Art:Salvia and Alemdar

Salvia and Alemdar was created by Stimmhorn as a commissioned art piece.

Notes from the Artist
Disclaimer: This is by no means a definitive technique or process, it's just one possible way of painting things. My technique often changes from painting to painting. You are also probably not going to become better artists after reading this. There are no shortcuts in art; it takes years of practicing the fundamentals. The best advice I can give anyone is to draw from life, everyday.

Now, on to the tutorial.

Tools

 * Adobe Photoshop 6.0
 * ArtRage
 * Tablet
 * Reference photos (images.google.com)

Process










Now the fun part began. There is unfortunately no shortcut to rendering out realistic characters. Generally the strategy is to noodle away with a small brush until you're done rendering, but here's a small step-by-step of Salvia's face:

At this point, the shading had to be subtle because the only light source in the painting is the moon. Only small variations in tone were used to add volume; darker colors were reserved for places where almost no reflected light would be (like in the nostrils).

The next two hours or so were spent using the exact same technique to noodle away at the characters and parrots until they looked right. I really wish there were some super secret tricks of the trade to reveal here, but it's just experience and patience. References are a must for things that you are unfamiliar with drawing; I found some parrot photos online and used them to make the familiars look right.

Now onto the lighting:

I made a new layer set to 'screen' at about 70% opacity. Then, using various brushes, I painted in light blue where the moonlight would be hitting the character and mid-ground. In rounded areas where a lot of light would be falling, I used a large soft brush. In areas where the moon would be partially blocked (like, around the flying parrot), I used a small hard brush. I also erased parts of the highlight where a shadow would be cast, like on the sand.

Other Links

 * Forum thread with original post & technique discussion
 * Similar step by step of Llama's The Last Slice (of Pie)