With the new release of Ian Woodhead's Third Sight, I reflected on the illustration and thought it would
be the ideal instance to take a step back to discuss the progression for this gruesome and wonderful work of fiction.
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| Third Sight © 2012 SRB Productions, Inc |
Please forgive the indistinguishable explanation supplied of
the story. I wish not to give away any plot points. When I was approached with
this venture, a depiction was given and the opening concepts instantly popped
in my psyche. The story is about Adrian Winters who is unaware that a newborn
demon has chosen him to be its watcher. The demon shows itself more as a
demonic clown that a traditional “Devil”, and the editor-in-chief and author
were very firm with that end. Keeping away from the usual suggestion of a evil
spirit was # 1 on my register of things not to do. They also required having a
sense of anonymity, not illuminating any large narrative points that one could
not gather from the backside cover abridgment. With these boundaries, I
fashioned the subsequent sketches.
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| Sketch #1 © 2012 SRB Productions, Inc. |
In Sketch #1 we have a close-up of our evil
spirit friend gazing sinisterly. It is zoomed in a sufficient amount for the focal
point to be the eye. This is in reference to the “Sight” of the title. One
thing I wanted to show was a smirk, not a full smile. Personally I find a smirk
creepier than a full on toothy grin.
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| Sketch #2 © 2012 SRB Productions, Inc. |
In Sketch #2 we have something that is hard
to demonstrate in a draft; nevertheless we have our mischievous sprite holding
up a shattered frame with our central character in it. With this we can demonstrate our demon’s hands, our hero being a kind of every
man, and a fractured likeness of our fiend anywhere with bits and piece of glass.
From here they sought to go
with the more conceptual and less customary illustration in Sketch #2. So my
next stride was to take some location shots and start to draw out the
comprehensive.
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| Third Sight © 2012 SRB Productions, Inc. |
In entirety, the drawing took
approximately 2 hours to have the lot setup just right. Beginner artists tend
to rush this process when painting, but I have discovered most of problems are
fixed with a well rendered composition.
It may be a peculiar fondness but I like to go in with a strategy.
Even if conscripting the strategy can be lengthier than the authentic painting procedure,
it is time well utilized as everything going into the piece has been taken into
account. From here my cognizance can be elsewhere and the painting just because
something natural and fluent to my body’s movements. I no longer have tensed sensation
about shadows or light location, it has already been understood in boundless
detail and my stylus flows gracefully over the screen.
Once the comprehensive is set, I paint the whole shebang in black and white via Corel Painter. I make sure to use only three layers. The highest layer is continuously my comprehensive drawing set to multiply as this allows us to see the drawing while painting. The second layer is pure whites and below that layer are my solid blacks. This produces my "frame" for the painting and makes it much easier to emphasis on the particulars. If I have already established the bottom corner, which will be complete black, I no longer have to burden with it and almost 15% of the painting is complete.
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| Third Sight © 2012 SRB Productions, Inc |
An additional article to remain in thoughts is
where your text placement will go. Even back in my preliminary sketches I threw
in some copy as a thought of where there will be negative space. Countless
covers are excessively hectic for the sack of building a vigorous picture.
While a stand alone piece of fine art is stunning, cover artist must take into
account the title and the author’s name. So I continued to build tone until I
am happy with the overall look. The way I establish my satisfaction is based on
the completed nature of the piece. If it looks like a stand alone Black and
White image, then I know I can move forward.
From this end I begin establishing color and blending
it into the mix. I will not go into particulars
on how colors are added as I am in the process of writing a novel depicting
this in incredible detail. Also, I will be teaching this precise method of
digital painting in forthcoming painting lessons for Art Jam Studios. I will incorporate
a link at the foot of this post.
Once all my colored is applied we have the completed
cover. Then the designer, which also happened to be myself for this piece, positioned
every piece of text and fashioned this announcement. I adore how this illustration
came as one and it is, without a doubt, one of my favorites. I hope you enjoy
this quick glimpse into my thought process please support the book by buying
yourself a copy.
3rd Sight – A Horror Novel
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| Third Sight © 2012 SRB Productions, Inc |
If you would like to ask a more exact inquiry about this piece,
please feel free to leave me a message in the comment section.
Please be sure to Like us on Facebook, share with
friends and all information for the upcoming Art Jam Studios Classes can be
found here: Art
Jam Studios - School of Art
Stephen Bryant is Owner and Lead Artist at SRB Productions,
Inc., Art Director at SalGad Publishing Group Ltd and Founder of Art Jam
Studios, Inc. If you would like ask Stephen a question, please feel free to
contact him at: stephenbryant@srbproductions.net
