Reikabot - Coloring Process 1 (Patreon)

1 - Pencil Sketch: The 90s in my country were a strange moment to be alive as a kid because the programming on television was made 70% of reruns of stuff from the 70s and 80s and 30% of new stuff, both from the US and Japan (without taking into account the original programs made in my country). Medarot (or Medabots in the US) was a super big hit here too and i've always been drawn by their simple yet interesting aesthetic, something that i tried to emulate in my sketch. Simple parts but with enough details to not make them feel empty and to also emulate the character it was based on.

2 - Lineart: For this part I use the program FireAlpaca and a "Bamboo Fun" Tablet from Wacom. I usually tend to have my sketches look as final as possible, i know some artists really experiment around with sketches and then make the final version while working on the lineart but i usually get into problems if i try working like that. When i work on the lineart i just modify some details (for example the chest piece is more round in the lineart).

3 - Flat Colors: Now that the lineart is done, we take the whole thing on Photoshop. Reika, the OC this was based on, doesn't really have grey on her but since this design needed more diversity because of all the different parts cobbled together i just decided to go with it. I create a new layer that i set on "multiply" and then select various parts of the lineart using the magic wand tool and use the paint bucket tool to put the colors in.

4 - Hard Style Shading: For this part i always use the pen tool to get the shadows as precies as possible, and that's probably why it's one of the longest parts. I create another layer that i set on multiply, this way the shadows will overlap over the flat colors and i can work on how strong i want the shadows with the opacity of the layer. While working on the shading you have to take into account (if you didn't while drawing) the actual shape of the part and then put the shadow on it according to where the light comes from. With robots this is a bit easier because they tend to have really precise shapes and edges. When i'm done putting the shadows i use the blur tool, this helps to make the hard shadows look a lot less aggressive and flat.

5 - Reflections: want your robot to look like it was made out of plastic? No? Then you have to suffer. Add reflections on that thing! Another layer over the one with the shading but this time just leave it to "normal". Take the pen tool and add reflections. If the reflections look a bit too aggressive play with the opacity setting of the layer, while also experimenting around with the blur tool again.. This was probably the most experimental part because i had to find several references from other artists that worked on Medarot designs. It was fun tho'.