[ Baizhu ] Beyond Mortality HD (+ process + PSD) (Patreon)

I have to premise I feel like I've aimed too high with this haha

Not only it was my first attempt of a full illustration with the new process, but I also had never worked on a similar "magic sprite" effect and it proved to be tougher than I imagined - it wasn't only tough painting the sprite itself but I've realized only later into the process that the values didn't keep in count as much as they should've of the sprite's emitted light... or did they? 🤔 My inexperience doesn't really allow me to judge efficiently, I'll have to test more and see!

As for the process, a closer look on the core steps below!

1️⃣ VALUES

(I've later discovered it's better to spend more time on this stage - you'll see a better setup of the values in the upcoming illustrations)

Paint values in only 5 shades of grey, then blend where necessary:

100% (WHITE) → Accents
75% → Highlights
50% → Mid tones
25% → Shadows
0% (BLACK) → Accents

2️⃣ COLORS

Lay down your flat colors, add some simple shading if you feel like! Precision at this stage is gonna reward you later so don't rush it like how I did here 😬

3️⃣ VALUES + COLORS

Values layer/s is set to Normal, 100% opacity
Color layer/s is/are places on top of the Values one/s and set to Hard Light, 100%

4️⃣ EXTRAS

I needed more contrast to add more depth so I darkened some areas with green/blue (test out various blending modes, have fun!) - color to shadows also made the overall piece more interesting to look at! ✨

This is the process in a nutshell! It seems simple because it is simple per se!! The difficulty, which is all it takes to make it work, is a good understanding of shadows/lights placing because literally the whole illustration depends on the values setup!

💌 HD + PSDs in attachments!