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Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Layout Tricks

Here is a a new piece I am working on and some layout tricks I use when designing a scene:


Thumbnails and a digital comp


At the beginning I just draw really sloppy.  Sloppiness helps you because.... ok, it's not really helpful.  But nothing is perfect at first.  You always have to refine, refine, refine.  




What goes here?


After I have drawn up a comp based on my initial thumbnails I will sometimes draw a background separately from my character.  Sometimes I will draw the background behind the character, which allows me to move the character around a bit after dropping them in.  This can allow you to experiment with different layout options.  In this case I was too cool to experiment with different layout options and left a boar-shaped hole in my scene.



 A dwarf riding a boar


I then draw my character separately.  This is especially helpful in scenes with multiple detail figures.  Here I have done the drawing on toned paper to also start to get a better feel for how I want to treat the lighting.  



Combined layout

Then, using devilish trickery, I combine everything into a workable layout.  Now the layout is ready to be transferred to my final painting surface.  

Next Post: Color Comp

15 comments:

  1. Great idea of breaking down a layout, very helpful, also i love the design of the dwarf and boar, fantastic work!

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  2. That's a beautiful drawing. Good luck painting this one, can't wait to see the result.

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  3. AWESOME. Boar madness! This is a very interesting post, especially the part about the backgrounds. For me, backgrounds usually end up being a bit of an afterthought. Thanks for sharing your skillz with us.

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  4. Useful tips, and I just love the look of that dwarf riding the boar. Epicness. Excited to see the final of this one.

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  5. Awesome. I look forward to the next installment.

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  6. Thanks for sharing your process! If it is not a closely guarded secret would you mind sharing how you transfer this on to the final paper.

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  7. Awesome to see the work flow - you're a genious! My favorite artist.

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  8. I love the way your drawing looks on toned paper. The highlights are completely satisfying.

    By the way, I think scribbles are so very important as part of the artistic process! They allow intuition to take over for a little while. So many interesting creative ideas can come from scribbles... And maybe without them we would take ourselves too seriously :)

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  9. In your "sloppy" thumbnail, I thought your dwarf was giving a suspicious look to R2D2 in the forest.

    I'm loving the regal expression on the face of the boar. Very nice.

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  10. This is completely fantastic. Really looking forward to seeing this completed. thanks for sharing the process that is always inspirational. Plus... Dwarves are the best... hands down.

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  11. Awesome as always, Justin! Where do you get this toned paper? I never can seem to find it.

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  12. Do you use some kind of carbon paper to transfer it to your painting surface, or do you just do that part of the process by hand? I love your art, and this is a great technique!

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    1. Essentially, yes, I use something like carbon paper. I use a sheet of tracing paper with pastel chalk rubbed on the back to transfer. I like it more since I can pick the color of the chalk for each painting.

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