Hi everyone! Here's a process post on my previous Rolan painting study.
Time-lapse from Procreate above.
More details, inspo, references, and writing under the cut:
I haven't drawn or digitally painted in years but Baldur's Gate 3 got me drawing fanart, especially Rolan. I love his design and storyline so much. I draw him almost every day, whether as a warm-up sketch or full illustration - and I can see how much has changed from when I first started drawing him to how I draw him now. More importantly, it's crazy amazing to have found a community because of an NPC. Also, receiving all the love and support here has been crazy wonderful, I read all your reblog tags and they always make my day - thank you sm.
Inspo / ref image board on left, my clean up sketch on right.
Linework and inking are fun for me but I struggle with color, rendering, and digital painting. I find that referencing artists and images helps immensely when I paint, so I often collect images and combine them into a board. J. C. Leyendecker is a big inspo for me, especially his color, mark-making, and poses. I also ref a ton of in-game screenshots, the one above is from @ / emerald_witch9 on twitter. I use the iPad side-by-side window feature so I can look at my image board and Procreate at the same time.
I like painting in this style, but it does take me awhile, so I'm not sure how long I'll continue to paint this way. However, I think it'll help me develop a quicker and more personal sense of render style.
Lastly, here's a detail shot of my paint study because freckles hah.
Hi! I absolutely love your art, especially the Snape pieces! I was wondering if you use reference photos for your work or not. I’m an artist as well but I struggle without a reference 😭 I want to get into doing more snape fanart but I feel very limited with needing reference photos! Any tips?
Heya! Thank you!
Oh good heavens YES! Don't EVER feel less cause you use references. Professionals, yes, Disney artists, the big guys like Leyendecker used references for their work. I hope no one told you that using a ref photo makes you a poor artist. If so they are DEAD WRONG. No. You can use as many references as you want. I use references for color, mood, pose, and sometimes expressions.
After experimenting with using Alan as a base I now use my own art for reference to keep my Snape in a consistent style. There is nothing wrong btw in drawing over a picture of Alan to get a feel for his face and create something of your own depiction of the character. I find myself focusing on his nose(of course), how sharp his cheekbones are, and his jawline. I always make his lips thin and I exaggerate his jowls. My flavor of Snape is scruffy and unkempt, and I sometimes even sneak in acne or chapped lips.
USE REFERENCE. IT DOES NOT MAKE YOU A LESSER ARTIST.
My professors drilled this into my head.
Hi! Quick question: if someone does a piece of art that was inspired by your work, does it annoy you if they @ you when they post their art in order to acknowledge that inspiration? (In this case, I mean 'inspired' in the sense of them doing a piece that shares a broad concept with a piece you've done (example: Leyendecker study, artist!Viktor, etc.); NOT 'inspiration' in the sense of them actually copying a pose/composition/etc. from you.)
Hey! Not at all, leyendecker is an artist that tons of artists study and reference! If you made it, and you put together all your own refs and didn’t directly copy anything, it’s YOURS! No need to worry ❤️❤️❤️ but that’s so sweet of you for asking!
wow i dont remember if i posted this one either. it's especially ancient. uhh but yeah! i was practicing nailing my headcanon innovator down. pose is reffed from leyendeckers work i think.
I’ve been wanting to do another Leyendecker study/redraw for ages, so here’s some fancy lads as a (very last minute, oops) final contribution to @ironqrowweek!
I messed around with their outfits to make my life a bit easier when it came to replicating the style of the original illustration, and I think it worked rather well. Leaning into the old-timey formalwear fits pretty well with the general vibe of Atlas, and that’s where I imagine the fancy party they’ve ended up at is taking place. I rather enjoy the idea of Qrow being talked into wearing a bowtie and then deciding about five minutes into the evening that he’s had quite enough of that. And I don’t know why James has taken his gloves off (other than that was the pose in the ref I used) but I keep thinking too much about him being comfortable taking them off around Qrow and having emotions. Also their matching colour schemes? Love that.
(Check out the full view, because I spent a lot of time putting details into this!)
oh n o I just stumbled across the perfect pose ref for an Arthur x Vic Leyendecker study I've been wanting to do for months, guess I'll just have to do it now—