PROCESS VIDEO // wave, part 1 (Patreon)

Time for some process videos! I put together the process of finalizing my ‘wave’ painting. It starts with the initial thumbnail that I had made, and shows how I added detail and modified this rough thumbnail until it felt more like a finished painting!

This video is sped up to twice the original speed, and you can slow it down or speed it up with the gear button on the player.

In this part, the first thing I do is flatten the layers so that there’s only the background layer and the character. I start painting the detail ‘on top’ of the rough version and the main challenge is to try and figure out how I’m going to tackle the details. I want it to be stylized, so I’m looking for a way to draw the shapes of the water and the foam so that it feels believable but also isn’t too realistic. For much of this process, you’ll see me playing around with different shapes and stylistic elements to find out what works and what doesn’t. Around 33 minutes, I get rid of what I was working on and try a different approach that is a little more minimalistic. Around 38 minutes, I’ve found something that works and I stick to this approach and shape language throughout the rest of the painting process. I’m using a hard round brush to paint it. This reference image in particular was really helpful to me to try and capture those seafoam shapes:

Part 2 is coming right up!