painting Draco - Another step by step story, this time G-rated
Following the first I made, which was about an R-rated pic, and fiendling's one, here is my second, and probably last, step by step painting story.
I wanted to draw Draco for jiffybisquikin, who requested him alone, thinking probably of a portrait without any pairing. I decided to draw him alone by opposing him to the trio playing together in the snow in the background. This permitted me to include the hp_art_xchange theme, winter wonderland, and to try to give a bit of depth to the portrait. The result is here.
Under the cut, you'll find the different stages of the painting, with the links to the pictures opening in separate windows.
Ready for the painting
I've drawn a sketch, and made the lineart. Everything is disposed on my working table, and I'm about to begin. Here, the sketch is rather precise: I went rather far in the shadowing, and I've sketched the background vegetation, which I don't always do. I've reported the main lines on tracing paper... Here, two large sheets of it, as the painting is huge. I'd love to use cluegirl's technique, which consists in printing the lineart directly on the watercolour paper, but my printer is too small. There's another computer technique, explained by Jenny Dolfen, where you sketch the scene with a coloured pencil, then make the lineart directly on the sketch with a graphite pencil, so that when you scan it and open it in Photoshop, you can extract only the black lines. Again, you need a large printer...
My lineart is also more precise than usually, probably because I don't feel completely at ease with the subject, as well as with the snow.
My working table is still as untidy as last time. OK, the satirical newspaper stayed on the same chair since last weekend... But I swear, the book and the remote controls moved during the week, and came back only coincidentally (well, for Pratchett's Carpe Jugulum, not quite coincidentally, I'm rereading it).
As usual, I'm beginning by painting the face
Most other artists with whom I've discussed begin by painting the background, and finish by the faces... Here, I've wondered if I should try it for once, and discovered that I was totally unable to avoid beginning by Draco's face and body. It feels a bit like needing first to taste the chocolate sauce before eating the cake...
I'm settling for blueish skin shadows, this time. As I want a contrast between the shadowed part of the face and the enlightened one, I've painted blue shadows first, and then paint over with sepia. I accentuated the shadows because I want a darker foreground and a lighter background.
the face is finished
I've added the eyes and the hair, as well as details on the skin with my #0 brush. The face is mainly finished, even if I'll come back later to add some reddish hues on the nose, ear and lips.
Draco's robe appears
Here, I begin to pain Draco's robe with black paint, trying to differentiate the shadowed part from the rest, as well as aiming for a dark robe on the whole, again to differentiate Draco from the background.
I want the folds on his left arm to look like he was clutching it. linnpuzzle found why, but that's not a difficult riddle. And that's also a tribute to linnpuzzle's wonderful Draco and Snape pic.
the details of Draco's clothing are done
I went on darkening Draco's robe for a while, so that it looks quite black. Its lighter parts are now tainted with a light blue-grey, to make it look less flat. I've added details and painted the gloves and the wrists, too. The gloves are silver, and the robe ornaments are green, of course... That's the only part of the pic where I used green.
inserting Draco inside the pic
This time, I'm painting element of the foreground and background quite at the same time... That's a huge change for me, not working with everything in the foreground before anything else.
This way, I'm hoping to keep in focus the idea of a darker foreground. That's why I'm painting monochrome shadows, to concentrate on darkness and light. I'm also avoiding the snow, because I intend to paint it all at the end, and because I'm a bit scared, as it will be the first time I'll make snow.
a closeup on the trio
I couldn't resist any longer. So I've painted the trio next. They're less dark than it looks here, that's my camera which decided to make a dark photo.
I've suffered a bit for the faces, because they're small, and I wanted to paint happy expressions. Meanwhile, I've been grinning like mad, as it helps me finding the right shape if I'm feeling it. I must have looked quite ridiculous.
I'm using browns and reds. This will be the only part in the picture with such colours...
adding snow
Now comes the dreaded stage where I need to add the snow. before, I've been wandering in the house for a while, looking for photo references of shadows in the snow. I'll need it especially for the bushes in the background, and I've had a hard time finding something with vegetation in. Could you believe that someone was able to make a whole book about the Alps without any picture of a winter landscape?
I'm working with the foreground first, trying again to accentuate the shadows. The remaining snow parts will remain white.
You'll notice that I've began the snowman, and yes, it's a Snapeish snowman ;-)
the snow is finished, on with the sky!
For the sky, I want a heavy winter sky, in regular enough grey tones. I'm using the wet technique that fiendling explained so beautifully: I wet the paper first, with a large square brush, and then add the paint with a pointy one (my #6 pointy brush, which is always nice for painting with a lot of water, and with which I'm still able to make details). The wetting doesn't need to be very precise. The limits will be made by pushing the wet paint with the pointy brush.
