Comic Artist - Volume 3 2016

CREATE DYNAMIC

CHARACTERS

Arthur Mask shows how to create characters with various body types

tied together with coherent style and colour. Welcome to Arthur’s world!

C

reating characters, scenes

and stories has always been

an immensely pleasurable

experience. It’s always a lot of

fun for me and I never tire of

it. My methods of creation are sometimes

strange and disorganised when I’m

dealing with personal works, and the

illustrations almost always change during

the course of the journey. This applies

both to the characters, which often take

on a life of their own and grow in

directions I hadn’t anticipated, and to

the atmosphere and colour palette of the

whole scene, which can change radically

as I try out different hues for the ambient

lighting. This in turn inf luences the

colouring of every element in the image.

Arthur Mask

COUNTRY: Brazil

Arthur learned

to draw by

himself and

his first

sketch was

a mosquito, when he

was just two years old.

Nowadays he still draws,

but now it’s monsters

and villains.

http://ifxm.ag/a-mask

I create my art using Photoshop in

a simple way without using many of the

resources it has to offer, such as filters and

effects. I use pretty much just a standard

brush, always working with Pen Pressure,

varying Opacity, along with different

layer modes and the Eraser. I apply some

texture brushes in certain parts just to

produce an effect, but that’s about it!

1

Initial sketch

In my starting sketch I define the composition and

the positions of the characters. I give each a different shape

and personality, so the scene will be the most interesting

possible and tell a story, directly or indirectly. In the process,

I refine the characters. I keep in mind that everything I do at

the start can be improved or totally changed by the end.

2

First element colours

I start painting one element or character first so that

I have a reference point for the rest of the characters and

the scene as a whole. I think about whether the colour

palette will be hot or cold and more saturated or less, and

where the light source will be placed. I always start with a

white, neutral light, then mentally make it colder or warmer.

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