Sunday, March 9, 2014

New Illustration Process: Studies and References

I'm working on a new illustration involving a young woman using a ouija board to contact a strange spirit. It's in the beginning stages so there's been a lot of thumbnail sketches, studies, and I took some photo references to work on lighting, pose, and mood.

First, head studies. This really helps me to flush out the character and figure out who the girl is. I know I want the character to be a young woman, between 18-20, and very goth/rocker chick in style with perhaps a dash of nerd.


Some preliminary head studies. They're getting somewhere and I think I'll combine a few elements from a couple and flush her out further before drawing the illustration.



After deciding upon a pose and composition via my thumbnails, I took some photo references to establish the lighting and poses. I'll use more than just one, but these are vital for nailing those details. Also when taking my own photo references I often will stumble upon new ideas for poses or story-telling.

Next will be a few more sketches to solidify the character, sketch some concepts for the ghost, and search for more reference for her outfit, the ghost's clothing, and details in the environment. Then to the drawing! I will be using watercolor and inkwash, along with inking lineart separately and then bringing that into Photoshop to merge it with the watercolor. This should be fun!

More to come in the following week or two!



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