TLC Workshop: Beauty and the Beast

Saturday, August 31st, 2013

By Justin Gerard

Last week Cory GodbeyIain Mccaig and I did a workshop in Seattle for TLC Workshops.  
It was absolutely fantastic.  There was action, romance, drama, pencil drawing and Iain did real-life, actual magic tricks in front of everyone. It was a great experience and if you are wondering if I would recommend that you go to one, then yes. Yes I do.  
While the workshop was more fun than a basket of kittens, I was only able to get through the traditional aspects of my work (Cory hogged all the digital glory for himself). So I am posting a follow-up here to shed some light on the digital method I used to finish mine.  
…Just in case there is anyone who plans to finish the one they started in at the workshop…  *ahem
You know who you are.  

The Value Comp

The Watercolor Painting
The Digital Trickery
Now, since no one is seeing how this went from watercolor to digital finish, and I might have lied about it, I am going to show the digital steps I went through to arrive at the final. 
As I mentioned in the class, there isn’t a great deal of “painting.”  And as you can see, it is actually a little more like photo-editting that I am doing over the watercolor. Most of the layers are transparent. The goal of this method is to preserve the original painting as much as possible, while pushing the colors and values farther.  

The final surface textures and rendering was done largely with Photoshop’s new “Mixer Brush Tool.”  I don’t actually understand the tool, but it allows me to push and pull areas on the image that need a little more softness in the transitions and a little more sharpness in the details. It can be tedious to work with, (mostly because I am still figuring it out) but I like the visual result.  

Featured Video

Featured Posts

Recent Comments

RELATED POSTS

Studio Safety, Part 1 : Ventilation

Studio Safety, Part 1 : Ventilation

In this article we are going to cover proper studio ventilation for the artist, with a focus on dealing with solvents. We will cover the various options for setting up a studio, and a few options you can use if no ventilation is possible. Almost all illustrators...

Oath Hammer

Oath Hammer

I recently had the pleasure of working with the tabletop RPG Oath Hammer to create a cover and several illustrations. Today, I'd like to share some of the work for them with you! I love the challenge that these kinds of projects present: complex character...

“The Frog Bard” Digital Demo for Huion

“The Frog Bard” Digital Demo for Huion

  I was recently given the opportunity to test drive the new Huion Kamvas 24 4K digital tablet and I have the results to share with you today. Most of the painting was done live, and if you'd like to see it, you can check out the first VOD where we came up with...

11 Comments

  1. Arnie Fenner

    LOVE THIS, Justin!

  2. Sthe

    Wha!

  3. CGriffin

    Does it ever frustrate you, Justin, when you can't get the traditional piece to look just the way you want it to? I often grumble at myself when I have to go back in and “make it better” in Photoshop, but of course that's one of the luxuries of digital art!

  4. Veronica Kosowski

    Beauty and the Beast is one of my favorite stories, I love your take on it! Really cool to see how you combine traditional and digital.

  5. Allison

    I LOVE everything about this! Fantastic character designs too. 😀

  6. Chronológico

    Wow… Justin, How many time did you spend on the “digital Trickery” as you said?

  7. Vanja Todoric

    i love you man! 🙂

  8. Julien Mariette

    Really a nice work !!! Thanks for giving every steps you had to past.

  9. aliena josph

    A mermaid princess makes a faustian bargain with an unscrupulous seahag in order to meet a human prince on land.Mike Walden Review

  10. albina N muro

    The Beauty Box of Los Angeles features exclusive product lines that include skin case, cosmetics, hair care, fragrances, nails, jewelry, and home decord. http://clearskinmaxsolution.org