Below is a list of Digital painting render processes that you may find useful to create your own art.
It’s a very brief overview but extremely effective in communicating your ideas, and they may just suit your artistic style in general. There are also some rules and things to remember throughout all of your tradition or digital painting process.
Main Points
Underlighting
Paint everything in shadow first & apply lighting.
Render pass
Build up from flat colour & define each light source on its own layer: occlusion, key light, fill light, etc.
Subtractive
Start with detailed sketch and build up colour, shadow & light using translucent layers.
Value first
Create the whole image in darks & lights then apply colour on top using blend modes & gradient maps.
Emergent process
Start with a middle value range then push dark for shadows and lights for highlights as you go.
Colouring book
Create a layer for each flat local colour and paintinto each layer adding tone, shadow and light etc.
Composition types
Utilise single point, multi point, path, patchwork & frame compositions to help communicate ideas and better engage with the viewer.
Questions to ask yourself
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Have you established your light sources?
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Have you described the forms & materials well?
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Does lighting evoke the emotion & Mood?
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Does the image communicate & guide the viewer?
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Are you saving details and accents for last?
Things to remember
80 / 20 Rule
Spend 80% of your time on the final 20% of the image.
Create Noticable Differences
Utilise sudden changes in value, hue, saturation, shape, edges, texture, proportion, proximity & direction.
Clustering & Grouping
Group objects and elements to create flow & rythm.
Graphic composition
Ensure the image reads in a 2-3 tone graphical design.
Avoid Muddy Colours
The relationship between warms & cools must stay true.
Colour schemes
Try usng monochromatic, analogous, complimentary, split-complimentary, triadic, tetradic, or half wheel.
