IZM 2011: The Zombie Priest 2.0

Hey all!
I just noticed the strange number of religious pieces done this year for IZM. Oh well...
You can check out deviantart for a full description of my concept. This is to talk about my technique a little. To start with, the original image was done in HB and 2B graphite on a page taken from my sketchbook. It's a very high-tooth paper, so it suited my needs well. After I was pleased with the composition and level of detail, I ported it into photoshop to play with it a bit. I spent a long time (almost as much time as it took to do the original linework) on a transparent layer of white with the burn tool in order to give the image some shade and depth. I went very liberal; applying thin strokes of dark tone with a large brush and eventually building up more depth with progressively smaller, textured brushes. After I was happy with the level of tonal depth, I went in with the dodge tool and pulled out some highlights. I then created a soft light layer tinted to a burnt sienna color and then painted all the other colors overtop of that. I set the brush to low opacity, to keep as much of the burnt sienna undercolor as I could. Once I was happy with the color, I created a multiply layer to add in extra shadow areas and then a normal layer to add highlights. Once that was done, I flattened the whole thing and put a new layer of yellow ochre over top. I cut a big hole in the middle of the layer, gave it a really high gaussian blur, made it pretty transparent, and flattened the whole thing again. This gave the image a nice overall warmth and helped to center the figure. Finally, I out a very light canvas texture over everything, to unify any little irregularities in the burning or color process and called it a day.
This has been a good experiment. I'll need to think up a new dimension to add to this whole proceeding. More digital painting, perhaps. Or some traditional work first off. We'll see where it takes me.
More on my concept can be found here. http://tristan-despero.deviantart.com/art/The-Zombie-Priest-2-0-215681539

The Encounter! IZM 2011

Hey all!
I was thinking a lot about the source of a number of zombie plagues in movies and the like, and a large number of them seem to come from outer space. It was that idea that inspired this image or the alien outcast, infected and set adrift in the void, alone and hungry.
Graphite and a whole mess of Photoshopping. It was a fun technique to experiment with, though I don't think it will ever replace my love of traditional mediums. I began with by retouching the original graphite drawing, and then adding a multiplied white layer which I used to add more contrast with the dodge (mid tones) and burn (highlights) tools. I retouched the color of the original graphite drawing (with an Overlay layer) to a light blue-green, for atmosphere purposes.Afterwards, on a soft light layer, I added the colors. From there, on a multiply layer, I put in more shadows and dark areas. I got to a kind of experimental part of the image, when I put a layer of a dark blue-purple over the entire image, made it very transparent (about 15% opacity) and erased some highlighted areas, then hit the entire layer with Gaussian blur. Afterwards, I made normal layer to add the highlights. From there, I flattened the image, gave it a very light texture and added a little something else while I'll leave you to guess.
It was fun to play with and works well in a pinch. I'll use this again, I'm sure.
More zombie goodness to come!

The Zenbie: International Zombie Month 2011!

Hey all! Once again, International Zombie Month has crawled from the grounds and is pounding at our doorways. To honor this most undead of months, I present you with my first offering. Originally spawned from a bad set of Zen jokes at the Drink and Draw Social Club, I eventually created this image around the idea of "Zen Zombie eats his own brains."
Graphite, marker, pencil crayon and gouache on rag marker paper, with an assist from Photoshop.
For more details on International Zombie Month, please see our official facebook page, or look it up on deviantart.
More zombie goodness to come!