DOR 2007 - Final
When I first started working on this a week ago, I had thought it would be a "quick" image. I felt I knew exactly what to do. Once I began working on it, however, I continued to find places to improve it. I think that this is my most impressive piece this year technically if nothing else.
I used a number of new techniques. I began with a blue ink layout to flesh out the image. This helped a great deal to rapidly develop the image. It reduced cleanup time magnificently. The lineart also used a new technique. Instead of black ink, I used a very dark brown for Novella. I ended up tweaking this to be even darker in my final version. The background lineart began as the same dark brown, but was changed to black for emotional effect. The difference is subtle, but I think it makes the character more lively. The flat color wasn't particularly special. It used the same fully opaque, multi-layer technique I used for earlier images. I had tweaked Novella's color scheme. In previous images she had gray eyes, and her jacket accent color was red. Now her eyes are cyan and her accent color is purple. To me, characters have a certain color that resonates with their core personality. Recent discoveries in the story prompted me to change Novella's accent color.
The above airbrushing, however, used a number of new tricks. Airbrushing largely involves the Burn and Dodge tool which manipulates the darkness or lightness of colors. The tool has three modes in GIMP: Shadow, Midtone, Highlights. (I believe Photoshop does as well.) I had always selected one based on the effects of the color and stuck with it throughout the image. I found this to be a mistake, particularly on the skin layers. A combination of modes created dramatic effects. You can see this in Novella's forehead near her hair.
Additional effects were also used for the window and the painting. The window features an internal reflection of the wood paneling. This is done as a duplicate of the paneling color later, offset, and semitransparent. I used the eraser tool to fade out the edges of the reflection. To add further depth, I added an additional layer with mold spots. This created the illusion of a dirty window. Honestly, I think it could be better, but it works for now. A semi-transparent gradient was also used on the painting to create the illusion of pane of glass. My signature is quietly in the picture's corner. The painting itself is based on a subplot of the anime series Haibane Renmei. If you have seen the series, you may grasp an additional meaning of the overall image.
The high resolution of this image turned out surprisingly well. I'm tempted to create a desktop background using the high-res version.
Prints, up to 12x18, are available at DeviantART.
