Clair Obscur- Gustave portrait (Patreon)

Inspired by Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's beautiful art/music direction, I wanted to do something a little experimental and try a quick portrait with a bunch of brushes I've never used before. I didn't let myself use any brushes that I've used- in particular I tried the mixer brushes in Photoshop for the first time. This was done almost entirely using Deharme's brush sets.

It's always a little clunky and odd trying different brushes, but a fun little exercise. I'm not sure how to feel about mixer brushes- I keep hearing that people use them to do wonderful things but I can't get over the fact that they just feel like the smudge tool...

I have to admit that sometimes trying out new brushes doesn't quite go as planned, sometimes it feels like fingerpainting lol. I'm not displeased with this piece but I did feel limited as a lot of textured brushes are, in my opinion, either wayyyyy too soft or too harsh. Finding the right brush is definitely a Goldilocks situation.

I definitely felt like I was fighting the program the entire time for this piece, a lot of the brushes I used required a lot more pen pressure than I like, and then the mixer brushes seem to be almost devoid of pressure sensitivity. Overall I do think it's a good thing to try something out of your comfort zone every once in a while.

Anyways, I really want to paint Lune too, but I had to start with Definitely Not Robert Pattinson Gustave.