Week 8 - Changing the lighting in reference

Hey Guys,

This week I'm showing you how to change the lighting on photo reference.  Let's reverse engineer so we'll start at the end first.

We learn how to draw and paint from scratch but often on a job, the clients give us no time to start from scratch so we'll use photos.  The biggest problem in using photos is that seeing the actual photo in the final piece is "undesirable" because several reasons.  Whether it was because you didn't take the photo to it's stealing someone's "art".  Whatever the case, we'll change it to fit our needs and far enough so that it'll look painted... mostly anyways.

Back to the very beginning now, it all started out with the initial idea.  If we look at the art of any Marvel films, we will see a bunch of pieces that were created just to show what the hero's super powers could look like.  It is usually a shot with only the main character with their powers in use.  As always, I start off with a quick sketch trying to keep it as simple as possible.  So what little do we know about Captain Marvel? She can fly in space and she has some fiery looking fists that look like she could shoot some sort of yellowish orange beam at her adversaries.

Here's my quick sketch.

Thought process...

What is the story?
Does the idea make sense?
What is the focal point?

While I sketched I thought about the story because this is after all, a story moment.  What's happening here?  Is she flying home?  No, that sounds boring.  What if she's flying away from the earth to fight some intergalactic beings?  This is where I decide to turn her away from the earth.  How much of the earth should I show?  it's not the main focal point so I'm going to have it back lit.  This de-emphasizes all of the details and textures on the surface so that we can focus on her.  At this stage, I focus on using building blocks to construct her pose.  Starting with gesture...  Does she fly like Superman with one fist in the front?  No, that's too iconic of Superman.  For a minute I thought about taking a photo for my own reference but even that was not convenient so I decided to just eyeball the foreshortening. What level of intensity does this story moment have?  These are all of the things that I think about while I sketch because I draw slow.  Or maybe I think fast.

Lighting

Lastly, how will I light her?  Where will the key light be?  How will the light from the background affect her figure?

Next is gathering references.  We'll start with the easy part; the earth.  I grab a photo with surface texture because I do want to control how much detail to include or exclude.

Then the Milky Way makes the stars more interesting than random stars.  It also lets me introduce a diagonal design element to my very plain background.

If JJ Abrams made this film, it would have to have a lens flare.  This is put on a layer behind the earth.

The image below is closer to how much detail I want to actually show.  It's just enough to know that it is the earth.  In the end, I back lit the earth even more to hide more details.

We have one lens flare in the back.  Let's add one more in the front for good measure.

In the photo below I chose this reference of the actor because she's fully lit.  I can see every costume cut line and ever local color.  She's in bright sun light but the shot is exposed for her.  That is why the background is blown out.  The rim light on her shoulder makes her look very heroic and strong.  This shot also reminds me to use atmospheric perspective because look at those distant hills in the background.  You'll notice that I didn't make my space background completely black.  It is a very dark neutral color.

Pieces like this are used to pitch a film idea and to inspire.  It's to excite the audience so we need dynamism.  We need action, hence the active hair shape in the photo below serves as a great reference.  I will also use her left leg from this reference.

I decided to use this typical lighting scenario on my figure.  The key light is in front of her at about 45 degree.  It's above her and it is an artificial light which means that there will be a falloff of some degree.  I wanted to keep the lit side warm and the shadow side cool.  

I think this is a fan made poster but I'm not sure but I saved it because it has a film color grading look using teal and orange as the color scheme.  This is very typical and almost boring but people are so used to seeing this as anonymous to understanding immediately that it is a high octane action film.  Look at Mad Max Fury Road and you'll see what I mean.  The practical reason that I saved this was to remind myself to use a "post editing" technique to unify the colors at the very end.  If you have the latest version of photoshop, open the filters menu and use the Camera Raw Filter.  In the basic tab adjust the temperature a little towards either warm or cool.  Then click on the fifth tab called Split Toning.  This is where you can make the shadows cool and highlights warm.  It's a good idea to make either the highlight saturated or the shadows but not both.  Remember also that core shadows will have the most amount of saturation either way.  You might want to create an adjustment layer on top of the final merged coy to de-saturate some areas.  I tend to like less color but it's only a matter of taste in the end.  This post processing step unifies the overall color so that your colors will not cover the full range of the rainbow and look odd.  If you have an older version of Photoshop, try using  Layers<New Adjustment Layer<Color Look Up and try out some of the film looks.  I usually dial the opacity down on these layers so that they have an influence on my final piece but not overpower ALL of my color choices.  Also you can try <Layers<New Adjustment Layer<Selective Color and play around with the sliders.  

Finally, how to use reference when it's lit differently than how you want to use it?  Just like this.

