i-m-a-g-i-n-efx-august

Workshops
Photoshop
paint a bright
& dynamic figure
Follow Lois van baarle’s process and learn how to use Photoshop’s
colour editing and drawing tools to create a sense of movement
Artist
profiLe
Lois van
baarle (Loish)
Location:
The Netherlands
The artist, known to her
numerous fans as Loish,
is a digital painter and
concept artist living in
the Netherlands. She’s
worked with LEGO,
Guerrilla Games and
Marvel to bring their
characters to life.
www.loish.net
For this workshop, I’ll
be showing you how I
make a colourful,
playful and bright
image. Flow and
movement are very important to the
paintings that I create, because this
helps lead the eye around the image.
An energetic pose and bright
colours generate energy and life,
making the artwork stand out.
When I paint, my goal is to ensure
the lines, shapes, colours and
composition all contribute to this
feeling of movement.
The early phase of my process is
mostly about getting the colours to
feel right. Colour editing tools and
gradients play a big role during this
phase, in which my goal is to create a
striking colour scheme. Later on, it’s
mostly a question of gradually
painting in more and more detail. As
I work towards the finished piece,
new problems present themselves
and the image may evolve in
unexpected ways, so I try not to stick
to my initial sketch too much.
The most important things to keep
in mind is to choose colours
intuitively, and to start rough and let
the image evolve naturally. So
basically: just go with the flow!
get your
resources
See page 6 now!
Initial, loose sketch
1
Rather than working out every detail, I emphasise
gesture, energy and movement. I then draw just enough
to give a sense of the pose, general direction of the hair
and facial expression. The looser the lines, the more
movement I create, which is key at this point.
Introducing rough colours
2
I apply some colours to a layer below the sketch,
and tweak them using colour editing tools until I like
what I see. To add some depth to them, I change the
sketch lines to a reddish hue and set it to Multiply. Finally,
on a separate layer, I roughly paint the face and lighting.
Now I have a clearer idea of where the image is going.
60 August 2017