PROCESS VIDEO // Kookaburra (Patreon)

Forgot to record the very first sketch lines nd some final touches at the end, but for the rest, I managed to record the full process for Kookaburra! Here’s the final painting: 

The process is sped up 10x, and took about 6 hours to make in real time. Some of the things I really struggled with during this process were: 

01 // COMPOSITION

I knew that I wanted a character juxtaposed with a flying kookaburra, but didn’t know how to arrange them to really make it work. I wanted them to feel ‘together’ but still distinct from one another. So in the beginning, I have the kookaburra and the character on two different layers and I kind of shift them around until it works. 

02 // LIGHTING

I went for a straightforward lighting for both elements, but as a result, they sort of merged into one blob. So I add some bright pink lines to the outside silhouette of the bird to set it apart from the character. I also add some harder shadows and lighter areas right behind the kookaburra to add some contrast to the silhouette as well. 

03 // DETAILING

Getting the details on the bird was a challenge! It’s tempting for me to just copy everything from reference photos, but then it just doesn’t have the semi-realistic look that I like. So when adding the details, I focused on using directional brush strokes. Basically, having the feathers and details move with the shape of the bird, so that it has a really distinct sense of mass and shape. This gives it a bit of an animated feel. 

I hope you enjoy!  I’m thinking of making a slower version with voice-over and some editing applied, to talk through the process. Would you guys be interested in that? Let me know! If so, what kind of stuff would you like me to talk about? Any input would be helpful. Thanks guys! ❤