Dark Temple – artloader.net

January 7, 2016

Dark Temple Sketches 4

I tried to make the temple look like it was made of basalt (a dark volcanic rock apparently).

I experimented with a new texturing process:

Using a textured brush (one of Gimp’s built-in acrylic brushes), I painted onto a separate layer.
Using the eraser tool on the texture layer, I cut the texture down to fit the shape of the temple.
I then switched on Lock Alpha Channel for the texture layer and painted light and dark areas with a large brush.

Not sure I like the design of the windows – I was wanting something more gothic.

Anyway I think I’ll leave this one for now and get on with some landscape studies next.

January 4, 2016

Dark Temple Sketches 3

More Dark Temple Sketching tonight.

Sketching in the lines from which the central tower is suspended:
Then blocking in the base colour (the line layer is on top):
Blocking in the shadows and highlights:
Scaling the image up by 200% and then blending in the tones (I found that the best results were achieved when using the airbrush tool with a flat shaped brush and a large brush size):

I think my perspective is a bit off here, I should have used a vanishing point somewhere off to the top right of the screen. A note for next time.

Coming down with a cold so I’m off to put on some Vapo Rub and get an early night!

January 3, 2016

Dark Temple Sketches 2

Picking up on my last post, I’ve started a more detailed drawing of the “central suspended tower” idea.

First I put in some blue construction lines and then drew in part of the temple:
I then duplicated this part twice using “Paste As New Layer” and then “Merge Down layer” in Gimp and erased a few unwanted lines:
A few more construction lines helped me to situate the central suspended tower:
I then drew in the central suspended tower:

In an effort to keep my life in balance, I’m calling it a night now – sleep deprivation is bad.

December 31, 2015

Dark Temple Sketches

Staying with environments, my next painting will be of a dark temple. This will be good preparation for illustrating the first panel of my digital comic.

I’m starting with a few sketches where I’ve tried to let my imagination run wild.

Out of the first 6 sketches, I’ve circled one that jumped out at me:

I tried to follow this train of thought on with another 4 sketches:

During the last 2 sketches I had another brain wave for the last sketch where I’ve got a tower suspended in the centre:

Time for bed now but I reckon I’ll go with the central suspended tower.