabletoaccentuatethecreature.

painting,Iaddedanoiseeffect. painting,Iadded anoiseeffect.Tomakethis, Tomakethis,II

andverymysterious.Everypaintingyoucreate andverymysterious.Every paintingyoucreate

createdanewlayer createda createdanewlayerandilled newlayerandilleditwith andilleditwitha itwithagraycolor. a graycolor.

isuniqueinitsownway.However,sometimes

Whenyouworkonapainting,trytoimagine Whenyouworkonapainting,tryto imagine

youmayindthatyoujustdon’tliketheend youmayindthatyoujust don’tliketheend

romwhichdirectionthelightcomes romwhichdirection thelightcomesrom.Inthis rom.Inthis

ThenIclickedonFilter> ThenIclicked ThenIclickedonFilter>Noise> onFilter>Noise>AddNoise.Iset Noise>AddNoise.Iset AddNoise.Iset

resultoyourwork.ButImustadvisethati 

casethelightsourcecomesrom casethelight sourcecomesromthelefside, thelefside,

theamountto21.27%andclicked theamountto 21.27%andclickedOK.Aferthat OK.Aferthat

youworkhardandpainteveryday,youwill youworkhardandpainteveryday,you will

soIpaintedthelefcorner soIpainted thelefcorneralittlebit alittlebitbrighter.I brighter.I

IclickedonFilter>Blur>BoxBlur Iclickedon IclickedonFilter>Blur Filter>Blur>BoxBlurandsetthe >BoxBlurandsetthe andsetthe

constantlylearnnewstuff constantl ylearnnewstufftoimproveyourskills toimproveyourskills

alwaysstartwiththehighlightssoIcanbetter alwaysstartwiththehighlightsso Icanbetter imaginethelightsetting. imaginethe imaginethelightsetting.I lightsetting.Iwillofenpaint Iwillofenpaintsmall willofenpaintsmall small

radiusto2pixels.OnceIhadthat,Ichangedthe radiusto2pixels.OnceIhadthat, Ichangedthe layertoSofLightandset layertoSof LightandsettheOpacityto theOpacityto54%. 54%.

andtechniques.Simplystaypassionateand motivatedtoalwayspush motivatedto alwayspushyourselto yourseltothelimits! thelimits!

directionalarrowsonaseparatelayer.Thisis agreattricktoremindyoursel agreattrick toremindyourselwherethelight wherethelight comesromandwheretheshadow comesromand wheretheshadowhastobe. hastobe. Again,theheadwastheocus Again,thehead wastheocusothepainting, othepainting, soIputmostomyattentioninthisarea. soIputmosto myattentioninthisarea. Thepencilstrokesromthesketchdisappear Thepencilstrokesromthe sketchdisappear underthecolors.Becauseothebrightness underthecolors.Becauseo thebrightness otheground,Ipaintedsomegreen otheground,I paintedsomegreen relectedlightonthecharacter’ relectedlightonthe character’sbody. sbody. Colorcorrection&inaltouches

Yousurelyknowtheeelin Yousurely knowtheeelingwhenyouaren gwhenyouaren’t ’t satisiedwiththecolorsoyourpainting satisiedwiththecolorso yourpainting aferwards.Thateelingthatsomething aferwards.Thateelingthat something

Iusedtheseadjustmentsettingstobrightenthepaintingup

 

Hereyoucanseethecomparison Hereyoucanseethecomparisonrombeoreandafer.Iofen rombeoreandafer.IofenexperimentwithdifferentadjustmentsuntilI experimentwithdifferentadjustmentsuntilIliketheinalresult liketheinalresult

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NEXTMONTH Paintanindustrialcityscape Incrediblenatureinspireddrawings Toptengalleryimages Toptengaller optengalleryimages In-depthartistinterviews Practicespeedpainting Originalcharactersketches Original charactersketches Re-inventaheroicscene AND AN DMU MUCH CHMO MORE REBE BESI SIDE DES! S!