Another visual demonstration that historical clothing wasn’t dingy and monochrome.
All of these colours can be obtained from vegetable dyes, producing different shades depending on what mordant (colour fixative - alum, different metal filings, different vinegars) was used. See here and here for examples.
BRING THIS FASHION BACK.
Not clothes, but this was a palette developed by the National Museum of Denmark based on paint residue from archaeological finds for the purpose of painting a reconstructed hall.
Apparently, they can tell from the chemical composition that the colours
wouldn’t be mixed with black or white to mute them, but be used in
their brightest form. Bright yellow and red was achieved with expensive dyes (orpiment
and cinnabar) and was thus fashionable. (Source in Danish)
Quick little video tutorial! This is a method I use to block in shapes when I’m fighting the urge to polish my lineart at an early stage, especially in rough concept art that doesn’t actually need polished lineart.
I group two layers in photoshop—a rough sketch, and a flat color—and then carve out the negative space by painting into a mask on the group, instead of filling in the positive shapes. From there I can start painting and adding shading into that group, knowing that I’ve already locked down a good initial silhouette for the object/character:
It feels like oil painting, and I end up finding silhouettes/shapes in a way I wouldn’t if I was obsessively cleaning up the linework first. Digital art has a tendency to veer towards cleanliness/polish, so I love finding little opportunities for happy accidents and a bit of mess!
I used it on my unicorn piece last month, for instance, which I think would have lost a lot of its dynamism and charm if I had worried too much about doing a full ink pass:
Hope this is at all helpful! It’s not a method I use 100% of the time, but it really helps move my process along when I do need it 👍🏼
so here’s a tiny tutorial about light reflections (i’m no expert though!!)
the drawing made in july is lacking on light reflections
the one done in september looks much better since i paid attention to them
Also remember that the intensity of the lighting depends on the material on which it is reflected, eg. glass / metal / fabrics etc. Glossy surfaces reflect the lighting more than matte surfaces
Some tutorials I ran across for hands and arms that I thought people might be interested in! (Unfortunately, not all in English, but hopefully still useful!)
