This week I thought I'd start a new painting which I will post step by step as I reach various stages of it's development.
The reason for this is that time has been limited this week, and is limited today, so rather than rush a sketch of something just for the sake of it, I thought another progress piece would be better.
This weeks subject is Ghost Rider, a Marvel character which I thought would be good to do as it will involve painting something new (flames) which will be a challenge for me, and something I have drawn several times before (skulls) which will be fun!
The progress so far has been to locate and save various reference images, and whilst doing so I found one which was an ideal position so I'm using that.
I sketched out the skull roughly, but not being totally happy with it after scanning it in and checking for mistakes (the handy flip canvas action in Photoshop, which I have set up to a hot-key to save time) I decided to use the original image and the warp function to better line it all up and get the proportions correct.
This is a great time saving method to use when you need to get things done quickly, whether it be for deadlines, or so you can just concentrate on the areas of artwork you need to improve on.
Another handy time saving tip is to sketch out a face or person once, get the proportions all correct, and then photocopy, or if working digitally duplicate, them several times over. You can then use these duplicates to practice lighting and shading from different angles, or add different clothing or hair styles etc for concept art.
Any time saved is time you can spend on learning or practising something else!
Anyway, back to this painting!....
Now I had the sketch the way it should be proportionally I moved onto the painting itself, and at this stage I have started blocking in the main areas of shade and light, have added some of the forms of the teeth and jaw, and have started to introduce some varieties of colours that will be used.
As usual at this stage you must make sure you don't start to get caught up on any detailing, just getting things blocked in.
I will leave adding the flames until the skull is looking the way it should, although this will mean altering the lighting again once they have been painted in I would prefer to have the skull looking right first as I know this is the main object in the painting.
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