Samyaza, King of Kings - Work in Progress 3 (Patreon)

So much of what’s needed at this point is just tightening down the pattern work. Doing detailed patterns is something that I’ve never felt I was any good at, but it’s got a meditative quality that I’m drawn to. Maybe someday the repetition of this repetition will build into a genuine skill. In the meantime, I’m drawing and redrawing stripes on separate layers in case I need to go back and start over.

The power of Photoshop for this work isn’t just in keeping elements separate. A lot of people keep elements like patterns on different layers. Personally, I like to keep separate layers when it can act like a bookmark to an earlier page. When something isn’t working, I can wipe it away more quickly if it’s isolated. Redoing that work is fine by me if it means getting a far better result.

I’m excited at how flat things are coming out. There’s something about flatness I always find really aesthetic but I naturally want to render the heck out of everything. I hope you dig the look of this one because it’s been some of the most fun I’ve had working on a piece in a while!