Photobashing the projects.

After I had the base of my projects done, it was time to start adding color and texture to them. 

It was important for me to have the images from which I was going to extract the textures ready from the get-go, in that way not having to keep switching between working on my projects and searching the internet for them. 

Having those placed on the mood board ready for me to use them, it was time to start working. 

Starting with the character, the first thing I did was get rid of the background and convert the image into greyscale. That way, I will have the freedom of using gradient maps, which will spare me lots of time from painting the colours manually. 

At this stage, I decided to add the wings as well, using the shape that I have achieved with my final concept drawing as a blueprint. Once they are completed. I will duplicate them to the back view as well. An important factor for me while working on this project was developing the front and back view at the same time. That way, they will be consistent in colour and texture.

The next step was adding the gradient maps. In order to do that, I had to figure out what my colour palette would be. 

This painting from Michael Husar really spoke to me and matched my idea seamlessly, so I decided to approach it straight away. The yellowish and greenish tints gave the image a very sickening and scary look, exactly what I was looking for from the start of the project.

With this painting by my side, I started making the gradient maps, taking this opportunity to split my character into the different materials that will be making up its body, that being skin, flesh with a very thin layer of skin on top, and bone structure. 

After doing that, I decided to also bring the wings to the backside, since I had to figure out how these would attach to the body.

Adding the textures was not as difficult as I thought it would be. Using the warp tool I made the wrap nicely around the body, keeping in mind things like perspective shortening and the direction in which those should be heading. 

Using the base of the body, I erased the excess afterward, and then using the healing brush, I  made sure that there were no seems between them.

At this stage, I have also played with the different blending modes to get the best result that I possibly could. I also made use of the gradient maps that I have previously made, in order to add the textures just to the desired area. I purposely left the bone structures out, to induce the fact that they are sticking out of the body.

 After adding some final details and finishing adding the textures, I can finally say that this stage is done.

For the battle arena, I have approached the same workflow. Erased the background, converted the image into grayscale, etc..

One additional thing that I did was paint over the wooden structures and crystals, so I would have a layer to select easily if I wanted to work on these individually. 

Another difference in the workflow was adding the detailing of the rocks, such as the stalactites and stalagmites, before doing the gradient maps, since those were going to be sticking out of the initial contour of the arena.

Making the gradient maps was directly dependent on the colour palette of the monster since the cave had to match its aesthetic. 

After having those, done, it was time to add the final touches, such as the nests, water, etc... I also added an additional layer for the new shadows that were going to be present with the addition of the new objects.