Malandok of Manila 2501: the coloring process
I know no one’s asking me how I colored this one but still, I want to impart what I’ve learned to my readers. This color technique may seem very complicated but it isn’t! It is surprisingly more manageable, organized and realistic. Because having 5-7 layers for different coloring techniques will enable you to worry about one thing at a time. This is helpful for colorblind like me who is obviously more challenged when it comes to visualizing the local colors subjected to different kinds of light. So, without further adieu, let’s begin learning!
Outline - This layer is basically dedicated to the “line art.” Of course, it is upon your discretion on how you wanna have yours done. I like it really thin, clean and imperfect in a way that it will still look like it was drawn. This layer can also be omitted if you want to have that smooth, contiguous look to further imply realistic setting. But I do suggest to do this layer to serve as your guide when you are about to paint the local colors and other layers consistently and more definitely.
Local colors - Local color is basically the natural color of an object unmodified by adding light and shadow or any other distortion. For example, Apple is red (according to our brain’s perception), but when subjected to different light and environments, it will have to be painted with different kinds of red in order to look realistic. This layer is meant to display the natural color of every different material that is present in your drawing. In this case, the steel suit, the skin, the hair, the eye, and the lips. Do not mind about how the color would look like when it is on the shaded or lighted part. Local color is meant to be consistent in every part where it is meant to be the same. You may also add variations on parts according to your preferences (for example, tan lines, moles, birthmarks, etc.)
Shadow - This one’s pretty self-explanatory. It is important to be consistent with the light. You must establish where will be your light source and what kind of light it is, will it be diffused or strong? Of course, strong, direct light will have crispier shadow casts than the diffused lighting. In this case, my light source will be coming in front of Malandok and is slightly higher than him, The light is also quite bright, so there is some strong but still gradient application for the shadow. there’s also a relatively weaker light source behind him so you can notice the absence of shadow at the back.
I painted my shadow layer on a solid white silhouette of Malandok. Then gradually applied shadows using a custom brush in low opacity.
Ambient Occlusion - also known as AO. The first time I saw this, it was a foreign concept. At first, it was hard for me to distinguish the difference of Shadow and AO. Up until now, it confuses me quite a bit.
So, AO, as far as I know, is a rendering technique that shows how the Ambient light is being blocked by the proximity of surfaces to each other. AO is different to shadow because the shadow is dependent on the direct light to be cast in different ways on the surface. For example. if you make a fist, you will see dark lines along the cracks where your fingers meet. This happens because the folds in your finger are blocking the light from its neighbor. The closer the two objects to each other, the darker it will be.
bounce light - Bounce light layer is dedicated for the lighted part of the object. In doing this, one must be conscious about how the light will fall or will reflect in the different surface at different angles and different materiality. For example, metal with a sheen finish will reflect a subdued, faint light.
Direct light - I decided to make lighting and shadow layer separate so that they are more manageable. Just like the shadow, I just painted where and how the light will fall on the surface of Malandok’s body but this time in a white on black format.
After finishing the separate layers of different color rendering techniques. It is time to choose the best type of blending modes for that layers.
Multiply - I chose multiply for AO and Shadows since they are the most effective in darkening the local color underneath
Screen - I decided to use Screen blending mode for the lighting layers. Screen is good in depicting natural light. I also set these layers in low opacity to dilute its strength while maintaining the crispiness of the edges of the layers’ pixels.
Color dodge - I use color dodge to the duplicates of the lighting layers. This is set at 100% opacity and is on top of the original lighting layers which are set in screen blending mode. These duplicate layers in color dodge mode is a nice highlighting effect on top of the fainter lighting layers, therefore making the colors to pop more.
Reminder: There are no absolute blending modes for these layers. It depends on your preferences and most especially to what the drawing’s context demands. Feel free to experiment with these blending modes and opacity to find the perfect combination for your art!
Part 3: Finishing touches
Painting background - Now, painting background of course really depends on what you want. But you have to consider the light that you have applied on your character’s body. For example, my character was painted as if there’s a faint light source on his back. So, I painted a background that seems to glow. Of course, the other details depend on you. You may add other objects if you want. What you have to do is keep in mind the lighting principles you have applied in your character in order to have a consistent output!
Checking perspectives - Do not forget to check perspective through the imagination of vanishing points in your drawing. A crooked perspective is one of the easiest giveaways that there is something off in your drawing. You may edit individual elements by “free transforming” it (distort, skew, perspective, scale, etc).
Part 4: Conclusion (the final art)
I am, in no way, saying that what I have done is already perfect! Just like what I have said, this is my first time trying this so I am trying my best to teach others to try this technique as well and don’t be overwhelmed or intimidated by the seemingly daunting task of painting light. I have lots of inconsistency that I have just noticed while writing this post especially in AO and direct lighting. Having said this, one will not improve without practice. So, let’s accept our flaws and promise ourselves to do better next time! Everything is better finished than perfect most of the time!
Thank you! Please don’t hesitate to ask me anything, okay?
