Entry And Process For The ArtExplosion Contest : Cryptozoology

" - You lost somethin' mate ? - Yeah.. Can't find my k...AAH"

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Hello Steemians !

Here is my entry for @juliakponsford's contest : Cryptozoology

I will also share the process with you but unfortunately no video.....I...failed....the encoding........A few more tests are needed (after banging my head on the wall).

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For this piece actually I had to deal with the limitations of my computer a LOT. What this means is my laptop is weak. So the process is a bit different.

Step 1

I first took a look at the cryptozoology pictures on Pinterest to have a general idea of what is cryptozoology. What I took from there is mythical creatures roaming among the ordinary society, hidden from everyone, usually in nature. Usually, one dude will get to see or meet one and the situation is kind of surrounded in mystery.
This sets up the mood and Halloween coming soon....I got a few things in mind.

Knowing that my computer was definitely not willing to work properly and lag at every brushstroke, I thought it would be a nice idea to work on shapes and composition. Also try to limit the brush work to the minimum. Keeping the shape of the creature would be the most important thing here as I will be focusing mostly on the emotion I want to transmit (tell me what you feel when looking at it, it will be a big help thank you !)

After working a bit on the thumbnails, I found a composition I liked and thus, begun to work.

Step 2

The second step here was then to set the mood of my painting.
recently, I found out it helped me more to have the colors forst to get me into the story while painting. I found this nice gradient reminding me cold winters in Europe.
Mystery mood ? Perfect fit ! (I used the gradient tool (Shortcut G) here and used one of my own gradients I had)

Step 3

Now I have my colors, I set up the scene. I need a cold mysterious place in the middle of winter. A forest will work. Let's also add some drama and put a twilight sun in the background.

For this step I used the lasso tool and the filling tool (L and G short cut, if you want to change between 2 tools of the same family like gradient and fill, press Shift + shortcut)
This allows me to get sharp edges and also alleviate some weight on my CPU. To duplicate the trees I just kitbash them (duplicate 2-3 trees, past them elsewhere and rework them a bit). It helps to gain time (really important currency as concept artist) and help my CPU as well.

Step 4

The main character enters the scene, he found something. Trying to give personality to my characters is a matter I still struggle on a lot. But it is also important in order to translate properly the message to the audience (Still working on it, I have a long way to go still).
The painting part is the only thing I do with brushstrokes and actually paint it. Because I don't know how to get that feeling otherwise haha.

Step 5

Now that our character is on its way, I add the shape of the creature. Behind to emphasize the danger and unlikeliness of the encounter. I want the creature to be out of this world, like she just appeared, without a noise. Looking menacing but at the same time, we don't know...
The creature uses a 'line' shape, I wanted her to be close to the trees surrounding the scene to show that she belongs there. it is her territory, compared to the more triangular shape of the character.

Step 6

To give more importance to the creature I add the rimlight. and paint a bit the silhouette trying to focus on the dramatic light (ahem. messed up light kof* kof*)

Step 7

But something is still missing and I can't really feel the message I want to transmit. I found out that everything should work altogether and if we have an idea, always push it to the maximum, almost the ridiculous in order to have something worth it (I mean by that, trying to check the extremes first and then adapt to the drawing with what works best).
So I added snow.

Step 8

A few tweaks and effects later, It is done =D
(Levels, Hue Saturation, Iris Field Blur and High Pass for the effects)

Time : 3 hours

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I hope you enjoyed as I did while painting it and that you could learn something new ^^
Have a wonderful week end !
Cheers !

You can find the contest page here =D
https://steemit.com/art/@juliakponsford/art-explosion-week-13-theme-cryptozoology-25-sbd-in-prizes-all-forms-of-art-welcome