Gator Pox by Russ Cox

 © 2011 Russ Cox | Smiling Otis Studio

A few months ago, I was learning Painter and trying out a new style. After chatting with some fellow illustrators, I thought I would try Photoshop for a digital painting. I chatted with Photoshop master Will Terry and followed his video tutorial to get a jump start. This is my first attempt. I must say that I found Photoshop easier to navigate and was able to create my own custom brushes very easily. Not that I am ditching Painter but I will do a few more pieces in Photoshop to get a handle on painting this way.

My first step was to do a quick sketch and scan into Photoshop. I have no idea where the concept came from. It was the first thing to pop into my head so I went with it.

After tweaking the overall contrast of the scan, I did a quick gray scale under painting to figure light direction and overall value.

I then blocked in some dark tones in various the layers. I played around with the "Multiply" settings with each layer so it would pick up some of the values from the layer underneath.

Working from dark to light, I slowly built up the colors. By using a custom made brush, I was able to create a texture on the gator. Also varying the brush width, it allows me to work in some details.

Continuing to add color and working in the dark lines, help bring the illustration together. I also wanted the original sketch to shine through.

A few highlights were added at the end. The colors were a little flat so I played with the "Saturation" setting in Photoshop to boost the color. This is the final piece. I have sketched out two more pieces that I want to try painting digitally. Maybe one of them will be in my next post.

Stay tuned next week for a special announcement from Pixel Shavings!

Ciao,
Russ

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