制作“邪神克蘇魯”

Step 1: Thumbnail sketching

Sometimes I start with research and sometimes I start with thumbnails. This time I wanted to see what ideas I could get down before figuring out what kind of research needed doing. I did look at some artwork in which the composition was looking up at something large, just to get an idea for the kind of perspective, but no formal research was done. Now, it's important to note that if you're not too sure of what you're going to paint, then your thumbnails should all look fairly different to get some variety. In my case I knew exactly what I wanted, kind of, so I just explored variations on that image to nail my vision. I think the third or maybe second thumbnail got it. You can see elements of the final comp in those two. Basically, I wanted one or more large buildings to show just how big Cthulhu is - if those look big, and he dwarfs them, then we can really sell his size.

第1步：縮略圖素描

有時候我從研究開始，有時候我會從縮略圖開始。 這次我知道我有什么樣的想法，然后才能確定需要做什么樣的研究。 我曾經(jīng)看過一些作品，其中的作品正在尋找一些大的東西，只是為了得到一個觀點的想法，但沒有正式的研究。 現(xiàn)在，需要注意的是，如果你不太清楚你要畫什么，那么你的縮略圖應該看起來相當不同，以獲得一些變化。 就我而言，我確切地知道我想要什么，所以我只是探索了這個形象的變化，來指導我的視野。 我認為第三個或第二個縮略圖不錯。 你可以在這兩個中看到最后的比賽元素。 基本上，我想要一個或者更多的大型建筑來展示克蘇魯有多大 - 如果那些看起來很大，而且他們矮的話，我們真的可以修改他的尺寸。

Step 2: Research

My research was two-fold for this particular project. I needed to check out some old wharfs and docks but I also decided to take some art inspiration into the final painting. For the photographic aspect, I looked online but also had a few images of my own from a trip around the islands off the coast of Seattle. For artistic reference I looked at my favorite digital artist, Piotr Jablonski. I love his values and edges but also how he simplifies buildings so they're half realistic and half made-up or stylized. It's important to not just research photos but also other artists, especially awesome ones like Piotr!

第二步：研究

我的研究對于這個特定的項目是雙重的。 我需要檢查一些舊的碼頭，但我也決定采取一些藝術(shù)靈感。 對于攝影方面，我在網(wǎng)上看了一下，但是在西雅圖海岸附近的島嶼上也有我自己的一些照片。 作為藝術(shù)參考，我看我最喜歡的藝術(shù)家Piotr Jablonski作品。 我喜歡他的價值觀，也喜歡他的簡化建筑，所以他們是半現(xiàn)實的，半成型的或程式化的。 不僅要研究照片，還要研究其他藝術(shù)家，尤其是像Piotr這樣的藝術(shù)家。

Step 3: Going into 3D

For the longest time I wasn't sure how to actually put this together and maintain perspective and scale as well as a powerful composition. It's very hard to do this with a three-point perspective by hand, so I decided to go into 3ds Max to mock things up. I also used Daz-3D to pose some characters which helped me out with scale and anatomy - not my strongest point. This process really helped to tighten up the composition and place everything where I needed so I could focus more on mood and story without stressing about certain technical aspects. Use the tools when they're needed! For me, I settled on a circular/triangular read of Foreground dude, Cthulhu and mid-ground dude/s to keep our eye moving around the composition. I had the idea that some local villagers were going to sacrifice this poor guy to their demigod as part of a cult ritual.

 第3步：進入3D

最長的時間，我不知道如何實現(xiàn)把它放在一起，保持角度和規(guī)模，以及一個強大的組成。 手工操作非常困難，所以我決定進入3ds Max來模擬。 我還使用了Daz-3D來制作一些角色，這些角色幫助我解決了規(guī)模和解剖問題，這并不是我最重要的一點。 這個過程確實有助于加強構(gòu)圖，并將所需的東西放置在所需的位置，這樣我就可以更多地關(guān)注情緒和故事，而不必強調(diào)某些技術(shù)方面。 在需要時使用工具！  我有一個想法，那就是當?shù)氐囊恍┐迕褚�把這個可憐的家伙作為邪教儀式的一部分來祭拜他們的半神人。

Step 4: Under painting

I again went back to Piotr's work and had a look at the brush work and colors. I blocked in the basic tones - warms for the buildings, cool green/blue for the sky, but inside the building's tones is a little variation in temperature so it's not monotone. It's a good idea to have variations in temperatures so colors don't look too flat. So you can see some grays, purples, and browns next to each other to create vibrancy. It can be messy at this stage as you'd be mostly covering these marks later - it just forms a basis.

第四步：繪畫

我又回到Piotr，看看刷子的工作和顏色。 我用基本的音調(diào)屏蔽 - 對于建筑物來說是暖和的，對天空來說是涼爽的綠色/藍色，但是在建筑物的色調(diào)里面，溫度有點變化，所以它不是單調(diào)的。 溫度變化是一個好主意，所以顏色看起來不太平。 所以你可以看到一些灰色，紫色和棕色相鄰，來創(chuàng)造活力。 在這個階段可能會很麻煩，因為之后大部分時間都會覆蓋這些標記 - 它只是形成一個基礎(chǔ)。

Step 5: Photo textures

I start to take some of the photo reference pictures I found and integrate them into the paint. It has to be loose, and again, referring to my art inspiration, I'm trying to combine the photo elements with the paint rather than just slap them on and call it done with bit of layer blend modes. I might use an overlay but I might just color-correct the photo to match the tone of the under-painting and then paint loosely over the top.

