2D Artist

2DARTIST MAGAZINE | ISSUE 129``````93``````the shaman. This can be done with some loosetextured strokes indicating the earth and snow,along with some rough crosshatch strokesto imply some tough grass breaking throughthe icy ground. Adding a dark cast shadow,and ground detail beneath the character, isalso a deceptively simple way of groundingyour character within the environment.06Correcting the hands: The facetends to be the focal point of afigurative image, as we naturally seek outfaces in everything. After the face, the handstend to be the next port of call for the viewer,and as hard as they are to draw, hands canbe very informative within an image.In order to paint convincing hands grab somereference and compare and refine the hands ofyour character. I know the sword hand is going tofall into the shadow of the cloak, but I still makea point of painting in the detail of the fingers.At the very least it provides an opportunity topractice painting another hand position.07Further value refinement: Steadilywork up the value of the overallimage. In correcting the hands in the previousstep, I lightened the surrounding areas soI could better see what I was doing. Now Ibegin to tone down these areas again.As you progress around the image begin toindicate some detail on the ground underneath“A good rule of thumb hereis that the more somethingresembles polished metal, thehigher the contrast will be inits value range”``````Continue to develop the image, focusing for a while on correcting theplacement of facial features``````Use references to check and correct the hands and face of the character``````Begin to work up the color of the image, but avoid getting caught upin details``````The addition of some hints of foliage as well as a cast shadow can really help sell the idea of a figurestanding in a real space