2D Artist

See how you can keep yourprocess quick and neatwith clipping masks...In this article I will talk about a process I’veused for creating characters involving line-work techniques and masking in Photoshop. Iapproach most of my projects very differentlyfrom one another depending on what I’mtrying to achieve, but I have found that theprocess described here is very neat, efficientand saves time. I started with a detailedplan of the entire character using line-work,followed by coloring and lighting usingmasking and clipping masks, and finallyonto blend modes and layer adjustments.The way I work should by no means be used asan exhaustive formula for creating characters- there are so many ways to go about it – butthe techniques I describe here are very usefulif you are trying to get work finished quicklywithout having to spend a lot of time cleaningup your files afterwards. This is very usefulwhen you are creating work professionallyfor clients or for your studio. I hope you willenjoy seeing my workflow on this piece!01Concepts first: As this was the firstpart of the process, it was reallyimportant to get the basic idea of what I wantedto draw out of my head and onto the canvas.Sometimes I do a few smaller thumbnaildrawings before I am happy with an idea,and then follow it with a rough concept.I found that working with the canvas zoomedout helped me to stay focused on the overallidea, instead of getting caught up in the detailsthat I really didn’t want to be thinking aboutthen. In this step I wanted to focus on things likedesign, silhouette, personality and atmosphere.If those things had not come across in a zoomedout rough concept, then I would probably havestruggled to get them into the final piece. I got thebasics right from the start, and then tried a fewthings; that’s what concept creation is all about.02Planning with line-work: Once Iwas happy with the concept that I hadcompleted, I dropped the opacity of that layerdown to around 30-40%. This made it easy touse the concept as a guide while I planned outthe entire piece using line-work. The line-workConcepts were kept loose and rough as this was the timeto explore ideas``````The concept was used on a low opacity as a guide for the final image