Anatomy of a digital sketch.
A recent fishing trip inspired a sketch that aimed to capture the impressive weaponry found on Rainbow jacks when spawning.
Rainbow jacks are highly aggressive and must fight for the right to spawn. As a result, evolution has equipped them with impressive teeth that make effective close-combat weapons. It was the capture of a particularly brutal looking jack from the Tongariro River that prompted me to write a Facebook post for the Taupo fishery team and inspired this digital sketch.
‘Tongariro crocodile’ or ‘Psycho jack’? Either title seems to work for this menacing looking trout.
The digital art process.
This simple sketch is a good candidate to illustrate the process I use to create digital art. Traditional art skills are still important, such as the ability to observe a subject and capture details and proportions in a pencil drawing.
There are many ways to approach digital painting and illustration. I currently loosely base my paintings around a three step process:
1.
The first stage involves a pencil drawing. Only this time the pencil is applying lines on a computer screen rather than paper.
2.
Next the drawing is given form by adding areas of light and shadow. In this instance an airbrush was used.
3.
Finally, details were added using a variety of dry media to introduce subtle texture.
A photograph taken on the riverbank confirms the fighting credentials of these impressive trout.