Here's the link to the "How to change the lighting" work file.  Please download it and turn each layer on and off to see how I did things.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/mh3hs3xibzx09vc/week8_relighting_reference.psd?dl=0

Here's the work file from my Captain Marvel Demo so that you can look at my layers.  Please download it and look at it.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/hyzzj6ikpm660h8/week8_captain_marvel.psd?dl=0

Last note; don't be afraid to use Photoshop.  I use the Layer<New Adjustment Layer all the time to adjust levels, color balance, and saturation.

Sorry there's no video this week but I feel like it's not really necessary to sit to such a long lecture of me doing the same stuff you've seen me done before.  These notes should be suffice but let me know if you have any further questions or need me to clarify any of my process.

Homework

Homework if you choose to accept it will be to select a portrait photograph and change the lighting on it.  Then paint on top of it using your creativity.  You can change the hair style, add a hat, change the costume, or change the colors of things, whatever you can come up with.  Put a background behind the subject and use Filter<Blur<Gaussian Blur to blur it out so that your figure will be the main focal point.  If you're clever, you can layer the background and blur the layer on the front a little more than a layer in the back to show atmospheric perspective.  Have fun!  Looking forward to what you can come up with.

Heidi Week 6 pt 2- Poster Color

All done with the poster for Pushing Daisies.  I ended up using ink, watercolor, and colored pencil.  

And here again is the photobashed reference: 

I added a vignette effect to the background, and I like the color harmony that shows up in the finished version, that's missing from the photobash.  A few things went awry in drawing land, even though this was traced for efficiency, but all in all I'm happy enough to hang it near the TV :-)

Week 7 _ Story Moment number 1 - Shotgun

Welcome back from the holidays!  Hope you guys had a good celebration.  :D

Instead of noodling one illustration to death for three weeks, I decided that we're going to paint one story moment per week for the next three weeks until the course ends.  This will allow me to move fast and cover a few different ideas.

This week I was thinking about a Flamenco dancer running around this old house trying to escape it before her captor returns.  As she comes near to the exit, she is tempted to take the fight to him instead of just running away.  I honestly didn't know that was what I wanted to paint when I first started.  All I knew was that I wanted a girl looking at a shotgun on a table contemplating whether or not she should pick it up or not.


Video Demo

https://youtu.be/odEuDEU3h1U

Here's how it turned out.

This version has less paint texture.

This version is warmer and has more paint texture.

This could be a film or a video game moment.  I always try to think about how I could make myself helpful to the director.  My aim with this piece was to establish a horrific mood.

I always think about my composition subdivisions.  Is there variety in shape sizes?  Are there a variety in shapes to create interest in it's abstract form?  Can the individual subdivisions be further divided into big, medium and small areas?

Is there a flow that guides the viewer's eyes around your pictoral plane and towards the intended focal point?  Is it clear where the focal point is?  Is the story clear?

Is the most basic simplification of the composition interesting?

Does the simplified version of the piece have a strong graphic read?  If I de-saturate it, will the tonal contrast still be effective in telling the story?

After I think that I'm finish, I ask myself, "is there something else I can add to improve it?  And also, is there something I can remove?"  Does my edges properly help accent the focal point?  (soft edges in areas that aren't the focal point, and sharper edges in the focal point).  Is the mood clear?  What type of space am I painting?  In this case, I'm painting a very shallow and flat space.  The eye level is around her shoulder level.  We're slighly below her so the perspective converges towards the top.  And yes, I eye-balled the perspective.  Her eye level and head position is placed high to show that she is in control.  She is also going from the left to the right so the story says that she is going in a good direction instead of into trouble.

I spent about four hours on this story moment.  The demo video will be posted soon in an update.

references:

Don't go too crazy with using too many references.  Just a few key images is enough.

I don't know why but shotguns always show up in games and films.  It's powerful but mostly only great from a close distance which means that you have to be patient and wait for the target to get close, thus enhancing the suspense and amplifying the horror.

I've been really liking the green and red pallette.  Something about the spanish design is really appealing.

I pulled this piece by Caravaggio for color reference.  I put in on a layer on top of the painting and used it for color inspiration.  Note how it's 90% very earthy, but the other 10% is very vibrant.  That makes an interesting contrast and makes the focal point very clear.

I went back and added more texture to make the space feel more "lived in" in.

Homework:
Paint one story moment.  Keep it at around 3-4 hours.

Heidi week 6 part 1: values

Working on color now!

Heidi Week 5 - Poster Line art

Here's the inked version of my line drawing, for a Pushing Daisies poster

I made some complicated overlapping choices in my composition, so I used varied contour lines to reinforce whats in front of what and help create depth.

I did a much better job of not over-lining these faces, than in the sketch cards. It was fun to practice making those tough choices and remembering that my work as an artist includes simplifying for the sake of concept curation and storytelling.  I'm happy with this so far, excited to put the color in.

