Wednesday, November 9, 2011

James Fullmer

The Perfect Model
So I was working on an illustration of a witch to go along with a poem, "Listen to the WItch." I had an idea that I wanted to try that would require a rather complicated and ghoulish lighting so I needed a reference. Where could I find a model who would pose exactly the way I wanted and perform just the expression I needed? Oh, and they had to be OK being used to paint an ugly witch.
MYSELF! BRILLIANT! I set the lights up high and behind me and put a silver reflector as the "table" so to reflect the haunting light up from below. It didn't end up as strong as I wanted but I was able to punch it in the illustration. I just needed information about where the light would reflect. The image was shot in RAW and so I could tint it how I wanted before exporting it to Photoshop. Now it may look perfect but it took me about 15 shots to get the angle of the face and the mouth. I had wanted to have poofy cheeks but my eyes open in a dreamy ecstasy but anatomically that just doesn't happen. There was more than enough information, however to paint from.

I decided to try it digitally and first sketched out the values and basic color scheme:
Afterward I rendered the shapes more and used digital color as well as the liquefy filter to make some adjustments to the original drawing. I used the smudge tool to do much of the blending.


6 comments:

  1. I LOVE this! How clever to use yourself as the model and what a model you are! Love the raised pinkies! Thanks for explaining the steps. Could you even provide a few more details? Do you print out the photo and look at it as you sketch, or? That sandwich is really giving me the creeps! Thanks for this enlightening lesson.

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  2. Nice. Is this a portfolio piece or are you working on a bok or dummy? Part of the reason I ask is that I'd love to see a wing or leg sticking out of her mouth, but that might be too much for kids. The cool lighting on the face sets a fun mood.

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  3. I love the humor! Your witch is hillarious in an over-the-top way. Just what kids love! And thanks for sharing your process. I must say though, I don't see much likeness between your model and the final witch. I think that's a good thing!

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  4. To Maureen, I just keep the digital reference on the screen while I sketch out the image digitally. In this case I also sampled colors from the reference and that really helped speed things along. I used Photoshop, Wacom tablet, and just round brushes of different sizes and softnesses. Any other questions just let me know.

    Ned, just a portfolio piece. I had thought of that too but when I tried it in this lighting set up, it didn't read clearly enough. Maybe I should try again. I think I would like to push that mouth a bit more - make it a little funnier.

    Deborah - awww your nice.

    Thanks guys!

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