First Post

My first blog article will be a tutorial. Well not really a tutorial but a description of my painting process. Different artists have varying styles and techniques so anyway this is the way I do mine.

The inspiration for my drawings are dolls – very cute, big eyed dolls… and dogs… and Tim Burton…and Michael Kutsche and Kei Acedera blah blah blah…(Zoned out).

PROCESS

STEP1 :

• I start with a rough sketch on a dark background; nothing really fancy.I do this to get the proportions right.
• TIP: Don’t worry if the lines are not perfect, they’re just a guide and will get covered later after all.

sketch

STEP2 :

• Let’s start with the main image first – the girl. I start to fill in the shape with flat colors and  add shadow to the girl. I do this just to get the feel of the color palette I’m using.
• I use Photoshop’s default Solid Round Brush and then use a bristle brush to soften/blend the colors.
• I have separate layers for the hair, body, and face.

STEP3 :

• When I was happy with the colors, I started adding the shadow on the background on “multiply”.
• I then established the light source. Here, I created the light as if it were coming from  a door and sketched the road/floor on a different layer.

STEP4 :

•  Oh. The dog has been standing there still for quite some time. Ok Doggie, let’s color you now!
• I chose the girl’s headband color for the dog so there won’t be too much colors on the painting. To me this adds uniformity.
• It still looks pretty rough but I don’t mind the details at this point.  I’m more concerned with the overall look.

STEP5:

•  Using “multiply”,  I darkened the girl’s face.
• For the dog’s fur I used a small fine brush to draw the detail, and hair brush (c/o goodbrush!)
• I use a solid brush for the shadow cast by the girl (note: I used  dark brown shade for the shadow. TIP: Shadows are not really black.)

STEP6 :

•  Now I’m on the refinement stage.
• I started with the details on the eyes (putting eyelashes, adding detail on the pupil), the hair (adding hair strands and highlights) and the  dress (defining contours).  I also added the shoes (not too comfy to go barefoot, eh?) and put some freckles on the face. I also glued…er, put the girl’s hands.
• At this stage, I’m on to cleaning up my output – mostly blending the colors together and removing unwanted lines.
• I went on by tweaking the background a bit to give it some texture.

STEP7 :

•  Here, I added a leash, made the arms thicker, and darkened the girl’s arm on the right. For more depth, I added the sky.
• Then I made a few light adjustment overlay to make it more blue. I think it gives a warmer illusion.

Whew! It’s done! 

I  hope you find this helpful. Please feel free to comment / critique my work. There is a lot of room for improvement.

Thanks!

You can also view my gallery here:    http://pinterest.com/desfeliciano/heartworks/