LUTHER Process

I always enjoy seeing artists' processes and, as the process I used for my BBC Luther work was so basic, I thought it would be useful and encouraging to any beginners to digital painting out there to post the step-by-step.  Hope it gives someone help, even just a little bit to one person out there!

Here is one finished portrait used for my Luther#1 poster of the character DCI Ian Reed.

Source Material - this is the photo I based my painting on, at its original size (I know!).  I don't mind smaller images to work from as it simplifies it before I start my own simplistic drawing.  It also allows me to add my own details without getting blinded by the original's.  As you might be able to see, looking at the final, simplifying was partly the colour tones, choosing my own blues, more on the slate side, and keeping from drawing too many lines, particularly from the coat collar. 

Pencil Drawing - on A3 watercolour paper, 4H and 4B pencil.  As I was going for a comic look in the final piece I made all of my lines strong and angular.  The eye on the left was a little off which I could correct in the next stage....

Inking - to mimic comic book art and artists I inked over the top of my now-scanned pencil drawing in Photoshop.  My digital ink was a little paler than solid black (personal preference) and done with my new favourite 'round angle' brush which felt akin to using a brush pen as I would in real life, but with less smudges. 

Base Colour - here you can see my palette, cold blue, very much towards purple end of the colour spectrum.  With each portrait on the poster I used a similar colour palette within the image, to separate them and again to keep it visually as simple as possible.  Simple = bold.

Shading - from here on it's a matter of adding new Photoshop layers per colour I use, only as there are so few.  This stage is the mid-tonal shadow; the tone between the deep dark shadows and the softer lighter shadows.  Note that I used this tone to create the details of wrinkles on the face rather than drawing them in at the 'inking' stage.  To create the look of bigger brushier strokes I used a 'fan' brush.  I also used a layer for a pink shade to add variety and more of a touch of realism, to the lips, nose and around the eyes.

Highlights - here is the other end of the shading!  I prefer to do shading and highlighting to add depths before I get involved in all of the iddy-biddy mid-tones.  Not too iddy-biddy though, keeping it simple remember!  Keep bold whites to a minimum unless your portrait is being blasted by sunlight or is a cartoon geisha.  You need places on the spectrum to go to.  

Light Bounce - after finishing all the shading stemming from the base colour palette I add variance by reflecting the environment's lighting - more blue!  I lower the opacity on this colour to blend in with the skin tones; keeps it a softer, more natural look. In more realistic paintings this detail of environmental light reflecting off your subject creates a sense of realism that can easily be overlooked and makes a HUGE difference.  I easily neglect this after drawing too many cartoons from my head but is important to remember. 

Self Portrait

It feels like it's been ages since I've posted anything online anywhere.  I suppose it has!  I'm not feeling bad about it, as there's a lot going on at the moment without the Internet being in my life too much.  It's also necessary for me to focus more inwardly on my work at times rather than putting it out online for all to see, as my way of approaching ideas can tend to turn towards crowd-pleasing, which isn't ever my aim.

For the past couple of weeks I've been in the process of designing a video game poster, and after a lot of pencil sketches, research and messing around I got into a rut.  Final layout is sorted, final character design is decided, but then the style...  My line work wasn't clicking with weak and wonky geometry and blah blah blah, so I took a step back to focus my artistic energy in another aspect towards the poster: skin tones.

I've never really stretched myself in varying light sources in my work or defined them strongly.  I knew that this would be fun but also important.  I took a few reference photos of myself with a strong upward light and set about a quick-ish painting practise.  

Completed entirely in Photoshop, my image was A5 page size at 300dpi.  I started of with a layer of the base skin tone with a layer on top of that for the background and began to carve out the figure out of the dark tones to reveal the skin tone. I slowly built layers of details and tonal values on individual layers from there.  I was pleasantly surprised with my translation of the photo to painting; despite using very different techniques and mediums it turned into a similar style to my pencil sketches for the poster.

The more I've practised and researched and practised some more I have begun to get to know myself and find my own style rather than attempting to imitate someone else's - which I enjoy doing!  And I never outright copy a style, but pick up bits here and there.  However, this time I've been relying solely on my own judgements when I get stuck for a moment.  I'm looking forward to applying all that I'm learning into one large piece of work.

J.x

WIP Continued...

J.x

WIP

The drawing I began the other night.
J.x