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‘Witch’ is a human character with a dark theme that I have designed for a computer game. First, I thought about of what kind of character would be right. To give you an idea on what I like you should have a look at the paintings of Gerald Brom. He was interviewed in one of the more recent issues of Art Scene International and he is my favorite fantasy artist. I admire his Gothic style very much and thus his images always give me great inspiration. I was looking for this Gothic style in my project, too.

The dress of my character should be a close-fitting corsage, with rotting rags hanging from it. I could almost see her n front of me: Her hair would be dancing in the wind. I thought her personality would be similar to the strange enchantress in the movie ‘Sleepy Hollow’ directed by Tim Burton. So I drew up the first idea I had in pencil, but in a way she looked too harmless. She looked more like a goddess than an evil temptress. And that I didn’t want. So I started all over, this time taking some reference material. I used images of Kylie Minogue’s face and Victoria Becham’s features (not just her breasts!!!).

I think the structure of her collarbone and shoulder blade is perfect. Now, the study of these kinds of photographs becomes the basis for serious reference. But let’s have a look at some of the process pictures that I took.

Hardware: Apple G5, Wacom Digitizer
Software: Adobe Photoshop 7, Corel Painter 6

This is the sketch that would be the base for this artwork. I started with some simple rough lines on paper, refined them more and more before I finally did the detailed outline sketch that you see here. This sketch is now scanned and I start to colorize it in Photoshop.

Ok, as you can see in this screenshot I have 3 layers: First the background layer that is usually filled with a single color or a gradient. On top of that are the “color layer” which is the layer that I work in, and finally the “sketch layer”. The sketch layer is put on “Multiply”. What happens is that all white areas become transparent and only the sketch stays opaque.

Oh, wow…almost done. Not really. And to be quite honest - I don’t think it makes much sense to show you each stroke that I do. Most of the time I go back and forth anyways, change a little here and there; use another color… until I get the desired result. That is what I like about the digital painting process: It allows changes. I can try a color, and if it does not work I simply change it. So what has happened here? I used the Airbrush tool to fill the shape and to match the basic colors.

In the process of matching my colors I can try one color and then another, selecting the one I like. Take the hair as a sample. I tried a purple color but realized later that red would match the hue of the picture much better…

…so with Image > Adjust > Hue/Saturation I simply changed it. See what I mean?

Drawing the details of the Witch’s skin and clothes, different styles need to be distinguished and used together. There is no shortcut. Success depends on your knowledge of color and anatomy. Using color to make an object is just the same as traditional drawing, only that in this case I use digital paint instead of oils or acrylics, and using Wacom’s Intuos 2 instead of brushes. I usually draw clothes with an airbrush in Photoshop and use the oil pastel of Painter to draw the skin. These two applications ensure the best quality for working towards those very different results