art process

Instructions

its been some time since i shared my art process so i thought id do it again since it has changed quite a bit #1 just a sketch to start with. #2 base colors. only big shapes.. i dont focus on tiny details like the eyes or stuff because if you add those details in at such an early stage it will come back to haunt you later (..speaking from experience lol) #3 basic light & shadow shapes. in the past, i would use opacity to create the shadow colors, but now i prefer to pick the colors myself, i think it creates more interesting colors #4 blending between the shadow and light a bit, and defining the form a little more in the process. hue shifting the midtones a bit can make it look quite nice #5 adding in a lot more midtones here to blend between the shadows. i take care not to do TOO much though, because adding in too many values can quickly made the shading look "muddy". something ive learned that helps a lot is that when values change from light to shadow, its actually an exponential change, not a linear one. if you go about rendering with an idea of linear value changes, you can quickly have very muddy shadows #6 hair. for this character i didnt have to do too much, just some scribbles got the idea across. i also did some more detailing on the eye and lips to make the form come across better #7 more details, and at this stage, after most of the values are blended i feel comfortable adding in more details, like her eyes, more definition in the lips, and the insignia on her dress and earring.