One character I absolutely crave drawing, but always have trouble doing so, is Pitch Black, from Rise of the Guardians. I love him as a character, but as an artistic subject, it is so difficult for a lot of people to actually draw him and end with a piece that satisfies them. Because of this I often abandoned pieces regarding Pitch that didn't turn out the way I wanted... before I even made it to a finished result.
But with the new year, I wanted to complete things. Even if they started unsatisfactory, it might not be a reflection of the finished result. While the lineart may look terrible, some shading and colour might bring it to life. So that's what I did my best to do, work through what haunted me to create a finished result, maybe it'd be satisfying, maybe it wouldn't be, but I still would have a finished piece. I'd still have something to learn from, which is what mistakes are good for. Learning.
In 2014, I created this sketch;
I gave up quickly, not even a sketch, just some lineart I threw it together quickly as an idea took hold, and just as quickly threw it aside when the idea didn't turn out how i wanted. I did this a lot back then, as shown by just how much content I started an cast aside.
With this piece, I basically do redraw it. Lowering the opacity I begin the sketch from the start, using the prior lineart as a base reference. Fixing prior mistakes such as the coats collar, and Pitch's head shape and shoulders. Focusing on anatomy and body shape as I sketch over the original.
Once the new sketch is complete, I work on the lineart, cleaning up the sketch and doing some final fixups. Fixing proportions and adding detail. Once the lineart is complete however I select the outside of it and fill in any gaps, before reversing it. This is to make sure the inside of the lineart doesn't have any gaps either. With the inside selected, I add a base colour that is a different colour to what I'll be using so I can select the inside again, and also spot any gaps in colouring.
Once the colouring process begins, I select different sections and focus on those. Starting with the skin then moving on too the rest before adding detail such as shading, and for his eyes, a glowing effect with the luminescent tool. Once that's complete, I colour the lineart;
Hope you enjoyed!
Music used;
Jensation - Joystick [NCS Release]
Disfigure - Blank [NCS Release]
