Artjam 17: Army of Me

Please listen to Army of Me (Sucker Punch Remix) while looking.

Suckerpunch!

God I loved that movie. I know it doesn't have the greatest story plot in the universe, but the visuals... man! The visuals is all I'm about, and this flick has them -like a boss! So this is my tribute to my favorite character of the movie: (and I think almost everyone else's too) Babydoll.

I really liked how it turned at the end, so I decided to share the process. I condensed one or two steps so I can make it shorter but it is essentially the same as always.

Here it goes:

1. Sketch. I covered the sketching part on my last post but here it is again.

2. Background and flats. After deciding that the fight was going to take place just like the scene in the movie, I painted a cloudy sky, then filled both characters with color for easier selection. After that, I changed the color tones and start building from there.

One thing I think I have never mentioned before is the order of the layers in Photoshop. This is important because, each artist has its own style and order of the layers. This obviously affects painting or coloring process and the final outcome of the piece. After several years and experiments, in this particular style (digital painting) this is my basic placing of the layers:

1. Artline. Mode: Normal. 


2. Color: Mode Normal. I used this layer in Multiply mode, but this distorts how the colors look and causes trouble with any layers placed below. Later on this layer is merged with the artline.

3. Background. Mode Normal. In terms of selecting and erasing, it is easier for me to have the background and the color layers separated.




3. Light Sources. You might face the challenge of not knowing where to start painting. When this happens to me, I start with one thing at the time, in this case, from top to bottom. Once you have decided where your light sources are, you can start painting by parts. First Babydoll's skirt, outlining the folds and then the whole outfit and the hair. After that I continued with the samurai's armor, trying to emulate the texture of metal as much as I can with different brushes and techniques. And at last, the spark of the clashing of katanas. I also color the artline in some places like the hair or the speed lines.

4. Bright lights and Gradient overlay. In this stage I blend the art line with the color layer and start "painting". While coloring, my color tones tend to lean more to the desaturated side. So, one trick I use is duplicate the color layer, place it on top of the original color layer and set it to Overlay Mode, which makes the colors extremely bright. This is an easy fix with the opacity bar, bringing it down a couple of notches, just as I saw fit.

I do use more than 3 layers, specially when I want a special look or effect. Playing with the layer modes can give you different outcomes, in my case I use mostly Overlay Layers and Screen layers. One last thing I like to do is try a Gradient Overlay Layer with different color settings depending on the mood I'm trying to set. Here I used a green-ish tint that serves too well with all the piece together.

This is what my final layer count is like:

Of course that this is just a way and there are infinite ways to do things. You have to find your own way, what works for you and always try to improve on your methods. It is an ongoing process.

Here are some detail shots:

That's it! I hope you guys liked it, and if you have any questions or comments they are all welcome.

For more Babydoll art

• Emily Browning on Deviant Art

For more killer Suckerpunch art, check out:

• EDSFOX's Rocket

• Martegod's Amber

• Pungang's Babydoll