Procees Moonknight Infrared

here is a very simple process break down for the Moon Knight infrared illustration I did.
here is a link to the final illustration: tomkellyart.deviantart.com/art…


 From time to time I get asked about how I work and what is my process,here is a simple 3 step breakdown giving a over view of my creative process.

1st I start of doing quick thumbnail sketches in pencils or pen which ever is closest to me on the art table. these thumb nails are usually small around 2 x3 inches or so. This stage I just try to work out composition camera angles,design elements and stuff like that. Often I have several false starts that I abandon and just keep brainstorming until I get the solution I want.

2nd stage is assembling elements ,getting reference images and making elements for the final image. Also in many cases I do a much more refined sketch or study of specific part of a given image. Now in the case of my vector illustration style the more refined sketch stage is not needed or rather I just do that stage using the vector program illustrator.

3. Once I have generated the main elements in adobe Illustrator I then assemble/position them to fit my sketch image. Most cases I scan in my thumb nail or sketch and then use it as a temple and guide. Depending on what type of effects or rendering I plane one using I may either work completely in illustrator or shift over to Photoshop.
In this case I new I wanted to layer in some texture so I moved to photoshop to finish the image. You can see in the middle example above that I still work on the illustration in a black and white/grayscale mode.
   I work in BW or grayscale to make sure I have the design elements down as well as that basic flow of the image correct and working. In this stage I will still tweak the image and often add or remove elements form the initial image to try to enhance the over impact of the piece.
It also should be noted that I'm working with large files with many many elements on their own layer


4. Now that I have the main design elements in place and a strong tonal value range for the image I then switch to color mode. I always work in CMYK mode because since I may get the image printed later on I want the colors to work for that stage. If the colors work for print they will totally work for video so better safe than sorry later on.
In color mode I layer in textures and other elements I have made myself or purchased. I don't use stuff strait from a google screen grab other than as drawing reference for a few reasons. One chances are whatever you google is in poor resolution and will look like crap in hi res, The image you grab more than likely a very common or popular searched image so everyone has seen it, In most cases the image is own by some one else and you should not steal it, and lastly once you have made your own textures/elements you can use as you need for any future projects so which is very handy as well as time saving.
I'm still working with large files with many many elements on their own layer in color mode.

5. The last phase for me is final color choices, often I will adjust hue,saturation, and brightness of my colors to create the mood and visual effect I want. Once everything looks good to myself (or if its for a client's involved and they approve of the image) I flatten the layers and save the image as a hi res master file.

This is my basic work flow and process for all my art just in some cases there are more steps from one phase to another depending on what type of media I'm using or what the illustration is going to be used for and the over all look and impact I want for the final image.