I finished this artwork a few weeks ago, but wanted to share how the piece developed. First of all, I didn’t want to be stuck having to use reference materials that I could find from the trailer or via Google, and of course to create realistic likenesses, I need reference. I found a great ‘making of’ book in Forbidden Planet, Covent Garden, which gave me everything I needed to make a start. I went through that and found my favourite images, all the while thinking about how to establish the dynamics I wanted in my composition. This led to a crude Photoshop collage, and from there I separated the characters out into separate files. Part of the reason for doing this is so that I can concentrate on one character at a time, but it’s also because Painter tends to struggle with large files with lots of layers.

The first step is to work on the pencils. To get the proportions right I make a few marks over the top of the photo, but then I move that to the side and draw as much of the character by observation as possible. I tend to do two pencil layers, with the first incredibly loose, and the second fairly tight and precise so I don’t need to ‘think’ when doing the inks. In the images below I’ve overlaid the ink on top of the pencils to show the transition:

At this point, I bring all the separate files back to Photoshop and perfect the composition, cleaning up any gaps or glitches that catch my eye. Then it’s back to Painter, where I paint each separate area with a flat colour. This allows me to mask off each area when it comes to the actual painting stage, so that I can use large sweeping brush strokes whenever I need to, without overlapping any of the other areas. Painting the flat colours is tedious, but it frees everything up for the most exciting part, so it’s essential to take the time over it.

At this point the actual painting and shading can begin proper, and this all happens in Painter. Once that’s complete, it’s into Photoshop for the final time to adjust the colours and bring everything together, adding a few subtle effects here and there. Done!