(Click the thumbnails to enlarge the pictures)
 Firstly,
I don't do any original realism paintings. I've
tried it like ... twice and it's twice as hard. Trust
me. Anyhoo, we'll just stick with photo realism here.
I'm going to be using this photo here of Steve Yzerman
holding the Stanley Cup. [Btw ... I am not a
Detroit fan. XP]
The first thing I do is draw the basic structure of
the figures in the image. Now this just involves your
basic figure drawing techniques to be able to keep your
image proportional. So I've just made some guidelines
to start me off.
Note: I never use layers so if you want to keep your
drawing on one layer and the actual colouring on the
other, be my guest.
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 Next,
I shape up the picture. Again, just follow your simple
figure drawing techniques such as one that I was constantly
being nagged at by my art teacher. x.x Keep your eyes
on the original image as much as possible. Meaning when
you have to look back and forth, do so with a glance
because the more you keep looking at the original, the
more proportional your picture will be.
Anyhoo, I never care about how messy the picture
is because I'm only making sure if it's proportional
or not. Also I don't go into any major details, just
the basic outlines of the figure and where the colours
are etc.
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 Next
I start adding in my base colours. At his point I just
slop 'em on where they're supposed to be so I know that
everything is balanced. Once you have your colours on
simply where they should be ... |
 ...
Then you can zoom in and start shaping up each section
with more careful detail. I always put in some sort
of darker colour in the background so I can shape up
each section a little easier. I dunno ... it's weird
but I do it through habit.
Usually I just shape one section with a solid colour
then immediately start shading in the other colours
with it but in this case, I put in all the solid colours
first.
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 Then
it looks like this. Every section is shaped carefully
and as for the background, I usually take one dark colour
that's generally in that background. So I used black.
:3 With the cup, because it's so detailed and oh so
very shiny, I just took one of the darker shades on
it and filled in the shape with that.
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 Now
for the fun and time consuming part. :) The detailed
shading.
To be honest, I don't really have any special sort
of method for this. It's just the same the whole way
through.
- Start by filling in spots with the basic shade
or tone.
- Then begin to build up the darker shades carefully
...
- Then add in the lighter colours or highlights.
The reason 'why' it's so time consuming is because
I used liiiiittle brushes and I'm constantly adding
colour, or erasing colour to keep the shape of the
shades correct.
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 Here
I began to add some skin tones on the hands and just
brushed on where the highlights of the cup would go.
I have no special order in which I work. I just start
working on one area cause ... I feel like it. :)
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 Here
I began to work on the main white area of the jersey.
Again I simply added in the base colours of the gray.
Then added in the darker gray where they should go but
I didn't bother with the blending and such as yet. I
just wanted to be sure everything was right. I feel
like I keep repeating myself .. o.O But really .. that's
what I do in every section of shading. |
 The
finer details of the jersey are now being added such
as the blending and veerryy little details in the folds.
By the way, if something in the shading just does not
seem right to you, go ahead and modify it. I mean ...
there's no law out there that says you gotta be exact.
;3 |
 Now
with the jersey done, I began with the face. I usually
do the faces, if any, near the end because I get more
frustrated with them. Reason being is that getting the
right skin tones isn't an easy task. Compared to say
an anime style you can go nuts with skin tones because
it doesn't make 'as' much of an impact than it does
in realism. [Depending if you're going for strict realism
or for all that oogly emotional symbolic junk. :P] If
you're really having a tough time getting the right
tone then just open your image in a graphics program,
pick up that main skin colour and look at the RBG numbers.
Hehehehehe ... It doesn't hurt to cheat a 'little.'
But I'll get back to skin tones in a bit.
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 I
kept going back forth from different parts of the picture.
Here I developed the cup a bit more and began to add
in the general colours of the background. [I forgot
to colour in that right sleeve. o.O Oops.]
Now as for the Stanley Cup, it was a bit tricky because
of all the highlights and such. So I just added in
all the white areas first because there are a lot
of erm ... I don't know how to say it .. eh .. 'striped'
areas? lol Ok, well detailed bits. I added in the
white there and began to blend it all in. To be honest
I didn't spend much time on the cup because well,
that thing is 'detailed.'
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 And
here's the finished image. Like I said, I didn't spend
much time on the cup so it's pretty much the same except
I added in tiny little random details to make it look
proper.
As for the background, it was all pretty much ... gray.
So I just added in blotches of ... gray ... and then
added in other colours here and there to make it look
like a crowd. I don't bother much with messy backgrounds
like this so I just spiffed it up to make it generally
.. similar.
I said I'd mention the skin tones later so here I go.
:P The method of shading is of course the same as always,
just be careful on picking out the colours and such.
It's obviously a lot different than when picking out
the other colours.
And one other note ... The Copy tool is your friend.
:3 I'm serious. There's always gonna be one part that
looks a little awkward such as parts of the face or
whatever. Buuuuut ... if you move it just a little bit
it makes a huge difference. I had to do that a bunch
of times to get Yzerman's eyes right. :P
(click here to see the reference
piece) |
So that's basically it ... and if you're still alive numerous hours later, well then ... congrats. You deserve some sleep. XD
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