Demon Trio - Screech - Part 2

• Software: GIMP or Adobe Photoshop
• Level: Advanced
• Subject: Demon Trio - Screech

In the last part, the concept was created as a line art and some amount of shading. In this part, I explore a bit of the color value. Separating color and value before adding the details helps a lot in terms of composition. This is a technique I have rather used repeatedly after my earlier study - Separate Light and Color.

Flats

I still am working on this in GIMP. I scale up the image before adding any more detail to A4 size at 300 dpi.

Using the path tool, I create the flats.

Colors

I take a bit of care while choosing these flat colors - I keep them the compliments of the intended mid-tones of the different parts of the character. By doing this, I have noticed that when we put in the midtones, they create a nice blend and gives a much better result than using a darker tone or tinting it with black.

Part of the reason I find this technique interesting is that it makes the artwoark vibrant and not dull looking.

Midtone Shading

Observe the layer setup. I keep the Flats Copy which I use to make selection while painting so that I am withing hte boundaries - saves the trouble of using earaser at a later stage. Over the visible Flat (compliment) color layer, I have a normal layer. Above this layer, I keep the Concept layer at around 40% to 60% opacity in Multiply mode. On the painting layer, I select the midtone color and go over it with a brush with the pressure sensitivity switched on Size, Hardness and Opacity.

Notice how the blend of the midtone and the compliment color creates a nice shadow tone without making the artwork look pale.

Once I am satisfied with the amount of color features it shows, I merge the layers before working on textures.

Observe that I have still kept the layer of Flats copy.

Here is the full view of the character artwork. It is not perfect and there are some glitches, but we need not worry about it now, because we will be going over it adding more details. These imperfections add to the ‘painterly’ effect.

Stay tuned using KalaaLog.com feeds or use the email form above to get updates.