Here's my photobashed reference:

I didn't do any tonal corrections to this photobash, with the exception of the grass background.   I'm doing a sepia value lay-in, so it'll be fun to watch my poster emerge with greater color unity than in my reference.  

Week 6 - tones to color notes

This is my poster demo continued. 

Video is here

Step 1 - Last week we traced the photo reference that we created. This week we'll start by hand drawing on top.  Clean up the drawing and hand draw some things so that it doesn't look too traced.  Make design decisions such as where to use straight lines, where to use curves.  Where to use hatching, stippling, or other techniques to indicate the edges of where shadow patterns change.  Indicate the planes of the faces.  Don't draw too many lines including hatch marks on young characters and attractive female faces because it will make them look old really fast.  Characters should have more straight lines if they are older and or more masculine.  Linda Hamilton from Terminator 2 for example is one heck of a femme fatale so it's not just limited to guys only.

Step 2 - add tones to a layer below the line art layer.  I eyeball values using a desaturated version of my photo reference. Make more decisions on how to control contrast.  My reference is darker but the indie film this is for has a hopeful ending so I made the decision to brighten up the overall values of the poster so that it won't look too sinister.  I love the half shadow on the house but I decided to remove and use a soft ambient light instead because the ending is more light-hearted and not as dark or overly dramatic.  Remember that "making artistic decisions" is what makes a piece look hand done.  For the sky, it's common practice to just paste a photograph in and use it like a texture clipped to the sky shape below.   Notice that the top is dark, but the  bottom is lighter.  That is my way of hinting about the overall direction and tone for this specific film.  My choices are intentional for the purpose of this specific story.  Don't make arbitrary decisions.  Try to find a reason for your choice of lighting whether it is high contrast for a very dramatic film, or softer for a more dreamy or hopeful story.

Here's my photo reference:
I purposely don't edit the heck out of my photo reference because I want to leave room when I hand draw things to make decisions.  And sometimes I don't even care if my photo reference is poor as long as it'll help me get close.  The main actor on the top left for example, I wanted this head angle but couldn't get a good photo reference so this reference is good enough, plus I like the side light because he starts out in turmoil.

Step 3:  Use a layer on top of the tonal value set to the color layer mode.  This adds color to our existing tones without changing the values.  This is a safe method to make sure the values are good first before going to color.  Get the colors as close as you can to what you have in mind.  Then use the Camera Raw filter to adjust sliders to get them to the finish level.  For color palette, I usually like to use a split complimentary.  So instead of using blue and orange, I use the color that's next to blue towards green so I get teal.  I didn't want to use too much of red and green directly because it would be too much Christmas looking.  I tried purple and it looks good too but I think teal and orange will be more eye catching to the general audience who have no idea what this film is about.  I think about the purpose of the poster.  In this case, the short 12 minute short indie film might not even have a trailer so this poster has to get people interested enough to want to check out the movie.  This is a real world example and the film is currently being edited.  This is the final poster.  I try really hard to make good decisions but NOT noodle it to death.  The drawing, toning, and coloring took about an hour and a half each.

Here is how I organize my work file.  Let me know if you have any questions.

Photoshop layers

Solid black layer set to color layer mode to check values

Copy Merged layer (of all of the below layers) with Camera Raw filter adjustments
Copy Merged layer (of all of the below layers)

Color Dodge or Screen layer on top to highlight focal area
Color hold layer (clip to line art layer and fill with a dark color like a dark skin tone or cool color)
Line art
Color (clip to flat gears flat shape, layer set to color layer mode)
Tones (clip to flat gears shape)
Flat shape (gears)

Background texture (set to overlay or multiply)
Background solid

Notes:

Part 1 - Draw

First we "created" our reference by making the photo collage/photo-bashing.  Then we traced it to get a rough drawing.  In order to make it look hand drawn, we hide the photo reference and hand draw more details and edit that rough drawing.

Part 2 - Add tones

Part 3 - Add color using a layer set to color layer mode.  Use layer modes such as screen, overlay, and color dodge to make your colors and tonal contrast look good.  Use an overlay or multiply layer to add a global texture to make things look less flat and more organic.  I use two because I wanted to vary the texture intensity on the art from the subtle texture of the paper background.

The color hold layer clips to the line art layer and is filled with a color that you want your lines to be instead of a solid black.  This helps soften the "ink" lines, thus moving it closer to a softer edge drawing and closer to being a painting or photograph.

This is not the only way to do it, so if you have another way you would like to use, please do.  The main point is that you should have a way to check your values even after adding color.  I hope this is helpful.  Let me know if you have any questions.

Week 6 - part one: adding values

Hi guys,

After week 5 from creating a rough line drawing, the next step is to add tones.  Here are three samples of that process.

