Before laying down a stroke, there’s a number of things you need to think about. These are things that you shouldn’t have to think about, it should just go automatically.
Thinking in Layers
- Feel volume and angle of the form.
- Where is the light coming from?
- Try to figure out if there are any shadows that might be falling on the surface.
- Is there any reflected light (radiosity) that hits the surface?
- What is the ambient color of the scene? (sorta like global reflected light.)
- Any speculars. Is the surface gloss/wet and also angled so it reflects a light source, such as the sky?
- The exposure level. Perhaps it’s so heavily lit that it becomes more than white? Perhaps it’s so dark that even the brightest spot is hidden in darkness.
- Is there any fog in the way?
- The texture of the surface.
Note that this mainly goes for realistic styles. A brushstroke should also look efficient and consistent with the rest of the painting and your color scheme choice. You might also have an idea or style which disallows certain colors or textures and put priority on other things. However, even in a powerpuff girls illustration there’s simplified elements of realistic rendering. Don’t hide behind “it’s not apart of my style so I’m not gonna learn it”.
Credit: Arne Niklas Jansson – 2005 & 2007
Homepage: http://www.itchstudios.com/psg/
This page: http://www.itchstudios.com/psg/art_tut.htm
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