21-Draw-Illustrators-Guidebook-vol-2-ebook-(2021)

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4320
THE BLOCK IN—STARTING THE
FINAL IMAGE
Everything is largely in place! All the difficult
design choices have been made. Now it
is time to paint the image and bring it to
completion. I like to paint in high resolution;
that way I can print my image out to review.
For this image I go with 8K resolution
(7680 x 4320 pixels) at 300 dpi. This is a bit
larger than the A3 size, so it should print
well. I place my 8K canvas over a larger
image leaving space around it for bleed
and reference materials. I like to place my
thumbnails around my drawing as I work, so
I can color pick them or reference them as I
go. Later when I get close to completing the
illustration, I crop the image down to size.
After the background is more defined,
placing characters in the scene will be
easier. It also helps me see how the light and
color of the scene will affect rendering.
To help me with the background, I decide to
use a 3D mockup of my manor house room.
It isn’t anything fancy, just some blocks for
I begin the main painting process by
blocking in, first a rough block in of the
background. I start with the background so
I can establish the setting for the characters.
CHARACTER DRIVEN ILLUSTRATIONS
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