Become a better artist

Top tips to improve your art skills

Rebecca Kimmel

COUNTRY: US Rebecca Kimmel runs the Artistic Anatomy and Figurative Art forum on CG Society

Her website has become

a valuable resource for artists studying life drawing Artists of all levels are welcome to take part in workshops

http://forums.cgsociety.

org/forumdisplay.

php?f=177

June 2007 92

BECOME A

BETTER ARTIST!

Get to grips with fundamental skills you need

to improve your art 40 unmissable tips on

colour, tone, anatomy and lighting…

Artist insight

o become a great artist, you need a solid grounding in the basics There’s no point trying to be a comic artist for instance, if you’re knowledge of anatomy isn’t all that Similarly, how could you ever expect to be a concept artist without an understanding of

colour, tonal values and lighting? Learn the basics first – and get them right – and your opportunities as an artist, both personally and professionally are certain to grow

In order to help you start your artistic journey, or simply refresh your memory, we’ve enlisted the services of four top

T digital painters – Rebecca Kimmel, Marta Dahlig, Michael Dashow and

Philip Straub

Over the following pages these artists show you some of the basics through snippets of essential advice Then it’s up to you to continue your development as an artist…

Michael Dashow

COUNTRY: US Michael Dashow balances his time between illustration for fun and profit and Art Directing

at 3D avatar site Meez.

com He loves painting humorous science fiction, fantasy and children’s images

Michael lives in Oakland, California, USA, with his wife and newborn son

michaeldashow.com

Philip Straub

COUNTRY: US Philip Straub

is Art Director for games company NCSoft He’s an expert

in colour theory, and has worked with Universal Studios in the past.

www.philipstraub.com

Marta Dahlig

COUNTRY: Poland Marta Dahlig was born in

1986 She is a talented artist and freelance illustrator, and is a regular contributor

to ImagineFX.

www.marta-dahlig.com

93 June 2007

BECOME A

BETTER ARTIST!

94

Art Director Michael Dashow shares his favourite tips

for effective use of colour in your artwork

TOP TEN

10 TEST IT OUT

Don’t expect instant perfection Just as sketches are important for drawing

a finished piece, they’re equally helpful for colour composition Make some

colour thumbnails before

jumping into your painting

I try out different palettes

by using my paint program’s layers to block out areas of colour and shift their hues

Using several test thumbnails

will help you to come up with

the correct colours.

1 CONTRAST

Colours on opposite sides of the colour

wheel stand out against each other

Use this contrast to call attention to the

focus of your painting Balance intense

colour with more muted other colours

in the background

2 COLOUR VARIETY

Objects in nature incorporate a variety

of colours Paint natural objects with

many similar colours Especially keep

this in mind when painting skin Areas

where the blood is closer to the

surface show more reds Areas around

the eye reveal more purples

3 COLOUR MOODS

Choose colours that best convey the

mood you’re aiming for

Strong reds get the pulse

going, and impart a sense

of drama or danger Cool

blues and greens have a

more calming effect

4 ADD A LITTLE MAGIC

We’re used to seeing light in warm

colours such as red from light cast by

the sun Blues are familiar from light

reflected from the sky That leaves

green and purple as colours we don’t

normally see Incorporating them can

give a painting a mystical air

Colours on opposite sides

of the colour wheel stand out against each other

5 DRAMATIC SKIES

To really set a mood for your piece, choose an appropriate colour for the sky I rarely stick with the traditional blue Instead, I opt for colours to heighten the drama and emotions that I want the piece to illicit

6 AERIAL PERSPECTIVE

When there’s more distance between you and other objects, there’s more atmosphere between them

Add more depth to your painting by bringing your atmosphere colour into objects that are further away Traditionally, this means making them more blue and less saturated.

7 BOUNCE YOUR LIGHT

Shadows pick up bounced light from the environment Pull in your ambient colour, such as the colour of your sky Light bounces off other parts of your scene, too Grass, for example would add greens into your lower shadows

8 SIDE LIGHTING

Rather than just using a single light source, consider adding more light from a different direction The additional light helps round out the forms more, and can also have an exciting colour impact

9 CHECK YOUR VALUES

It’s important not to neglect the values while you’re working with colour If your colours are all

of a similar tone, your painting will have less impact

Checking the image in greyscale can help you here

The sky is orange so the buildings further back appear more dull orange too.

