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Description

This is still one of my favourites. The discovery of using soft blues for shadows rather than too harsh, dark shades was a revolution for me!

1 - sketch outline on separate layer

2 - Laying down colours and decided on light source. Tried to keep to desaturated tones as can play more with vibrancy later. It's easier to mix this way.

3 - Adding texture to the background, bringing in more cyan. I really want the background to match this cat's eyes. Started adding in blues in the shadows and refining the shape of the cat a bit more.

4 - Loosely started getting an idea of fur detail. Added in warmer tones on the lighter parts to offset the cool blues from the shadows. Utilizing both your warms and cools this way helps make an image more believable.

5 - Main introduction of shadows. Now again, if I was quicker at this, I could have done this from the start, but I tend to mess around a bit and introduce my colours slowly. Made sure to make this blue tone different from the cyan of the background. I want there to be an association between the two, but I don't want the cat to blend in too much. Main eye detailing here as well (eye highlights go a long way!) and whisker introduction. I always keep whiskers and stuff on a separate layer above everything.

6 - Chest fur detailing. The fur on the chest was much thicker than the fur on the face, and I'm happy with how it came out. Much thicker strokes offset by darker shades. Looking back though, I think I lost some of the shadow effect here on the left side.

7 - Played more with the tones and background. Overlay highlighting layer to add interest to select points.

8 - Final colour tweaks.

Finished piece -

Description

This is still one of my favourites. The discovery of using soft blues for shadows rather than too harsh, dark shades was a revolution for me!

1 - sketch outline on separate layer

2 - Laying down colours and decided on light source. Tried to keep to desaturated tones as can play more with vibrancy later. It's easier to mix this way.

3 - Adding texture to the background, bringing in more cyan. I really want the background to match this cat's eyes. Started adding in blues in the shadows and refining the shape of the cat a bit more.

4 - Loosely started getting an idea of fur detail. Added in warmer tones on the lighter parts to offset the cool blues from the shadows. Utilizing both your warms and cools this way helps make an image more believable.

5 - Main introduction of shadows. Now again, if I was quicker at this, I could have done this from the start, but I tend to mess around a bit and introduce my colours slowly. Made sure to make this blue tone different from the cyan of the background. I want there to be an association between the two, but I don't want the cat to blend in too much. Main eye detailing here as well (eye highlights go a long way!) and whisker introduction. I always keep whiskers and stuff on a separate layer above everything.

6 - Chest fur detailing. The fur on the chest was much thicker than the fur on the face, and I'm happy with how it came out. Much thicker strokes offset by darker shades. Looking back though, I think I lost some of the shadow effect here on the left side.

7 - Played more with the tones and background. Overlay highlighting layer to add interest to select points.

8 - Final colour tweaks.

Finished piece -