Fan Art : Bad Company (Dean Winchester)
Fan Art : Bad Company (Dean Winchester)
The full size version is available here : img406.imageshack.us/img406/2812/fanartfoireuxlj.jpg
GENERAL QUESTIONS
What's the concept ?
For once there is NONE ! Each time that I draw a Supernatural fan art (let's forget about illustration arts for AU fics here), I try to respect the mythology of the show, that is to say that the Impala, plaid shirts, monsters, and of course our favorite TV brothers with a rather "erotically co-dependent" relationship are never really far.
Here, it was just for the pleasure of putting together in the same image two things I love : Dean and a cat. That's all. In fact, to be completely frank, it shouldn't even have been a fan art in the first place. I was just practicing a bit with my graphic tablet because I had just downloaded a new series of Photoshop brushes and I absolutely wanted to try them. So I started to draw Dean's face first, just like that, then his body, added a background and finally, I decided to go for a rather unusual final touch, the cat, even if there is no cat in Spn. And no, I didn't want to draw a black cat even if it had fit better with Spn and the black cat as a representation of bad luck (and God knows Dean had his fair share of bad luck this season...)
What about the title ?
Honestly, as I had no precise idea for the concept when I started, it took me ages to find a descent title. Bad Company is a reference to a band/song often heard in Supernatural and I thought it could just fit. I was also thinking about Born under a bad sign but as it is much more linked to Sam, I just kept Bad Company.
Humm, nice cat...Is it yours ?
Nope. I wish ! Let's give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. I used as a reference picture a photo from a Deviant Art member's gallery, Ludoo. He kindly gave me the permission to use the photo of that splendid cat in my fan art. I immediately fell in love with its pose, the colors, etc...
OooOOoh! Dean has his amulet !
Oh yes he has ! I hope this amulet is going to reappear one day or another because Sam (a.k.a "the moose", thanks Crowley for that one XD) was clever enough to pick it up after Dean had thrown it into the rubbish bin at the end of Dark Side of the Moon.... I can't imagine him without his amulet. It's like Bobby without his cap or Castiel without his trech coat. It's just...hum...IDK...
Dean is yummy on that one...
It's because Jensen is particularly hot on the reference photo I used. I choose the photo below which is of my favorite ever. Not bad hum ? ;)
LET'S TALK (BRIEFLY) ABOUT TECHNIQUE
What software did you use ?
Photoshop CS and Painter Essential 3.
Graphic Tablet : Wacom Graphire 4 (that tablet isn't available anymore, the current model is called the Bamboo Fun)
How long did it take you ?
About 25 hours. That fan art seems quite simple but it isn't. There are 13 different layers on Photoshop only for the skin and I don't even want to talk about Painter. it's a superposition of predefined brushes and textures that almost drove me nuts, hence the 25 hours for a CG drawing that has basically no background or complex element in it like a car for instance.
What brushes did you use ?
Photoshop : It's impossible to make a list of all the brushes I used because honestly, this time, it's a real "brush fest". Usually I use around 10 brushes but here I think it must have been around 20. Here is a glimpse, however, at the main brushes (mainly predefined) I used in this illustration.
Painter : Mainly, the "acrylic", "chalk" and "digital watercolor" tools
Textures, filters ?
Yep! As usual folks!
I desaturated the image just a bit, added a blue filter (Image >> Adjustment >> Photo Filter) and changed the colors thanks to the "color balance" tool (I added ""magenta and "blue"). To finish I added this texture I found on Deviant Art, one of the greatest databases when it comes to textures and reference photos.
No super-precise tutorial this time ?
I don't see what precise point I can learn you here and as I don't see myself explaining a "Jensen skin tutorial" based on 13 layers, for once, I didn't produce a "super big tutorial". But if you need me to explain something in particular, just don't hesitate, I will edit this post and will be more than happy to answer your questions and add a paragraph to this tutorial with Photoshop screencaps and the whole shebang.
More questions ?
Don't hesitate ! Just ask them here on LJ or on my Formspring.me : www.formspring.me/PetiteMadame
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