Matariel, Font of Life - (value phase) (Patreon)

Just a few more brush strokes and this piece has begun to emerge even further. Having a clear sense of the lighting and mood from my reference material has made this go shockingly fast. There's still a question of how rainy I want this piece to ultimately be, but that feels like the sort of thing I can work out close to the end.

Lighting can be a tricky thing but the light on a rainy day is actually more simple than average. The soft shadows created where corners meet is called "ambient occlusion". It's a term I became familiar with working in games. It's a really appealing look because it defines shapes very clearly. It's not appropriate in all scenes, but the diffuse light from an overcast sky creates this look naturally. In addition to the AO, I've also added a little soft overhead light shining straight down on the figures. That's always good for mood and it feels like it compliments the environment here really nicely.

This is easily one of my favorite paintings to work on in the last year. Starting 2019 off right!