“Light Blue” walk-through sample (flowers)
by Tanya Wheeler
by Tanya Wheeler
Introduction
This is a sample section from a full walk through of my painting process for “Light Blue”.
The full walk through will soon be available in my upcoming art book “Cellesria: The digital Artwork of Tanya Wheeler”
Step 1. Hairstyle needs more
At this stage I decide that I think that the image is still a bit bland and her hairstyle needs more so I decide that I’m going to add some flowers for more beauty, color and contrast.
Step 2. Rough color and form blocking
First I create a new separate layer for these flowers and start roughly blocking in the form and color of them with an air brush using the base colors of the flowers and other mid-tones. I looked at some images for reference at the same time while painting them. To paint realistic looking flowers and to find ideas for what types of flowers you want to paint it is always helpful to search for references. In this case I looked at one of my own photos that I took for reference. I don’t like to use references from the internet due to copyrights, I always feel more secure using my own.
Step 3. Defining
Now I start to define the form of the flowers further by erasing away some areas and defining the shape of the petals with a round brush. for more realism and interest I don’t paint perfectly shaped petals. Some are a bit crooked/bent and stick out a bit farther than others. I think it’s important to include details like this in your work if your are aiming at realism since no flower, (no matter how beautiful it is) is absolutely perfect. I think subtle imperfections are actually what creates perfection (in my opinion) and these imperfections add more character and interest to the subject.
Step 4. Refinement
To finish these flowers I do some final blending with an air brush as well as a textured round and define the edges further (with a small hard-edged brush). I add more contrast and lighting by adding the shadows and highlights to the convex and concave areas of the flowers (guided by where my light sources are). I always paint the highlights last, Its helpful to work from dark to light but sometimes I start with the base colors and mid-tones first.
Final
At this stage the flowers are finished and the hairstyle now looks much better. The overall image though still needs a bit of work.
The End.
I hope you found it interesting and helpful.
More will soon be available in my upcoming Art book “Cellesria, The Digital Artwork of Tanya Wheeler”. Aside of featuring full-pages of my best work it will also feature walk-throughs detailing more about my painting process and helpful tips and techniques. Find out more Here.
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