Al Polston

Rocky Painting Process

Added 2024-11-13 03:35:28 +0000 UTC

I recently posted a video updating on my rescue kitten, Rocky. Here are the steps I took for the painting featured in the video.

Thumbnail Phase

I started with "thumbnails" to figure out what I wanted the imagery to be. This is more loose than something I might send to a client since it is just for me. Sometimes I start this loose just to get ideas flowing.

Sketch Phase

Once I picked the idea I liked the most (the bottom right hot chocolate mug idea) I did a rough sketch to see it more fleshed out. It was pretty wonky, but it also allowed me to slap loose colors over top.

Color & Lighting

I don't always do this, but for this piece I had this idea of having the morning light hitting him. I have been interested in improving my lighting skills so I wanted to plan out what the colors might look like. I did this color picking doodle to have something to copy when mixing paint.

Background

While I wanted to practice lighting, I hadn't considered the background much. I took the painting so far into Procreate to try some backgrounds out. I changed the morning light to be more of a firelight and chose a wilderness night background.