Halsin Rough Render [NSFW][WIP] (Patreon)

This is why you always always make a sketch with the background in mind - don't be like me, don't add it later. When I tell you I STRUGGLED with this. Environments/backgrounds continue to be my Achilles heel as it just doesn't tickle me in the same way that painting a face and body does.

-

The main/first image is what I've settled on, I gOT THERE IN THE END but gods it took me ages and I could feel myself getting rather frustrated that my brain and eyes weren't seeing the solution after working on it all day. 

The purple/yellow piece was my first attempt, but it felt a bit too... idk, Jesus-y somehow? it was a bit too dramatic, a bit too "suspended in air" vibes. I enjoyed the focus it provided, and the darker warm tones and the silhouette effect, but it's just not what I was looking for in this piece. 

So I sketched a camp setting scene, but it still didn't feel right. My perspective was just awful from the get-go and I couldn't make it work.

So I got frustrated and removed it all and sat with a grey background just playing around with different shapes. Then I was reminded of this sort "simple brushwork behind character" style, and gave that a go. By far my favourite (at the time), but I wasn't a fan of how cartoony it made it. It's supposed to be sexy, soft, seductive - not cartoony. But at that point I just thought... fuck it, I'll keep this and see if inspiration strikes later down the road, and went to bed.

Well, tomorrow came and I couldn't help but try again. Went for a more technical approach to the perspective (back to basics, babes) and experimented with "inverting" the light source to my previous camp idea, (where instead of the main light hitting him from behind, the main source is instead within the tent), and the outside is more dark and murky - which fits, as this is supposed to be before he gets romantically involved, late Act 2 era. It's not perfect, but I'm happy enough with what we got to actually move on and finish the piece. 

-

Hope you enjoyed this little insight to my process, it goes to show that art is really just trying something, failing, trying, failing, TRYING, FAILING, and finally settling for "finished, not perfect."

Now onto the fun part, which is painting! I think I'll keep y'all in suspense until I finish now, no more wips, so keep an eye out for the finished painting early next week hopefully.