CHARACTERS CREATIVE PROCESS – Clark Illustrations – Art Portfolio

CHARACTERS CREATIVE PROCESS

Hire or commission me to make your characters today! I created this character with Adobe Photoshop and Clip Studio Paint.

Nautila Character Creation Process

Nautila, a futuristic Sci-Fi woman, was requested by a freelance client to look similar to his favorite Anime styles, but he wanted an original look in my style. This is the main character of his mobile game. She is your commander, and is a bit condescending and harsh. The client was very happy with the first sketch, saying it was 90% there, and he requested some small revisions. After approval, I move into the inking stage.

The inking, or outlining stage, is done with Clip Studio Paint. CSP has a G-pen tool that does an excellent job of mimicking a real brush pen. I then bring the ink into Photoshop and, using the color scheme from the reference, create flat color-filled layers for each separate section of the art. Next, I make clipping mask layers into the flat layers for color, lighting, and shading. This allows me to quickly paint while staying inside the lines.

In the final phases, I start adding some smaller details, such as specular highlights, rim lighting, and ambient occlusion. For Nautila I also added the glows and reflective light from the green lights on her suit. With the art nearly finished, the client requested 3 additional facial expressions he could swap out for different emotions. A project like this takes around 1-4 hours depending on the level of detail and revisions.

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