Art & Process: Casual Rhys (OCs) (Patreon)

With Artfight nearing I'm setting up my OCs on the site and decided to actually get a nice art piece of them out.

In the second image you can see the stages from concept, sketch, linework, first version, and then final version. The detailed explanation behind it is below.

I'll post the process for the Karlach/Shadowheart art later this month :)

The history of how this got finished after 6 months of collecting virtual dust lmao:

A while ago (ca 6 months) I wanted to practice rendering and coloring in a more painting style. I finished the first version of this art piece, but was never quite happy with it. I didn't finish Lex (her counterpart piece) at all.

I couldn't quite place why I was unhappy with it so I never posted it (looking back now I think it's the color choice and palette and how everything looks a bit washed out).

What I tried out was trying to get away from the separate lineart stage. Instead I made a VERY rough concept sketch with a wide brush that I refined on the same layer. I included detail and erased parts until I was happy with it. You can see the three main stages below (rough concept, refined sketch, final "lineart") or as the third image at the top:

The final version on the right is colored in because I saved this image at the later stage. This lineart was placed as 'multiply' at the top and colored in during after I put some base colors below. I finally added a whole new layer on top to just color over. But again, I wasn't very happy about the final result:

Not only does it not really pop, it also just looks.. kinda gray, especially her face. Plus two people IRL have told me they thought she had her butt hanging out (due to the pink shirt being close to skin color) and that KILLED ME!! lmao

Cue to last week and I got the sudden urge to redo her. I didn't do a full makeover, but I used and tested some new brushes I got featuring more texture. I simply reduced the linework multiply layer to very low and added another layer on top to just paint over.

And I have to say I really, really love the new version (first image on top). It's not a 'realistic' look, but it gives much more personality and the colors look nicer, I think. Plus now her shirt definitely can't be confused with her butt anymore lmao.

I don't have more in-between WIPs saved for Rhys, but I do have some with Lex that I can post next week!