Predator Skate Deck Design (WiP)

     For our sketching for communications course, we were assigned the task of creating a skate deck design in the theme of a "Predator".  I explored many themes in my head, with predator being a large ranged topic of interpretation.  I wanted to do something a little outside of the box of simply an animal predator, and looked for inspiration in other fields.

Eventually I settled on a druid-type, feral human.  Initially inspired by Skyrim, I added in my fascination with animal skulls as masks and headpieces, and soon worked heavily off of such idea. 

    I started off with a simple sketch, using my form from a photograph to create, and trace the body.  I referenced a photograph of a wolf skull to draw the skill myself, sketching out the details after, and testing the figure on the skatedeck.

    I changed around my initial idea numerous times,before settling on one that'd allow me to use the whole figure, and create a movement across the board.

    I wanted to create a lineless art style, as dark lines would not have fit the look I was going for.  As this was the first time I have attempted such a style, it took a great amount of time and trial and error to create the desired look.  

    I started off with a monochromatic painting, before adding a colour layer over top.

    The hide movement took an extremely long time to create, and I obsessively fussed with it, hours throughout the image's completion, coming back to it even, after the image was finished to fix small errors.

    After the first bit of the image is finished, I work on finding a compositional background, adding and taking away from it as I go along.  The background also helps me to create the figure when I start work on it.

 

    I colour the dark lines so that I am able to see, and colour them over the red background.

    I create a base to start the monochromatic shading on, and get a whereabouts of how I want the image to work, and where the best shading would create a fit composition.

    In order to achieve my method of painting, I hold a black and white slider to the left of my screen, and adjust it avidly throughout the creation, so I may have full control over the image.  I do not use the eraser for this process, simply paint over it with a lighter colour.  I keep the opacity and flow of my brush at low, so I may achieve a "painterly" look.

    I come nearing the end of the painting process, as I have fully shaded the figure.  I come back to it often, still, to fix small issues that I may have missed.

   The previous are a number of different coloured compositions I went through to finally achieve the final.  Also by switching colours, it helps to see issues with the image that you may have not noticed before.

I finally chose a black and green theme, and finalize the image into a file, before fitting it to the skatedeck.

 

Overall, I am extremely happy with my skatedeck, and it marks an image that I have never reached the potential of creating before.

To finalize, I spent likely, approximately 24 hours on the image, on and off, pulling all-nighters when necessary to fully complete, and enjoyed the process the whole way along.