So, I'm guessing that you like BBC's T.V. show Sherlock. I certainly do. The characters are very interesting, especially Sherlock. So, I wanted to do some kind of art based on Sherlock. I find doing fan art relaxing and energizing, and I do it in between my regular work.
Back in March this year, I did some sketches trying to find a design that interests me. Sometimes I do lots and lots of sketches, sometimes I do just a few. In this case, I found the design I like just after a few trials. The design I liked is basically based on a poster of The Abominable Bride episode. Here are some of the initial sketches...
These are some alternate designs...
And the one I finally chose...
Just like most of my initial sketches, I did them traditionally using 2B pencil and regular printer paper. And typically I just draw whatever I feel like drawing, and I may or may not use those drawings for anything. Sometimes the drawings I make won't be useful for anything and just serves as practice. Other times they'll be useful for another project. I tend to save all my drawings because you never know when they'll come in handy. When I decided to finish the Sherlock painting in May, I pulled out these sketches you see above and used them rather than trying to draw again.
I took the final design into Photoshop, made some changes, cleaned it up, and the painting process that followed was kind of interesting. It took quite some time to paint this. I tried to paint this in a painterly style, with visible strokes and smooth transitions between colors. But it just wasn't working. After several hours, I decided to start again from scratch! And this time I wanted to try cel-shading, which basically is painting with hard light and shadows without no or very little soft transitions between colors. There are lot of different ways to paint any image. Even if you're painting in a particular style, every artist approaches it in a different way. It all boils down to what you like as artist, what you're comfortable with, and what is working for that particular piece. You just have to keep painting, trying different techniques until you find what you like.
So I went ahead with cel-shading and it was working. I particularly like this style of painting a lot. It's simple, and if done right, it's very beautiful. After few more hours of work, I came up with this...
I feel like this turned out pretty good. Although now that I look at it, I feel that I should have used cleaner black lines for the outlines. I thought that rough lines would provide an interesting texture, but it feels a bit distracting to me. Still, I love the way it is. At the end of the day, there's no such thing as a perfect painting. You could work on a single painting for your entire life and it still won't be perfect. It's about doing the best work possible in the limitations you set for yourself. And I feel like I did the best I could with this particular piece, so I'm happy. :)
Back in March this year, I did some sketches trying to find a design that interests me. Sometimes I do lots and lots of sketches, sometimes I do just a few. In this case, I found the design I like just after a few trials. The design I liked is basically based on a poster of The Abominable Bride episode. Here are some of the initial sketches...
These are some alternate designs...
And the one I finally chose...
Just like most of my initial sketches, I did them traditionally using 2B pencil and regular printer paper. And typically I just draw whatever I feel like drawing, and I may or may not use those drawings for anything. Sometimes the drawings I make won't be useful for anything and just serves as practice. Other times they'll be useful for another project. I tend to save all my drawings because you never know when they'll come in handy. When I decided to finish the Sherlock painting in May, I pulled out these sketches you see above and used them rather than trying to draw again.
I took the final design into Photoshop, made some changes, cleaned it up, and the painting process that followed was kind of interesting. It took quite some time to paint this. I tried to paint this in a painterly style, with visible strokes and smooth transitions between colors. But it just wasn't working. After several hours, I decided to start again from scratch! And this time I wanted to try cel-shading, which basically is painting with hard light and shadows without no or very little soft transitions between colors. There are lot of different ways to paint any image. Even if you're painting in a particular style, every artist approaches it in a different way. It all boils down to what you like as artist, what you're comfortable with, and what is working for that particular piece. You just have to keep painting, trying different techniques until you find what you like.
So I went ahead with cel-shading and it was working. I particularly like this style of painting a lot. It's simple, and if done right, it's very beautiful. After few more hours of work, I came up with this...
I feel like this turned out pretty good. Although now that I look at it, I feel that I should have used cleaner black lines for the outlines. I thought that rough lines would provide an interesting texture, but it feels a bit distracting to me. Still, I love the way it is. At the end of the day, there's no such thing as a perfect painting. You could work on a single painting for your entire life and it still won't be perfect. It's about doing the best work possible in the limitations you set for yourself. And I feel like I did the best I could with this particular piece, so I'm happy. :)