This one is for Netflix's Daredevil season 3.  There's a moment when the crime boss, the Kingpin gets married that summarizes up the season well.  This is the same process that I showed from week 5.

Step 1 - think of an idea
Step 2 - find (or create) photo reference using photobashing
Step 3 - trace the photo for a line drawing (even though we're "tracing", check the drawing once in a while by hiding the photo reference and make sure that it looks good.  Do flip the image to double check)
Step 4 - add tones underneath the line drawing
Step 5 - adding color and using texture (i'll demo this in a video in the next post)

This one is for the Hannibal Series

after you photobash, desaturate the reference to help you see values.

This one is for Mad Max Fury Road

That's it for now.  Let me know if you have any questions.

Iterative art - Stranger Things

Generative art is good when our job is to design and create something new every day.  However, I do believe it's more successfully executed by more advanced artists.  Not to say that it's not worth experimenting with.  However in this class I would like to emphasize the idea of producing iterative art instead.  It is also a part of design that is important and I believe it's a faster path to a successful piece of art for the general public audience to grab.

This is because they are already familiar with the source material.  Check out the iterative poster art made for Netflix's Stranger Things using popular 1980's films as a reference source.  Enjoy!

Try this Heidi:

https://www.highsnobiety.com/2017/09/15/stranger-things-80s-movie-posters/

These are also amusing.

https://www.dailydot.com/parsec/daredevil-season-2-caravaggio-posters/

Heidi Wk 4B V2

While I'm letting poster ideas percolate in my brain, I felt inspired to do another portrait... so, I figured I might as well post it here :-D

Reference:

This is one of those cool moments where I think the drawn piece is way more interesting than the reference picture.  Had fun with this one.

Heidi Week 4 B - Portrait

"Always check the line art before rendering" Ngyuen already told me in reference to this piece.  Dang.  In painting, I didn't draw first... it was all rendering, and if the lines didn't look right after the first pass, or second, or third, I'd just keep adding paint and re-rendering until it looked right.

I'm still proud of my work.  I wouldn't have even known where to begin trying to accomplish this piece 6 weeks ago.  I made some alignment mistakes, But this is the first time I think I've ever rendered in charcoal well (I think aside from those facial isolation studies, the last time I used charcoal was like 20 years ago!).  It seems to read as exactly who its supposed to be, and I'm looking forward to practicing more and correcting the mistakes I did make.

Plus, who doesn't like spending a few hours gazing at Mr. Mmmmmomoa? :-P

Reference:

Leen - Wk 3 - Convention Sketch

I've done convention sketches and commissions before and it's always been requests for portraits and such. I normally go tighter on such things but I'd like to paint loosely going forward. It's more fun this way. =)

Not too happy with the way I rendered the background on this. Unintentional sunset effect. It's supposed to be a bittersweet moment. The objects above their head being items from the episode with meaning. ANYYYYWAAY, I enjoyed making this.

References: "The Visitor" - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode (season 4, episode 3)

Week 5 - posters part 1/2

Here's week 5 video lecture.

https://youtu.be/B4SoM2oNGgY

For this week I want you to follow my development process from the video and get the rough line art for your poster done.  We'll finish the poster next week.

 Step 1 - Define your project (movie poster, dvd/blu-ray cover, band/concert poster, book cover, etc.) Define what the typical size format is for the final product.  My demo is for an indie movie poster.  They usually print 11"x17" in size.  Create your file based on your size and select at least 300dpi resolution.  Think about what the overall feeling for the poster would be.  Is the project about a sad drama or high octane action?

Step 2 - Find inspiration (other posters/covers that you love).  Extract design characteristics that you want to utilize in your own work.

Step 3 - Do three thumbnails for your poster.  Select your favorite and do an iteration.

Step 4 - Find references.  Who is the cast?  Find camera angles that match your final thumbnail. Don't get too many images that are not useful.  Only save useful images.

Step 5 - Photobash (create your own reference to work from)

 Step 6 - Trace your photobash to create a rough line art, but make decisions on where to use straight lines and curve lines.  Draw less detail in areas that are further away from main focal points, and more details in focal points to guide the audience's eyes.

Notes: How to use clipping mask in photoshop

Set your layers so that the image you want to show is on the top layer, and your mask shape is on the bottom layer like this:

Here's a close-up of the layers palette to show that the image is on a layer above the mask layer.

There's three ways you can get to it.  One is in the layer menu:

The second way you can get to it is in the menu drop down in the top right of the layers palette.  The third way is to just hold Alt on PC and click the area between the two layers:

After the image layer is clipped, you'll see that the layer icon shifts to the right and there's an arrow pointing down to the left of it.

 After you clip it, everything in the black area of the mask will show the image from the layer above! It's magic!