The bright, warm colours pop against the cooler, whiter blues and greens.

June 2007

5 DRAMATIC SKIES 7 BOUNCE YOUR LIGHT

6 AERIAL PERSPECTIVE

1 CONTRAST

Need some help with tonal values?

Philip Straub shares his secrets

VALUE TIPS

1 LIGHT All objects in nature are made visible to us by some form of light source The form of all objects in the world simply wouldn’t be apparent without light

My editorial illustration, below, is a simple

example of the importance of light.

10 LINE

Most drawing relies heavily upon line as a means of defining objects While painting also uses line as a means of

definition, it often relies upon it as a sort of infrastructure

upon which the rest of the value structure is built This infrastructure of line may be hidden in the final painting, but its influence dictates what the viewer sees.

2 SHADOW If an illuminated object is more or less opaque, when the light is obscured by that object, the resulting shadow

is a darker version of the object’s colour By virtue of shadow, all objects of nature assume form

or shape

3 HALFTONES Halftones that utilise texture and colour should be used in the area where light affects the surface of an object and should be made brighter than they appear Those that describe form should be applied to the shadow area

of the object and should be darker

5 CONTRAST Contrast is derived from a comparison between two or more elements Most concept artists

will create the highest point

of value contrast at the focal point, or the place where they want the viewer to look

6 POSITIVE/NEGATIVE

Positive space is usually defined by the areas of a painting or drawing that are occupied by a form Negative space is the areas of the painting or drawing that are not occupied by forms It’s important to remember the balance

of positive and negative shapes

7 UNITY Like contrast, unity is an element that describes a relationship between two or more elements or objects within a composition Unlike contrast, however, unity usually describes such relationships within the context of the composition as a whole

Unity can be said to define how any one element or group of elements is related to the rest of the composition

4 FORM It’s possible to have form

without line, and to have line without form, but usually where one exists so does the other I’d argue form truly defines the shape of an object

9 BACKGROUND, MIDDLE GROUND, FOREGROUND

Thinking of your value structure as three separate plains in space – background, middle ground, and foreground – will simplify how you deal with your overall value structure

8 HIERARCHY It’s one of the most important qualities to consider when dealing with value structure, yet the implications of hierarchy are often forgotten Put simply, hierarchy answers the question ‘what is important?’ in a composition By making his painting hierarchical, a painter places the greatest emphasis

on those things that are most important, and the least emphasis on those that are less important

An example of applying the use of line in unison with your value structure.

The consistent visual language used in the shapes and line within the image below shows unity at work.

Artist insight Become a better artist

My editorial illustration, below, is a simple

6 POSITIVE/NEGATIVE

UNITY Like contrast, unity is an element that describes a relationship between two or more elements or

7 UNITY UNITY

3 COLOUR CHOICES

While it doesn’t matter what basic colour you choose for the skin of your character, it’s extremely important to pick shadows and highlights correctly

Basically, when you choose shadows and highlights for your midtones, make sure they’re not only of a different brightness, but also a different hue

Marta Dahlig reveals ten of her favourite pieces of advice

on how to tackle lighting in your painting

4 CONVEXITY

Sketch an object’s most convex places (red lines) After you choose a light

source, mark the highlights (white lines) The most convex areas are going to

be the most highlighted, and will also create a slight shadow (blue lines)

1 HALO EFFECT

If you want to create an aura behind a character, place

the light source behind it This way, the hair will seem

to be glowing Shading hair like this is different from

usual because, aside from the ‘typical’ shading of the

strands in ambient light, you have to take into account

the additional light source, making the outer edges of

the hair lighter then run over the outer strands with a

moderately sized transparent airbrush to add ‘glow’

7 STRONG LIGHT SOURCES

While the general, ambient light is a good basis for a picture and it might be enough for simpler portraits, you might sometimes want to spice things up a bit There’s nothing better than a strong light source to add some drama

8 GOLD EXPLAINED

A common mistake in painting gold is

to only use colours from the yellow palette to render it Analyse a golden object and you’ll see hints of grey, brown and green, and remember that metal is reflective

2 LIGHT AND FLESH

When painting a body part that’s lit from the back, don’t limit yourself to merely adding

a white outline around it (0)

Remember the light will also beam between all the lit objects, creating rays (1)

Furthermore, the light will also shine through the skin and flesh To depict that, simply make the ‘softer’ parts of the body part more saturated (2 and 3).

