Melora and Erathis Having Quality Time (D&D) [With Process]

cpt.popcorn (64)in #cptpopcorn • 4 years ago

Hey everyone!

I generally write short posts since what I show is pretty self-explanatory! Yet I will try doing something different now!

So, as the title suggests, I'd like to share with you the process for this piece to see how you like this kind of post. And let me tell you, it is actually funny how it even started!

I always start with lineart base. I don't put that much love on it since I am painting over it anyway, but still clean enough so I can understand where the hell goes each thing. Anatomy is a hard thing by itself, why not to help ourselves a little bit with some extra work at the beginning?

This is why I like dividing my workflow in different processes, each with a very specific and unique task.

For example, in the lineart stage, I tend to focus only on composition, theme, and character interactions/flow.

I don't focus too much on the details, and I very rarely dress them up since we are drawing porn (no shit, Sherlock).

I also don't spend too much time on the face features, but rather just place a base for later on working on and making it attractive on a further step.

Yet I always do my best to be as clear as possible with the base, as this will be very important further on at the polishing and rendering stage.

Once the lineart is ready, I proceed to the exploration for the color palette for the piece.

It is important to mention that before getting any color on the canvas, I have a previous stage where I paint down through very sketchy strokes the shadows/lighting of the piece.

This way I make sure that the atmosphere will work and the whole piece stands by itself.

This is a critical stage due to the fact that values are one of the most important, if not THE most important aspect of a piece because we humans read first in shapes, but such shapes can be understood thanks to values, not colors, not lines, not textures. VALUES!

Once the values work together, then you can proceed to add the colors.

I generally think a lot about what colors to use, what atmosphere to generate and which interactions there will be since before even making the lines.

During the lineart process I just confirm the different ideas I had. Yet forget about details, this is all about general looking and it should be worked out as a thumbnail, without zoom, EVER.

If it happens that you are watching the painting and it is bigger than your thumb/palm... then make it smaller. You are trying to pick up the general feeling of it, NOT DETAILS.

Then the rest of the process is super-duper-straight-forward. Yet funnily, it is the part of the process that takes the most time:

Rendering.

When you render, you are working out the details. The most boring and straight forward part, yet sometimes it can be fun. But here is where you have to fix all the silly mistakes and details that are out of place on your artwork.

Many have lots of fun out of this, not me. To me, it feels like a black hole for time, as I can't move forward with the following piece until this process is finished, but indeed, it is fun sometimes.

After several hours of rendering and many liters of coffee and brainpower, you end up having something like this:

(Cropped Final Image)

Personally, quite proud of this one, mostly due the tonal variations I managed to create all along the painting. Because that is one of the main issues beginners tend to have: not enough tonal variations.

Let me know if you like this kind of post and if you would like me to explain more art fundamentals (of course, all on top of more NSFW and porn artworks!

Have a good one me hearties and remember to be nice to each other!!

The Cap loves you all!

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