I’ve been spending a little time and attention refining my ‘normal’ workflow process. Or rather, it’s something I’m continually thinking about… For Repeatability – so I don’t feel like I’m staring at a blank page with no idea how to start, and for Consistency – so what I drawn feels the same across a piece.
Standardizing this also helps prevent me from going back and forth too much between stages, allowing me to actually progress through a work!
Using Affinity allows me to easily switch between pixel and vector tool sets.
Line
(Pixel)
Rough Sketch
A basic sketch, to get the thoughts out of my head, and to set the layout. Sometimes this sketch will be same as thumbnails, sometimes those will be a separate step. Focussing here on: Shapes, attitudes, emotions.
‘Pencils’
Bit of a misnomer as majority of my work is done digitally. Defining where the lines are actually going to go. Refining gestures and expressions. The ‘guides’ for the next step!
‘Inks’
Again, something of a vestigial name, as I’m almost always doing this digitally. Clarity/readability is key here. With different line weights as needed, e.g. here with thicker outlines for shapes.
value
(Vector)
‘flats’
I like to switch over to vector at this point, as it allows me to block in color faster, and with easily editable precision. I mentioned before, I’ve found I prefer to fill the lines in grayscale first, then add hues after. Also, often my ‘flats’ are not flat, but will incorporate slight gradients. Again, with vectors, easy to adjust later if I change my mind.
‘Form’
Some shadows and highlights to give us some dimensionality. My favorite little trick here – both are done with 50% grey, either set to multiply or screen blending mode, and then adjust opacity as needed.
Hue
color the fill
A layer with blending mode set to color, clipped to the shapes we already have, and then can adjust while retaining the values previously set. Here, I decided the hair wasn’t dark enough – I could’ve gone back and changed the value, but in the interest of only moving forward, I chose to adjust it with a multiply layer.
color the lines
Again, with Affinity this is easy – I drop vector shapes into my pixel line art layer, which then becomes a clipping mask. Then, adjust the colors of the vector shapes however I like. Usually, just with the HSL sliders.
In the next entry, I’m going to look at Applying this to a frame/scene/shot, and not just a floating face.
‘FX’ (Effects)
Rough, Pencil, Ink. Flat, Form, “FX”.
Only, I spoil that pattern by separating out value and hue… ah well!
FX is the least ‘standardized’ part as it will change depending on the needs of each scene or frame. The one part I will almost always do, if duplicate everything so far, rasterize/flatten that copy, and then use that new pixel layer as a clipping mask for whatever effects I layer over.
In this example, we’ve got:
- a Gradient Overlay
To suggest light falloff across the face. - Split Toning
To increase my tonal contrast: cooling the shadows and warming the highlights. - Lil’ bit of ‘lens flare’ or some other atmospheric suggestion. I find having a little of that over the top helps to unite the line art and fill into a cohesive visual unit.
Next Time…
I’m going to apply this process to an actual scene, and not just a floating head!
When I say I’ve been thinking about it for a while…
