2D Artist

2DARTISTMAG.COM2DARTIST MAGAZINE | Design a battle shamancorrect their arrangement. Continue workingon lighting the figure too, constantly keepinga top right corner lighting scheme in mind.Use a Color Balance adjustment layer toshift the background towards blue.``````useful gauge to judge how much the placementof facial features needs to be corrected.``````By using the Lasso tool together with FreeTransform you can cut out features andcolors you have in mind. Make sure you keep yourlines on a separate layer at this point, addingcolor to the silhouette on another layer below.You can then use the “/” key to lock the pixels oneach layer, preventing your strokes from leavingthe confines of the pixels on the line or silhouettelayers. This is a very quick way of getting an ideaof the colors in the image with little effort.03Checking proportions: Once you arehappy with the color sketch, returnto check the proportions of the figure. I have atendency to make figures too tall and they areoften clearly characterized by a small head.To make sure the character’s height is correct,quickly crop out a copy of the head and use thisto measure seven-and-a-half times the height ofthe head. This length feels heroic in proportionyet it is still believable. On this basis adjustthe size of the character’s head until it fits thescale, thus correcting the proportional error.04Sneaking up on color: As I progress Itend to almost sneak up on the colorand value. I like to try and keep the entire figureprogressing at the same rate as much as I canbefore honing in on particular details. Obviouslythere are times such as when you are workingon a character’s face where you will need togive more detail before returning elsewhere tobring the image to a unified level of finish. Atthis point you can still keep it quite simple byjust beginning to block in the light and shadow.Refining colors will come at a later stage.05Adjusting the face: I realize that Ineed to correct the placement andsymmetry of the facial features. Conveniently inthis case the character has war paint which is aMake a scale using copies of the character’s head to check the height of the figure is correct``````“I like to try and keep theentire figure progressing atthe same rate as much asI can before honing in onparticular details”``````PRO TIPUsing shortcuts for speedWhether making a speed painting, or rendering a full illustration, any trick that can help cut even a little time out of your workflow is useful.I make use of keyboard shortcuts as well as several custom actions bound to hotkeys. Several of the default keyboard shortcuts are towardsthe right of the keyboard, and being left handed it makes sense for me to map custom actions to this side. As a result I have the function keysF8-F11 mapped to quickly create new layers with set blend modes for ease of access.