On the picture, the paper is still wet and the paint tends to concentrate in the paper hollows, accentuating the paper texture. It's a special one, here, sold as "snowy surface" paper. I don't like it that much, but it's the only one I found in 12" X 16" format. To avoid the paint to dry in this shape, I've smoothed it afterward with the same #6 brush, while it was drying.
the truth about my working table
It's finished!
You can see my working table at the precise moment where I decided that I could stop. I believe I need chaos to work appropriately. And this table isn't crowded as half my computed desk.
On the left, the mail from the day (hiya thistlerose! I got your card, thank you so much!), absorbing paper to take off paint eventually, the krisprolls from the breakfast, still the same Pratchett, various sources of snowy pictures. On top, my paint box, and the first sketch, which I've been using regularly to locate the shadows and try new details. On the right, the painting water, my palette, a paper to try the hue and water amount, various brushes that I used, and a mechanical pencil for last-time changes in the lineart. The little paint boxes are scattered all around the painting, where I've last used them. I didn't use the white paint, but envisioned to paint silver embroideries on Draco's sleeves with it. On the chair, one of the sheets of tracing paper, which followed the normal gravity course...
After tidying a bit, I only have to scan and upload it. I've scanned in two parts, and then used the lasso tool in Photoshop to make an irregular limit between the two parts, so that they don't show.
I'm relieved that I could draw Draco and snow, but I'm not completely happy with the result (as usual). I find that the pic doesn't work as a whole, and that it's difficult to look at Draco and the trio at the same time. And the middle is a bit empty. As a portrait, it probably would have worked better with a closer frame on Draco, with only Hermione in the background... But I wanted to keep the trio together. The foreground snow behind Draco could also have been better, as well as the texture of Draco's robe. Ah, well.
If you like this kind of step by step sort of tutorial, there are many others around. Here are the ones that I particularly like or which helped me. They show that each artist has their own technique!
Anke Eissmann explains the making of one of her breathtaking LotR watercolours. (WOW)
Jenny Dolfen's very interesting watercolour-and-photoshop technique, with a great result!
The Elfwood watercolour tutorial by Dmitry Terner
And all the Elfwood tutorials page
fiendling's beautiful wet watercolour technique.
cluegirl's tricks of the trade, not a step by step tutorial, but so interesting and useful.
and my step by step relating of the making of an R rated painting.
I wanted to draw Draco for jiffybisquikin, who requested him alone, thinking probably of a portrait without any pairing. I decided to draw him alone by opposing him to the trio playing together in the snow in the background. This permitted me to include the hp_art_xchange theme, winter wonderland, and to try to give a bit of depth to the portrait. The result is here.
Under the cut, you'll find the different stages of the painting, with the links to the pictures opening in separate windows.
Ready for the painting
I've drawn a sketch, and made the lineart. Everything is disposed on my working table, and I'm about to begin. Here, the sketch is rather precise: I went rather far in the shadowing, and I've sketched the background vegetation, which I don't always do. I've reported the main lines on tracing paper... Here, two large sheets of it, as the painting is huge. I'd love to use cluegirl's technique, which consists in printing the lineart directly on the watercolour paper, but my printer is too small. There's another computer technique, explained by Jenny Dolfen, where you sketch the scene with a coloured pencil, then make the lineart directly on the sketch with a graphite pencil, so that when you scan it and open it in Photoshop, you can extract only the black lines. Again, you need a large printer...
My lineart is also more precise than usually, probably because I don't feel completely at ease with the subject, as well as with the snow.
My working table is still as untidy as last time. OK, the satirical newspaper stayed on the same chair since last weekend... But I swear, the book and the remote controls moved during the week, and came back only coincidentally (well, for Pratchett's Carpe Jugulum, not quite coincidentally, I'm rereading it).
As usual, I'm beginning by painting the face
Most other artists with whom I've discussed begin by painting the background, and finish by the faces... Here, I've wondered if I should try it for once, and discovered that I was totally unable to avoid beginning by Draco's face and body. It feels a bit like needing first to taste the chocolate sauce before eating the cake...
I'm settling for blueish skin shadows, this time. As I want a contrast between the shadowed part of the face and the enlightened one, I've painted blue shadows first, and then paint over with sepia. I accentuated the shadows because I want a darker foreground and a lighter background.
the face is finished
I've added the eyes and the hair, as well as details on the skin with my #0 brush. The face is mainly finished, even if I'll come back later to add some reddish hues on the nose, ear and lips.
Draco's robe appears
Here, I begin to pain Draco's robe with black paint, trying to differentiate the shadowed part from the rest, as well as aiming for a dark robe on the whole, again to differentiate Draco from the background.
