PROCESS VIDEO // scraps

Hey everyone! Here is the process for my scraps painting that I posted at the beginning of last week. I thought this would be an interesting process to share, because I take a kind of technical approach to setting it up.

Here’s the reference image that I started out with:

Here’s some things to keep in mind while watching this video:

• GRID // I start by setting up a perspective grid. The idea behind this is just to have a sense of how to map all of the objects in the room on top of the perspective lines. I find this to be a really useful technique for interiors, because it just makes it a whole lot easier to figure out what goes where. I don’t adhere to it to strictly, but just enough so that the general sense of perspective is believable!
• RECTANGLES // I construct all of the books, bookshelves, and other geometric elements in this image by creating little rectangles, and then transforming and duplicating them to create the impression of books on a bookshelf. I just feel like sometimes this is a lot easier than literally painting a bunch of squares. It also creates cleaner edges. The downside is that it can sometimes look a bit fake, but I try to compensate for that by painting over it later on to add some variation and hand-drawn charm to them.
• COLORS // With interior scenes like these, it can sometimes be a struggle to get the colors to feel more unified. One trick that I’ve been falling back on a lot lately involves bringing the colors together a little bit more about halfway through the process. For this painting, I do this about 23 minutes in by at adding some color modifications. I do a few different passes, including color balance, and selective color. These modifications make the colors appear a bit more faded, like an old photograph. Once I’ve done that, I re-introduce some more contrast gradually by drawing some line work over the shapes that I established at an earlier stage. This brings the colors more closely together, but also creates a bit of a stylized look by intentionally diverting away from an overly realistic approach to color.
• CONCEPT // I changed the concept a little bit throughout the painting process. Initially, the girl is just supposed to be reading a book, just like in the original reference image. But I felt like that was lacking something more interesting, or something with a more captivating story. So at a later point, I changed the idea into a story about a scrapbook and collecting memories (around 37 minutes in). I feel like that makes the painting more appealing and relatable, and also creates a situation where I can draw a pose that’s in mid-movement. That generally creates a lot more interest in a scene like this than a more static pose!

I hope you like this process video! As always feel free to ask any questions that you have about this process. For now, have a great evening, and thank you so much for your support!