Masterclass: Painting The Harpy

[vrt]

Introducing a new concept to the Art Class: The Masterclass! Here, pepokish, myself (or a surprise guest teacher), will have a walkthrough, tutorial or article, without any assignments. Feel free to ask questions, if you want to!

For the first Masterclass, I'll be showing you a detailed, step-by-step of how I made the image for Daxx' card idea - the Harpy. Obviously, I started by looking at some artist renditions of harpies - it helps a lot to know what you're about to create! I also found a very nice pose reference on deviantART; click here to see it (http://senshistock.deviantart.com/gallery/42276?offset=24#/d211gb5).




I started off with a quick pose sketch. As you can see, I followed the shape rather strictly - I figured if I would deviate from it, I could do that later. The only place where I did already change things up a bit, was the legs, since I didn't want to spend too much time on something that'd be completely overhauled afterwards.



Moving ahead; I started blocking in some values. Not how I also changed up the upper body; I was made aware that she was getting, well.. Fat. As such, I modified the torso to a more feminine shape, and remodelled parts of her hips and shoulders for the same effect.



Skipping ahead a little, you can see that I've worked on the outfit. Since Elements is PG, I decided exposed boobs could be a pretty bad idea. I still wanted to show that she was feminine, though, hence the corset. The jewellery around her waist seemed like a fitting addition. I changed the position of the arm a little to where I found it more suitable.



I proceeded to work on the wings. A few quick strokes in the direction of the wings, gave a very clear indication of feathers; I expanded on this to create the wing. Also note that I (almost) finished the other leg.

 

As I continued working towards the other wing, I also notice something about the face bugged me.. Hence, I changed it up a little, giving her a bit more sinister look. I pretty much considered the values good to go, at this point.



Cut her out and slapped her onto a background, using a few gradient maps for basic colour. Note that I left it rough: I firmly believe that if you paint a character into the background, the transition will be smoother than a clean cutout.



I turned off the character for a clear shot of the background: Clean, simple, yet effective to portray the figure - exactly what it should do.



Here we have the almost-finished product: The Harpy's being painted into the background - as you may tell on the left end of things. I also smoothed out some features, and redid her face (again).



The final product. Finished smoothing, adjusted the contrast, added a shadow, and tweaked the colours a little. I then cropped and resized it, and now she's ready for use!



That's all for the first Masterclass; if you have any questions, ask! Also, if you have requests on what you'd like to see for further ones, feel free to ask.

[Krahhl]

What tool(s) do you use to add the values and color?

[ArtCrusade]

More detailed explanations (brush size/other tools) would be nice. I appreciate your effort!

[vrt]

The tools I used were simple Photoshop ones. For the most part, I used a hard-edge round brush, sometimes with an opacity controlled by pen pressure (keep in mind; I do use a Wacom tablet). I typically used the brush at around 40-80% opacity, though I dropped it to 20-30% to blend in some splotchy area's.

The colour was added, as mentioned, using gradient maps. To do this, create a new Gradient Map Adjustment Layer, mask out the area you want to colour, and change the gradient to have a colour you can use for it. For the skin, I went from white to black through a purple, a red and a yellow highlight.


When it comes to tools, though, and I can't stress this enough: They only are there for ease of use. I prefer working with these methods, there's plenty of alternative methods that might be more natural to you. It's not the tool that makes the artist, it's the effort and the application of knowledge.

[Boret]

Hello vrt!

Nice art, I love the colors and shapes
But I highly doubt someone could draw this without a pen tablet. Or maybe it's possible, but IMO it would be 10x longer for a 10x worse result. I agree that tools doesn't make the artist, yet, certain tools provides an quantum leap in terms of productivity

Since we're in Art Class, I though that you can help me about a few things. I created a 3D model inspired from your art, though I'm not really an artist. I'm rather a technician, hence I know nothing about anatomy, along many other things. So maybe you can give me some advices to adjust body proportions, or to fine-tune details (like nose, skin, face expression...)?

Here are two views of the model:

Front view:

Back view:

Harpy, step by step (from skeleton to current result). Image is 2Mb so you have to click on the following link, if you want to view the "making-of":
http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/2640/harpysteps.jpg

On a sidenote, eyeballs and hair will come later, once sculpting is completed. Same for clothing. And I didn't bother sculpting ears, they'll be covered by hair.

[icecoldbro]

The tools I used were simple Photoshop ones. For the most part, I used a hard-edge round brush, sometimes with an opacity controlled by pen pressure (keep in mind; I do use a Wacom tablet). I typically used the brush at around 40-80% opacity, though I dropped it to 20-30% to blend in some splotchy area's.

can u give me a simple tutorial on how to use my new tablet? (bought it yesterday as i relly want to become a bit more serious) i cant do much right now, im still more comfortable with a regular mouse, as i was never good for starters with real life drawing.

[ArtCrusade]

What kind of tablet do you use?

[icecoldbro]

What kind of tablet do you use?

Bamboo (Wacom)

[ArtCrusade]

If it's a Wacom Bamboo Fun (Pen&Touch, 16:10) we have exactly the same tablet! There are online tutorials on Wacom's website which you can use. This forum should not be about how to use a mouse/tablet/whatever.

[vrt]

Also, next time you get a Wacom, make it an Intuos.


Boret; I like what you're doing, but the anatomy is way off. When I get some time, I'll critique it, but I have about 3 pages of sketches left to do! xD

[Boret]

Totally agree, but Intuos is not the same price
And for even bigger budgets, there's this Cintiq series
(more info here: http://www.wacom.com/cintiq/cintiq-21ux.php)

Never tried it, but I feel that with this baby, drawing things just become unfair

But at my skill level, a Bamboo is enough, I tried the Intuos, but I don't think I can take full advantage of it since I'm not good at hand drawing.

Also, thanks for answer about my version of Harpy. Tell me if I'm wrong, but on second look, I think that:
- The body shape looks more like a man than a woman (especially shoulders, thighs)
- Face is definitely weird
- Wing bones are too large. Wing shapes need rework.

Anyway, good luck with your sketches, I'm looking forward your critique