I want the folds on his left arm to look like he was clutching it. linnpuzzle found why, but that's not a difficult riddle. And that's also a tribute to linnpuzzle's wonderful Draco and Snape pic.
the details of Draco's clothing are done
I went on darkening Draco's robe for a while, so that it looks quite black. Its lighter parts are now tainted with a light blue-grey, to make it look less flat. I've added details and painted the gloves and the wrists, too. The gloves are silver, and the robe ornaments are green, of course... That's the only part of the pic where I used green.
inserting Draco inside the pic
This time, I'm painting element of the foreground and background quite at the same time... That's a huge change for me, not working with everything in the foreground before anything else.
This way, I'm hoping to keep in focus the idea of a darker foreground. That's why I'm painting monochrome shadows, to concentrate on darkness and light. I'm also avoiding the snow, because I intend to paint it all at the end, and because I'm a bit scared, as it will be the first time I'll make snow.
a closeup on the trio
I couldn't resist any longer. So I've painted the trio next. They're less dark than it looks here, that's my camera which decided to make a dark photo.
I've suffered a bit for the faces, because they're small, and I wanted to paint happy expressions. Meanwhile, I've been grinning like mad, as it helps me finding the right shape if I'm feeling it. I must have looked quite ridiculous.
I'm using browns and reds. This will be the only part in the picture with such colours...
adding snow
Now comes the dreaded stage where I need to add the snow. before, I've been wandering in the house for a while, looking for photo references of shadows in the snow. I'll need it especially for the bushes in the background, and I've had a hard time finding something with vegetation in. Could you believe that someone was able to make a whole book about the Alps without any picture of a winter landscape?
I'm working with the foreground first, trying again to accentuate the shadows. The remaining snow parts will remain white.
You'll notice that I've began the snowman, and yes, it's a Snapeish snowman ;-)
the snow is finished, on with the sky!
For the sky, I want a heavy winter sky, in regular enough grey tones. I'm using the wet technique that fiendling explained so beautifully: I wet the paper first, with a large square brush, and then add the paint with a pointy one (my #6 pointy brush, which is always nice for painting with a lot of water, and with which I'm still able to make details). The wetting doesn't need to be very precise. The limits will be made by pushing the wet paint with the pointy brush.
On the picture, the paper is still wet and the paint tends to concentrate in the paper hollows, accentuating the paper texture. It's a special one, here, sold as "snowy surface" paper. I don't like it that much, but it's the only one I found in 12" X 16" format. To avoid the paint to dry in this shape, I've smoothed it afterward with the same #6 brush, while it was drying.
the truth about my working table
It's finished!
You can see my working table at the precise moment where I decided that I could stop. I believe I need chaos to work appropriately. And this table isn't crowded as half my computed desk.
On the left, the mail from the day (hiya thistlerose! I got your card, thank you so much!), absorbing paper to take off paint eventually, the krisprolls from the breakfast, still the same Pratchett, various sources of snowy pictures. On top, my paint box, and the first sketch, which I've been using regularly to locate the shadows and try new details. On the right, the painting water, my palette, a paper to try the hue and water amount, various brushes that I used, and a mechanical pencil for last-time changes in the lineart. The little paint boxes are scattered all around the painting, where I've last used them. I didn't use the white paint, but envisioned to paint silver embroideries on Draco's sleeves with it. On the chair, one of the sheets of tracing paper, which followed the normal gravity course...
After tidying a bit, I only have to scan and upload it. I've scanned in two parts, and then used the lasso tool in Photoshop to make an irregular limit between the two parts, so that they don't show.
I'm relieved that I could draw Draco and snow, but I'm not completely happy with the result (as usual). I find that the pic doesn't work as a whole, and that it's difficult to look at Draco and the trio at the same time. And the middle is a bit empty. As a portrait, it probably would have worked better with a closer frame on Draco, with only Hermione in the background... But I wanted to keep the trio together. The foreground snow behind Draco could also have been better, as well as the texture of Draco's robe. Ah, well.
If you like this kind of step by step sort of tutorial, there are many others around. Here are the ones that I particularly like or which helped me. They show that each artist has their own technique!
Anke Eissmann explains the making of one of her breathtaking LotR watercolours. (WOW)
Jenny Dolfen's very interesting watercolour-and-photoshop technique, with a great result!
The Elfwood watercolour tutorial by Dmitry Terner
And all the Elfwood tutorials page
fiendling's beautiful wet watercolour technique.
cluegirl's tricks of the trade, not a step by step tutorial, but so interesting and useful.
and my step by step relating of the making of an R rated painting.