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"Oh what if my papa the flame has taken?
The sun veils its mane 'neath the maria, the peaks
Awaken, awaken, my papa, awaken!
And call for me out of my cleft scarlet tree!"
Process
1 | Thumbnail Sketch
A quick and dirty thumbnail sketch. I mainly want to just visualize the landscape shapes, character poses, and overall flow of the composition.
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2 | Value Sketch
Mapping out the feel of the lighting and atmospheric layering below the thumbnail sketch.
I wanted to make sure that Connie and her father would pop out the most in contrast.​
3 | Early Gradient Map
Various gradient maps applied to the value sketch.
This helps with thinking of some colour combinations I would have never come up with alone, or just quickly previewing a color tone and mood.
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I chose the fourth variation to proceed with.
4 | Color Overlay
An overlay layer is placed above the gradient map draft. I would splash some colors to tone the tree, flowers, greenery, etc. This helps eliminate some guesswork for the general colors.
The overlay layer
5 | Details
Went back to the value pass and refined much of the details, adding fidelity to shapes, adjusting some tones, etc.
6 | Coloring
Applied colors to the detailed value pass. I separated the foreground from the background, and other layered elements from each other to apply slightly adjusted gradient maps from the early gradient map test. A few extra layers are added for more refining and detailing work.
7 | Gradient Map Toning
Subtle gradient maps with low opacity applied to simulate LUTs.
The final version would incorporate a bit of each version via masks.
FINAL
Minor changes are made, such as adjusted values, birds, making Constance smaller, etc. Thanks for following along!
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