第5步：照片紋理

我開始把我找到的一些參考圖片，將它們整合。 它必須是松散的，并再次提到我的藝術(shù)靈感，我試圖將照片元素與油漆相結(jié)合，并稱之為完成一些圖層混合模式。 我可能會使用疊加層，但是我可能只是對照片進行顏色校正，來匹配底層繪畫的色調(diào)，然后松散地在頂部繪畫。

Step 6: Characters

Although there's a fair bit of ground covered between this step and the last, it was all very much the same process of integrating the photo textures loosely. Now on to the characters. Our main character and first read is our 'offering' who was posed in Daz-3D. It's important to get rid of his 3D-ness by loosening the edges with a smudge tool and also painting over anything that looks too 3D. It's up to you and your artistic ability as to how far you take this step. As for the little guys, I mixed a tiny bit of photo with paint, trying to keep it a little gestural and simple. I'm not great at characters but I've started to understand that it's less about creating a fully 'accurate' structure and more about attractive and dynamic shapes, at least at this scale.

第6步：字符

雖然在這一步和最后一步之間還有一點點地方，但是這些都是非常相似的整合照片紋理的過程。 現(xiàn)在到了角色。 我們的主要角色是我們在Daz-3D中提供的“產(chǎn)品”。 通過使用涂抹工具松開邊緣并繪制任何看起來過于3D的東西來消除3D效果是非常重要的。 這取決于你和你的藝術(shù)能力。 至于小家伙，我用油漆混合了一點點的照片，試圖保持一個小小的簡單的手勢。 我對角色并不擅長，但我已經(jīng)開始明白，創(chuàng)建一個完全“準確”的結(jié)構(gòu)，更多的是關(guān)于有吸引力和動態(tài)的形狀，至少在這個尺度上是不夠的。

Step 7: Sky

I thought the overall sky value was ok but then I dragged in a photo and it suddenly got brighter, but looked much better. It was really just the puffy lit clouds that I kept, which I distorted and bent and color-corrected to pull the eye in to that area where Cthulhu will stand. It's kind of subtle but the lines of action in that sky all point into the scene, following perspective.

第七步：天空

我覺得整體天空的價值還算可以，但是我拖著一張照片，突然間變得明亮起來，但看起來好多了。 這真的只是我保存下來的蓬松的云彩，我扭曲，彎曲，修正顏色，把眼睛拉到克蘇魯所在的那個地方。 這是一種微妙的，但在這個天空的行動方向都是點點眼光。

Step 8: Cthulhu

I'd been postponing this for a while because obviously Cthulhu is our main dude and I wanted to get him right. Now, what's interesting here, and worth noting for fellow students of all things drawing and painting related, is that prior to this painting I had been getting back into sketching with pencils. During that phase I was studying the pencil-work of an artist who goes by the nickname of Tentacles and Teeth. He draws lots of monsters but has a thing for Cthulhu art. I gave it a try myself and, it turns out, learned a little bit about drawing/painting a tentacled creature thing. So this process, while I did worry beforehand, went well and I owe that to those pencil drawings. If you're struggling to paint creatures, maybe try it with a pencil first and, again, look at other artists for inspiration.

第八步：克蘇魯

我已經(jīng)推遲了一段時間，因為顯然克蘇魯是我們的主要家伙，我想讓他正確。 在這里，有趣的是，所有與繪畫有關(guān)的學生都值得注意，就是在這幅畫之前，我已經(jīng)開始用鉛筆畫素描了。 在那個階段，我正在研究一位藝術(shù)家的鉛筆作品，他的名字叫做觸手和牙齒。 他畫了很多怪物，但是有一件克蘇魯藝術(shù)的東西。 我自己嘗試了一下，結(jié)果發(fā)現(xiàn)，學習了一些關(guān)于繪畫觸摸生物的東西。 所以這個過程，雖然我事先擔心，但進展順利，我將這一點歸功于那些鉛筆畫。 如果你正在努力繪制生物，也許先用鉛筆試一下，再看看其他藝術(shù)家的靈感。

Step 9: Final tweaks

So I finished up the details on Cthulhu's face and added the original hand as seen in the Daz-3D mock-up. I just tweaked it to look more monster-ish. I really wanted at least one hand or claw in a great and awful expression of power. I made sure to smudge out some of the harder lines throughout the scene which is always key because either in photos or real life, perfect edges don't exist. Other elements that were added were some rain, some wetness/gloss here and there and some extra direction to the cloud perspective. I did ponder whether Cthulhu needed to be fully in-frame at this stage but I intentionally left him as he is to give the impression that he continues out of frame, which is a technique for exaggerating scale. Long live the tentacled one!

第9步：最后的調(diào)整

于是我完成了克蘇魯臉上的細節(jié)，并添加了在Daz-3D模型中看到的原始的手。 我只是調(diào)整它看起來更怪物。 我真的至少想要一只手或一只爪子以一種可怕的力量表達。 我一定要涂抹一些在整個場景中更難的線條，這很關(guān)鍵，因為在照片或現(xiàn)實生活中，完美的邊緣不存在。 其他添加的元素是一些雨，在這里和那里有一些潮濕/光澤，還有一些額外的方向，從云的角度來看。 我思考了克蘇魯在這個階段是否需要完全的框架，但是我故意留下他，留下這樣一個印象，那就是他是一個夸大規(guī)模的技術(shù)。