Lizard Assignment

For this lesson we were set the task of digitally painting the given lizard sketch using quick digital drawing techniques to speed up the process. Some of the techniques included: adding texture, using the lasso tool, using soft and hard edge brushes in larger sizes to block out the colours quickly and also using a clipping mask of the overall figure to stay within the lines and keep the overall drawing neat.

To start off the process I created a clipping mask of the overall figure in a silhouette style using a given colour and blocking this out using a large sized hard edge brush and then using a large hard edge eraser to clean up the outlines. After completing this I then started by using the lightest colour in the provided colour swatches and blocked out the lightest highlighted areas on the lizard man using a large soft edge brush at about 15% opacity and building up the colour in various places to give the effect of depth within the highlights and how the light is falling on certain places then creating bounce off light in others.

I then began to build up the various colours adding lighter and darker colours and switching between the two to build up a realistic, 3D effect on the overall lizard man.

Once I was happy with the overall base effect of the lizard man I then copied and pasted the original clipping mask, silhouette layer and then using a soft edged eraser then went back and erased all of the areas over the skin and highlighted areas, leaving the armor darker.

I then worked back into the armor and skin adding various colours from the pre-given colour swatches to build up the overall image and adds a 3D effect that lifts the lizard man off the page and brings him to life.

Once I was happy I then began to add texture to the overall lizard man and used the lasso tool to draw around the areas I wanted to add texture to one by one and then added a found texture of firstly reptile scales and used the 'paste special - paste into' function under the edit menu and then edited this texture by lowering the opacity, changing the layer mode to soft lighting and warping and scaling the texture to create an effect overall look. I then completed the same for the armor, drawing round it using the lasso tool piece by piece and adding a found worn metal texture to create a realistic, battle used effect.

Overall I am really happy with my final piece and feel I have used the layers and tools learnt to their full advantage to create an interesting and effective final outcome, created in a fairly quick time period which can be useful when creating concepts for clients or in tight deadlines, whilst still creating an effective final outcome.