I love seeing other artists' processes, so I like to share my own now and then. I've been using these
Don Quixote pieces as a way to explore/experiment with my working methods, which have become more and more a mix of digital and traditional approaches.
After rereading
the chapter I intend to illustrate and making some notes, character sketches, and thumbnail composition sketches, I drew this sketch. Just pencil in my sketchbook. I scanned it at a high resolution and began to play with it in Photoshop.
The undead knight who is reclining with the cards is based on a sepulchral effigy from 1500s Spain.
Next, I added a paper texture I scanned years ago. This gives the image an old-fashioned, natural feel. I used a multiply layer.
Now that I have my sketch and a basic texture, I'm ready to start with the background. I tried a few different colors for the sky (one of the luxuries of digital work!), and settled on this green because I felt it gave the picture an eerie, off-kilter feel. The architecture of the castle is based on medieval/Renaissance buildings from Spain (the setting of the novel). Throughout Don Quixote, the Moorish culture is referenced, so I thought an allusion to that in the architecture would be fitting here. At the time the book was written, the Moors (Muslims) and Jews had recently been expelled from Spain.
With the background more or less in place, I painted a block of shade to create my basic value structure. I wanted the figures to be in shadow, almost silhouettes when you squint, and the background to be brightly lit.
I added a couple layers (multiply) of shadow to establish some of the basic modeling of the figures.
Next, I began to work out the local color of the figures and their costumes, and continued to build up layers of light and shade.
I finished modeling the figures, and then added a few more layers (multiply) of shadow to deepen and reassert my value structure, which had begun to become lost in the modeling of the figures. I also wanted this area to be warmer, so I used a sepia/orange color.
The painting portion is pretty much complete now, so I drew a new layer of lines. I'm essentially creating an ink drawing over the image at this point. But it's digital.
Another texture element I worked with here can be seen above. I imported a texture dot pattern--it's a piece of gray film stock scanned at high resolution. When used as an "overlay" layer it creates a nice, subtle, dot-grain effect. If you click on the above image to see it larger, you can see more clearly how this grain pattern helps the modeled layers look more natural. The original image is on the left, while the image on the right has the grain overlay.
In total, there are some 50-60 layers of color and texture in this image.
My last step is simply to clean up the edges, outline the box and sign it. All done!
I hope this was helpful to someone--I learn a lot from seeing how others work! My digital methods are probably not the most advanced out there, but I'm enjoying the exploration.
Signor Quixote encounters a troupe of actors, set to stage a play called "The Parliament of Death." The actors portray Death, Love, a Demon, an Angel, and the Devil himself. When the figure of Death removes his skull-mask, a second skull is visible behind it. Don Quixote declares his passion for theater, "Since I was a boy I have loved mask-shows, and in my youth I have been ravished with stage-plays." All of Quixote is theater, a hall of mirrors where illusion and reality collide and often switch places.
Don Quixote's early victories are fleeting; he quickly suffers his first defeat and is picked up by a concerned neighbor and brought home to his concerned family. Thus ends the first sally of our glorious knight-errant.
I scan the drawing, then copy and paste the drawing to create a new channel in Photoshop. This allows me to color over the top of my drawing, leaving the background blank.
I add a layer of flat color, and place it underneath the line drawing. This keeps the lines on top crisp and unmuddled.
Then I add a layer of lights and a layer of darks, to provide some shading and color variation, and to emphasize the forms a bit.
Then I use a texture of old paper that I've scanned and place it over the color.
Finally, I have another ink drawing I've created, which I scanned to create the heavenly light. I deleted the helmet area because I didn't want the light obscuring it. The image below shows the ink painting--in the actual image I've altered it from black to white, but I left it black here so you can actually see it.
So then I turn the ink white, and voila! The final image.
I've grown to enjoy digital processes--making images like this reminds me of intaglio printmaking, but this is much cheaper and faster.
Don Quixote at last acquires the talisman he has been seeking--the golden helmet of Mambrino, worn by Gradasso and Rinaldo. The hapless barber from whom he has taken it flees in terror.
Don Quixote sets out one morning before dawn, poised to right the wrongs of the world.
Don Quixote is my favorite book. This is the ingenious old gentleman himself, filling his head with romantic tales until his brain turns to dust. He will soon depart (minus his brain) to become the most glorious knight-errant in all of Christendom. Is the loss of his wits a subtraction or an addition?
Don Quixote is tragically defeated in glorious combat by the Knight of the White Moon, formerly known as the Knight of the Mirrors, whose mirror-armor reflects multiple images of his fallen foe.
