How do you paint so flawlessly digitally (at least I hope it's digital, and I'm not making a fool of myself here...)? I like to draw and I like how my art looks with lineart, but I always end up hating what I make when I go painterly in my digital art, even tho I go with a painterly style in traditional? What's your secret?
of course, feel free to give me a short/non-answer. This all sums up to say that I think your art kicks ass and it's always a joy to see, even tho idk what Metro 2033 is 😌
First of all, thank you so much for your kind words, it really makes me happy to read messages like this :·))
Then, sorry for the delay of the answer, I figured it would be more efficient to actually draw a little tutorial on how I paint digitally, because for me visual representation is key for learning art (I see and I reproduce to build my skills).
So, here we go for a little explanation! (I use Photoshop but it can be applied to most art softwares of course!)
First of all, I’d like to point out that I stopped doing clean lineart to paint, because it restricted the workflow more than anything, so a basic sketch is more than sufficient!
To add the color base, I usually start with a dark and desaturated (but it can be any color really) background layer.
Then between the sketch and the background layer, I lay the colors I want, in a semi-flat, semi-gradient way : I use a brush that has pressure opacity (mine has a little texture and grain but a basic round one works just as well) so all the colors mix well with the background color. Never hesitate to use the color picker tool to get harmonious colors overall!
I finalise this step by tweaking the shadows, some color details I want...
Then starts the rendering process : I create a new layer on top of everything and then I use mostly that pressure opacity brush coupled with the color picker tool. The key is to keep the shapes and volumes of your drawing while very slowly (but not entirely) getting rid of the messy lineart.
What I love to do is draw on top of the lineart with a slightly lighter shade of it that I get by painting a bit transparently over it (you can see it on the bridge of the nose, the underside of the jaw, the strong shadow under the chin...). I always try to keep similar colors if I bring new ones on the drawing (redder nose or cheeks are just a tad more dark and sturated already existant reddish tone).
When I feel like I’m happy with the level of rendering, I add then the details : little lines for the hair, skin texture (scars, spots, facial hair...), eye color, and then like the interior of the ears and stuff, cloth texture... whatever!
And then it’s the magical process of tweaking with the adjustments!! I usually go kinda heavy with them because photoshop has really nice ones, but I’ll show you the ones I use all the time.
Brightness/Contrast : lowering the brightness and boosting the contrast de-flattens your picture
Vibrance and Saturation : makes those greyish colors more alive
Levels : I use them instead of the color balance but both are good for adjusting the colors!
And then I like to add a creamy background on another layer on top of it all to delimit where the subject stands. But if a whole background is already part of the illustration skip this step haha!
And there you go, now you know all my secrets for paintings!! Hope it was useful to you and to everyone who reads this :·))
Thank you again for the ask <3
(ps : Metro 2033 is a franchise based on a really good book (the one i base my art on) that i recommend you to read :•))
origamiaround
areudirty
vaporwave
titsay
