Recovering over Seventh Heaven - STEP BY STEP (Patreon)

 Heya!!

 Felt like doing a Barret illustration to train a bit more of more complex pieces, and I cataloged the process! Little Marlene helping her dad recover from a rough mission... maybe Aerith started teaching her that?

>Started with putting elements on the grid, trying to get the scene  set up. I'm trying to get used to using those, following the lines too much makes it look too technical/not organic so i'm trying to loosen it up!

 I used the pre rendered seventh heaven FF7 backdrop as reference.I picked some elements that i think are interesting such as the neon signs, the big TV and the pipes going everywhere. I like the idea of a patched up roof and ventilation as well to bring out the atmosphere.

 I wanted to use the same text they have in game for the neon lights... but i bet people will callout the big ass "TEXAS" - just leaving a big sigh here beforehand LMAO. 

>Putting the characters in context!! Already establishing some things like Marlene's hand gesture for the cure magic.

> Structure is down, time for an anatomy pass. Roughed the expressions.

> Layering clothes...... I love doing this step lol! The way cloth drapes over the body... It's fun! I can play with this to make a character look sexy! People think covering tidbits is bad but honestly the curiosity and fantasy this brings is a topic of interest in my art. Notice that i structured Marlene's layers of hair too.

> Polish polish polish!

> Lineart!! Really thinking on how I tackle backgrounds. For one, i don't like to make them too line heavy. There's texture there, but there's lots of empty space too. I also erased the lines that are close to the foreground - trying to give some depth. I liked this lineart tbh! 

 Again, I usually do 1px lineart for character focused artwork but for more complex pieces, that sounds like a huge pain in the ass. I'm trying stuff out....

> Working out the placement of shadows....

> Experiment with colors in a color sketch;;;;; This lighting set up is challenging tbh. Wanted an overall warm brown feeling to make the scene feel cozy. I could have worked that better with green for the materia magic casting, something that felt a bit problematic even at this point in retrospect.  I did flats after that but i forgot to save! Just saying it again - I hate laying flats LOL

And up above it's the finished piece! Honestly... I'm not happy with it.... But I finished it! Which is what really matters in the end. I'll try learning from this one for the next!