Hello Steemians !

This a Follow up for my entry from the TrialbyComic contest held by @kommienezuspadt. You’ll find the whole process and a few tips and things I did for this piece and if you want more, you will find a link to some free giveaways =D (Because you guys are amazing).

---

I. The Artifact

1. The Idea
2. Research and Thumbnails
3. Looking for the Mood
4. Painting
5. VFX

II. A Big Thank you for your support

1. Giveaway
2. My first store ever

---

Sped-Up Video Process - Sorry for quality, laptop is weak...

---

The Artifact

1. The Idea

Since I joined Steemit and discovered the TrialbyComics contest, I wanted to try it. To be honest I was impressed by @justmousepixels’s entry on the MtG theme. So I decided, if I participate, I will not do it half-assed =D.

I finally decided to give it a shot this time but....The new theme was Mecha and this is kind of my ...Nemesis. If you follow me a bit, you can see that I am not really a Sci-Fi guy nor a perspective guy (yet). So I had to find out a way to bend (a bit) what was a Mecha for me.

So I begun to think (it happens sometimes). What is a Mecha ? Wikipedia states : “robots or machines controlled by people. Mechas are typically depicted as "walker" types of Mobile robots.”

"Mecha" is a modern term and throughout the ages, maybe other people thought about riding such things. After all, where do the Golems come from ?
Nowadays we use chunks of metal plates and heavy technology to build these robots but what about, earlier ? Like…. Ancient Times earlier ?

Maybe did they find a way to build some of these giants ? With what then ? Wood ! They had wood at their disposal and rocks.

Later, the Mech got passed as a weapon and a heritage from king to king to keep "peace" under their reigns. Constantly improving and replacing parts. Until that day when the Giant didn’t came back. And everyone forgot about him or his legend…

The Idea is your Foundation. Find an idea and work on it until you are really excited about it. If your idea bores you or even if you get a ‘meh, whatever’ feeling about it, go back to your brainstorming.

2. Research and Thumbnails

I talked on previous posts about Research and thumbnailing (links down the post), just remember this is your Pillars. Find the right Design language, the right references and lay it down.

For this piece I have my idea. And I like it ! Some Kind of old forgotten technology, mechs from the past.. I will definitely enjoy painting it ! Let’s Pinterest (Follow Film Designer about that, he got some juicy pins for mechanical stuff) it and look more into my main themes : Nature, actual Mechanical things and armors. Also I’ll go this time again for a forest scenery though a bit different. Once the idea is here, it is "just" a matter on how to translate it properly on paper. So I will be looking for the point of view I like the most and begin digging in the composition of the piece.



Research



Chosen Thumbnail

3. Looking for the Mood

For The Artifact I wasn’t looking for emotions in particular but questions instead. (Please tell me in the comments if I managed or if I just messed it up haha).
Why is that machine there, abandoned ? What is it ? What happened ? Why is the sky red ? Who are the protagonists ? What are they doing ? I will let you answer these questions ( And your own as well =D)
That is how I chose to use vibrant colors. To show that something is happening while the main question is… What exactly.

For this part, if you have a nice understanding of your idea and your thumbnails are on point, You can improve your painting at this point. It requires to take a few steps back from your painting and reflect a bit on what can be improved and how.
At this point of my process, I have to answer multiple questions which make the task a bit easier. But the more I do it, the better the painting I believe. It is giving you your own feedbacksall about self-criticism.
Also take care ! ‘Improving’ does not mean ‘adding’, sometimes you must reflect if something is pertinent to your message or not.



Base colors

4. Painting

I really liked playing with colors all along ! I put up the base colors at the beginning but I wasn’t fond of them. The color palet was just off. And weird. And I had no real idea on how to correct this. So I remembered one of the ways I used to do it for some of my concepts : Go Wild.Kinda.
I layered a few Hue/Saturation adjustments to play with the colors to find the right mood to set in. Always looking for vivid colors with the hope it will give some color richness at the end _( cf Shaddy Safadi’s tutorials on Youtube)_.
It unblocked the situation quite instantly and I managed to get inspired by the piece and go forward.

When using colors, There is many different approaches, one being Color Theory. Color theory is a recipe of colors of good match. It teaches you nice combinations and you can’t really go wrong with it. But you can get a wider view sometimes by not using it but instead using the principles of Design like Contrast and Affinity*. By doing so you know why you will use this or that color and what message it should transmit through your artwork.

While painting I try to have in mind my redline from the idea above in order to keep a sense of purpose and excitement in my process.

Tips : Always name your layers, get the habit right, it will be helpful for others to read your PSD or to you if you decide to open it again in 3-4 years.

5. VFX

Finally we can go with the Visual Effects (VFX). The picture being really small (1500px wide), I need to add some crisp and go for the usual High Pass. Take care while using it to avoid artifacts.






This is an artefact, the effect is too strong and messes with the picture


Then, some Iris Blur to drive the eye to action a bit more, some Hue/Saturation and curves to add more pep’s and That’s it !

II. A Big Thank you for your support

1. Giveaway

Heeere is my gift for you. The Steemit Community gives so much, every day, and I get so much support from you that I wanted to do a bit more this time. Hence the long post and a bit of delay (maybe) in the posting.

https://gumroad.com/l/hnTaK

Following this link you will find a file packaging as follow :

• 1 .PSD for The Artifact Artwork wit all the layers I used and some of the tips I used
• 1 .PSD for Cryptozoology artwork
• 1 .PSD for Imaginary World artwork
• 1 .Jpeg of The Artifact, Hey Bud ! and Cryptozoology

Some explanations about the package. This is my first ever giveaway, therefore it is not perfect, but I do hope the process and the PSDs will be of some values for you.
I chose to upload it with Gumroad and for Free (Pay what you want scheme) in order to test it and, if you feel this is worth something, Feel free to share it, it will be the best way help the community ! (If you want them for free, just enter 0$ in the price form, no credit card info needed)

2. My first store ever

One last note, I also opened my first Redbubble Store. I was working on some designs for tee shirts and other phone covers etc. for the past month and I would love if you could tell me in the comments or on the Discord what you think about this (honest and constructive =)).
Also if you think this can make someone smile, be happy and worth a SBD, please feel free to share for Christmas, Thank you !!

https://www.redbubble.com/fr/people/NTien/shop?asc=u



A teaser haha

---

And this the end of my post ! If you made it until the end, thank you so so much for you love and support, I truly appreciate ! It means a LOT to me !

I also wanted to give a shoutout to @deveerei, @curie, @liberosist, @meerkat, @hendrikdegrote, @kommienezuspadt, @anwenbaumeister, @justmousepixels, @rizasukma, @ankapolo and everyone of you guys for your huge support, You guys are the reason I can keep trying to give my best to the community.

Have a wonderful day and a great week,
Cheers !

---

Ressources :
https://steemit.com/art/@alcy/5-youtube-channels-to-upgrade-your-painting-skills
https://steemit.com/art/@alcy/the-importance-of-research-a-case-study-from-a-standard-concept-art-pitch
https://steemit.com/art/@alcy/the-best-advice-my-mentors-told-me-ep-2
https://www.pinterest.fr/FILMDESIGNER/