Star Wars Process

I always get asked what my process is when working on a piece. So I came up with a little tutorial/step by step process on how I create something. The styles and end result may vary but the process is always the same.

Step 1: Rough Pencils. Just rough out the thing you are trying to draw. Rough it as many times as you need, to get it to the place you are comfortable with cleaning the lines up.

Step 2: Clean Lines. Once you're happy with the roughs, go over them and clean up your line work. I colour my lines depending on what the situation calls for but you can also ink them in black.

Step 3: Flat Colours. Now is time for the fun bit. Colour inside your lines. Lay your flats down and make sure everything has a colour. You will see the coloured line effect come into play here. I use a couple of shades darker for internal lines. This helps the clothes folds or small details stand out beyond the flat colours.

Step 4: Shadow, Highlights and Visual Effects. This could be broken into a number of further steps but I usually do all of this together. Using a dark purple or navy, I switch my layer to multiply and paint in my shadows. The same goes for lights but switching it to a lighter colour and putting the layer on overlay or screen, I then add in whatever light effects I will be using, add a back ground and hey presto. Your piece is now finished. Because I love movies I like to ass a film grain effect onto things. it gives it a cool look.

I hope that answers your questions.

Enjoy

-CG