9
Making those finishing touches
It’s in this final phase that a range of small or even tiny details
start appearing. These details are vital to the overall balance of shapes.
They can be found all over; no area is left untouched!
I often talk to myself while painting. It pushes me to come up with a
lot of ideas. Things sound much better once you say them out loud, ...
and makes them appear as if they’re coming from someone else! Yes,
I know this may come across as an odd approach, but it makes a lot of
sense to name the objects within your scene, and to say what you are
about to paint or draw. “Communication array”, “Main cargo door”
and “Exhaust thrusters” are all names that are driven by a function. It
helps me a lot – try it as a means of boosting your concept art skills!8
Bring in a character
One obvious and straightforward way to create a
strong sense of scale in a landscape piece is to add some
foreground characters. In this case, the presence of a child
silhouette will present a simple narrative that will capture
the attention and curiosity of the viewer. There’s no need
for me to start getting too illustrative during this stage.
I start with a basic black and white silhouette of a young
boy that I paint on a new layer. Once this is done, I select
the child’s silhouette, and paint within it. A shirt with red
and white stripes will make sure that the character’s easily
seen, despite them being tiny into the scene.
A simple logo or sign brings a
sense of storytelling to the
Cast shadows will improve the sense of scale, implying that spaceship and the composition.
there are other large structures
not far away from this scene.Flying birds will add scale.Custom plants helps to indicate
natural diversity in your setting.Applying a subtle Color Dodge
treatment to this area ensures it
catches the viewer’s attention.Workshops