Process - 'Flow'

• Download brushes, process JPGs and GIFs from attachment.
• The full illustration is available as HD 2+ reward. See this post to know how to receive the reward.
• Attachment version is smaller than HD 2+ version. (1800px vs 2400px in width)
• 請從附件下載筆刷檔、完整JPG與GIF圖片。
• 高清完成圖為限時HD 2+獎勵，詳情請參考此篇文章。
• 附件圖片比HD 2+獎勵版本小一些。(總寬: 1800px vs 2400px ) 

Photoshop cc2018 / Cintiq pro 24"

# The basic logic behind this work #

I've been seeking the ideal way to design forms for a very long time. Last week, I found a way which frees me from the limitation of linework and the burdens of rendering. I guess this method belong to some kind of 'shading', a bridge between 'sketching' and 'rendering', here's the logic behind this work:I assume most of you already know what is a sketch. But maybe some of you are not familiar with the concept of 'rendering'. To understand rendering, the first step is to understand lighting/shading. Below I use a 3d model viewer from ANATOMY360 for demonstrating how lighting works:As you can see, by ignoring some lights, like result D~F, the darker values are closer to follow the contours of form. In this case, the diffuse light means 'An artificial soft light scattered and comes from all directions. It's softer and does not cast harsh shadows.' It's often used as a source of fill light in photography.

Just FYI, some artists are using a method called 'ambient occlusion (AO)' on 2D painting. But in my method, I rely more on diffuse light, not ambient light. Also I'm not strict to use the 'correct' values in this method, I only see values as tools to tell the forms. 

# Brushes #

These are the brushes used for this work:You can download brushes from attachments. Patreon always messes with my in-post images so it is recommended to view the description JPG from attachments too.

# Process #

Here's the full process:I also made an animated GIF so it's easier to compare between each step. Assumably Patreon doesn't support gif animation, so it's only in the attachment. Also if you're using PC, I recommend a viewer called 'Honeyview', not only it supports gifs, you can also stop the animation at any frame you want! :D

Back to the topic, this work started as a random doodle and I actually didn't expect to be able to finalize it. There's not much concept behind it so his design changed constantly during the process. I almost regretted that I didn't make enough concept earlier, because the process took a bit too long *sweat*

To be more specific of how it is done, I constantly create new layers on top with 70-90% opacities. See a cropped process of 24 frames below, and you can also download the animated GIF of this process in attachment:Each step is drawing on a different layer. The purpose of this method is to trace & avoid erasing the older design, close to the idea of nondestructive-editing. But the layers still will be merged when I'm satisfied with the design, or simply because there are too many layers.

BTW, I also plan to record more process videos done by this method in the future. But not works of such complexity, maybe some practice of simpler object, like skulls or random creatures. So my hard drive won't be exploded by the size of recorded videos :P

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 # 此畫法的基本邏輯 #

我已經苦尋理想的造型雕塑過程很長一段時間，就在這個月接近尾聲時，我突然從某張塗鴉得到靈感，且奇蹟般地能夠完成它。老實說還是蠻慢的啦主因是草稿真的太草了(毆)以下簡單介紹這個畫法的邏輯：大家對線稿或草稿應該都不陌生，但知道灰度(value)和渲染(render)之間關係的人可能就沒那麼多了。要瞭解兩者之間的關係，首先要瞭解光影。以下用Anatomy360出品的真人模組瀏覽器來示意：在D~F結果中，較暗的灰度基本上是繞著實體的輪廓走，對2D繪畫來說，用這種光影效果表現實體的過程會變得更直覺。此範例的漫射光所指的是「一種柔和的、來自四面八方不定向的人造光線，這種光線不會造成明顯的陰影。」這種光在攝影中則多半被拿來當做補光使用。

順帶一提，之前在某PO裡曾經提到Ambient Occlusion(閉塞陰影，縮寫AO)這個詞，當今已經有不少繪者採用AO方式來繪製2D作品，此手法主要參考的是環境光(ambient light)。但我這邊所使用的光線主要是漫射光、而非環境光。另外本畫法對灰度的使用很隨便(欸)，並沒有嚴格要求一定要用幾種或幾趴的灰度。

# 筆刷 #

以下是本作中使用到的筆刷：筆刷檔案可以從附件下載，是說Patreon可能會亂壓縮文章內的圖片，如果會在意圖片品質，請從附件中下載更清晰的說明圖。

#過程#

以下是全程示意圖(圖片已附在上半部，大圖請從附件下載)：
為了方便對照前後步驟的差異，我把所有步驟串在一起做成GIF動畫丟在附件裡。假如你有PC，推薦下載免費看圖軟體"Honeyview"，不僅支援gif、還可以定格瀏覽噢！

話說這張圖一開始只是隨興塗鴉，結果沒想到竟然就這樣挖到一個可以完稿的方法，但也代表我的準備不夠充份，所以整個過程一直不斷在改設計，要是一開始就有更具體的概念應該可以少浪費很多時間(汗)

以下用24格局部跨下(!!)截圖來更具體來解釋畫的過程，此圖有做成GIF，可從附件下載：(圖片已附在上半部)

我在畫的過程會不斷往上開不透明度約在70-90%之間的新圖層，上圖每一格都是畫在不同的圖層。一方面可以隱約看見底下的線稿、一方面是為了避免破壞掉原有的設計。但當然啦這招其實也蠻浪費時間的。一旦我確定畫出比較滿意的造型、或圖層實在開太多，這些圖層最後還是會被合併。

之後會再錄製一些以類似手法完稿的影片，不過可能會是造型比較簡單的練習、比方說人的頭骨或一些幻想生物之類，一方面各位可以更具體瞭解我的作畫方式，一方面我的硬碟也不會被太長的影片塞爆，是說我二月會暫停Patreon一個月(系統不會在二月初向各位收費)，所以最快應該會在三月錄好影片吧，對未來的影片有興趣的就請麻煩繼續支持了，感謝收看(鞠躬)