PROCESS VIDEO // wave, part 2 (Patreon)

Here's part 2 of the wave painting process! Find part 1 here. Just like with the previous video, this process 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.

For this part of the process, I needed to bring the character into the environment. The thumbnail version only had a flat silhouette so I gradually add more color and depth to the character throughout this process so that it feels like she’s really standing there. This is always a challenge for me, as drawing characters that are situated in an environment without reference is something I still feel quite new to. What generally helps me is to try and use colors from the environment as much as possible, and to be mindful of the contrast between the character and the background, so that the character stands out (either by being lighter or darker in value). In the case of this image, I’ve gone for a backlit effect with the character being darker.

Meanwhile, I’m also working on the background and trying to figure out what level of detail is appealing. I want there to be a nice balance between high detail areas and more visually calm areas, which can be challenging because I can get carried away with adding detail sometimes. So you’ll occasionally see me painting details and then erasing them and scaling back at a later point to try and preserve this balance.

Part 3 is coming up!