Process
Not all illustrations are created equal. A good process, however, ensures that whatever happens, I will get a consistent outcome.
Everything starts with the sketch. Sometimes I start sketching on paper, and transfer it to the computer. In this case I sketched directly in Photoshop. I wanted a very dynamic pose, and the mechanical arms actually frame the character in a heart shape.
This was actually the second pose I drew for the character, but after some feedback on the composition, this is what I decided to go with.
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One of the challenges of this illustration was not the anatomy (which is always a challenge) but the mechanical arms.
I then start blocking in the 'flats'. These are the flat colours, which are the true colours of the objects before additional lighting is imposed on them. This layer helps by dividing up the character into different areas. This is especially helpful for selection later on.
One challenge here, for me, is that at this point I still thought of all metal as grey-coloured. This is very unhelpful when I want to section off each part of the mechanical arms. Photoshop sometimes finds it difficult to differentiate colours that are too similar, even at the highest sensitivity setting.
Here I start roughly blocking in where the ambient occlusion (AO) is. AO is essentially where the light curves around the object and cannot reach it, creating dark areas around it.
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The AO is an important part of semi-realistic rendering, as it helps define the objects and make it believably 3D in a 2D space.
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This process is different (at least to me) from painting in the shadows, which I don't do, because shadows don't 'exist'. I will elaborate on this later.
I paint in the key light. This is the main light that illuminates the subject. In areas where the light is blocked, shadows are created.
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This is what I mean when I said that shadows don't 'exist'. Of course they do, but I think some beginners approach this in the same approach as traditional art. In traditional art, especially watercolours and pencil drawing, the light comes from the paper's whiteness, and darkness must
be added.
In digital illustration, I can add in light, where I cannot do this on paper.
I add in specular light here. In lay terms, this is the highlight, or the brightest spot of light in the subject. It directly reflects the light source into the eye of the subject, and informs the texture or material of the object.
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Where the specular highlight is most obvious is the metal blade closest to the viewer. Being a shiny material, the metal best reflects the light. On the skin, the head and nose are the most reflective, due to the oils on the face, and the eye, being watery.
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Specular highlights can also be used to draw attention to certain areas, and they can be omitted when I want to draw attention away.
One of the best things in digital illustration is the different light effects you can get on screen versus on paper. One of these effects is being able to overlay brighter colours over other layers.
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In this step I apply a green filter over the whole illustration, giving it a more dangerous and
sickly feel.
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I also add an edge light here. This helps define the silhouette of the subject, and adds some dynamism to the lighting. It being red also helps add some contrast to the green environmental light.
One of the steps I like the least, but is actually very crucial, is creating the background. The background is very important in contextualising the subject of the illustration, whether it is a character, creature, or some other object.
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I use the lines to determine the perspective and camera angle I want to use. The tilt creates an uneasy but dynamic feeling.
I mostly use a method called 'photobashing' to create the backgrounds. This is simply taking stock images and cutting up parts of them that I like to piece together an environment I am happy with. This is also useful for creating believable textures.
I can then paint over the base image to make it match the story better. This saves me a lot of time on something the viewer won't pay too much attention to anyway.
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In this picture, I bashed in the smoke, grass, asphalt, and fence. The only things fully painted are the rocket missiles.
I add in some more details to help tell the story. The Hacker has just entered a government facility and is wreaking some havoc. This is the future, so there are robots and power armor.
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Guards are coming to get him. If you look closely, the guards are actually mainly just copies of each other. I don't particularly love drawing scifi, so this was a concession I made. You could argue they're clones, anyway.
The final illustration! Finally. When it all comes together, the story is complete.
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The Hacker has broken into a government facility, and he's destroyed at least one robot. He's having a lot of fun, taunting the soldiers and generally being a menace. But who can blame him? And who will stop him?
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Keep scrolling down to see my process condensed into one gif.
I darken the whole subject and deepen the AO. By darkening the subject, I will be able to achieve a better contrast when I paint in the light later.
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The values (darkness and brightness) here are determined by the environment. This scene is set at night, and so the subject will have to be quite dark to show that.