9 SKIN TONES MADE EASY

Use Photoshop’s Colour Balance tool

to match skin tones, highlights and shadows if you have characters lit by

a boldly coloured, strong light source

10 TEXTILES

Different textiles react differently to light Silk highlights are bold and strongly separated from the shadows with a fast, smooth transition Linen highlights are much more diffused and the transition is seamless

Placing your light source behind your character helps if you

want to achieve a halo effect in your painting.

To depict rays of light between the lit

objects, I ran over the hand with a light

transparent airbrush.

Here you can see, by following the arrows, how the dress interacts with the skin and the skin with the dress This was done by adding some extra shades with a low opacity brush.

June 2007

96

Workshops

6 SHADOWS

In general, there are two types of shadows: form and cast While the form shadow (1) is naturally generated

by an object in range of the light source, the cast shadow (2) is created

by another object, placed in front of our primary one, blocking the light from the source

5 REFLECTED LIGHTING

One of the crucial things for a painter to remember is that all objects interact with each other by reflecting light rays that fall on them back on to other objects In practice, you can easily implement this effect by adding some extra coloured shades with a low opacity brush (see arrows below for examples)

TOP TEN ANATOMY TIPS

1 BASIC SHAPES

Always think of big, basic shapes

instead of anatomy The major forms

of the body – the head,

neck, torso, pelvis, arms,

and legs can be broken

down into spheres,

cylinders and boxes

Learning to draw anatomy is a lifelong process Rebecca

Kimmel offers some wise words to get you started

2 LIFE DRAWING

It’s always best to draw from life Try to

spend as much time working in front of

live models as you can If

you can’t draw from a life

model, do a series of

self-portraits to ensure you get

a grasp of life drawing

3 OUTLINES DON’T EXIST

Think across form instead of in terms of

a form’s outline Outlines don’t exist Try

doing several cross-contour drawings,

in which you map the topology of form

by drawing what you might think of as

an ant’s tracks across the form This will

give you a better feeling for depth

5 TIMED POSES

Draw and paint in timed

exercise sets of two, five, ten

or 15-minute poses Usually a

rendered drawing turns out to

lack the life and vitality that a

fast sketch captures

Remember that you are half

of the ‘life’ in a life drawing

9 BUILD A SINGLE VISION

Look at figurative work and build your library

of mental imagery Find the Renaissance masters that you love and analyse what makes drawings and paintings work for you Figure out what you want to say as much as how you want to say it, and combine your artistic

goals into a singular vision over time.

6 SKETCH ANATOMY

Draw large with charcoal to understand whole forms and gesture, but draw in a sketchbook with ballpoint pen or pencil

to learn anatomy Copy drawings from various anatomy book There is no shortcut to understanding anatomy and drawing: you have to practise

7 MASTER COPIES

A master copy is using a great artist’s work as reference, doing your best to imitate that artist’s form and style Use your eye to develop forms on the page

Studying master work enables you to pick up how artists denoted form and

to incorporate this into your own work

8 IMAGINE

Intersperse your drawings from reference with drawings from your imagination Test yourself by seeing what you know without using any reference but what’s in your mind

You’ll be surprised at what you know well – and what you don’t

4 STUDY GESTURE

Gesture is the heart of drawing

– if the gesture has no life, then

the drawing won’t either

Gesture is about quickly finding

the essence of the pose It’s an

art form to capture something

quickly and accurately.

Artist insight Become a better artist!

9 BUILD A SINGLE VISION BUILD A SINGLE VISION Look at figurative work and build your library

offers some wise words to get you started

6 SKETCH ANATOMY

Test yourself by seeing what you know using only what’s in your mind as reference

10 THINK NATURAL

Draw organic forms that aren’t human, things that twist and have human-like characteristics I wrote an article for the CGSociety called Opposing Curves, which describes how offset curves interact to create form Notice how there are rarely

in nature curves which are related to one another as parentheses; rather curves in nature are offset in a DNA/

double helix fashion This perspective will change the way that you draw