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Description

I still love my lion!

1 - Sketch with a faint idea of shading/lighting. I knew I wanted some sort of sunset sky for the background so I chose some colours and just chucked them down

2 - Started blocking in colour ideas for the lion here. Looking back, I really should have used some shades and tones from the background here to blend it a little. I realise later and fix it, but really should have done that from this point.

3 - Slapping more colours on the lion, trying to get a sense of shape on the face and mane in particular as I didn't want it to appear too flat and lifeless. I really liked the idea of using deep reds or purples for the parts in shadow as it really helped with form.

4 - More detailing. I lost a lot of the sense of lighting here with the painting over of the lightest bits which I noticed and fixed in the next step.

5 - Big change. Started to add shapes and stuff to the background clouds and mountains to create a scene. Added warm oranges to the background so the colours fit with the lion more. Went a bit crazy with the lighting! I decided here I wanted the lighting to be super bright. I painted back in lighter bits on a new layer and added in a slight layer outer glow effect.

6 - Toned down the lighting to give it a warmer glow which fit in with the sunset scene a lot better. Detailing on the background

7 - More detailing on the mane and fur. I realised here that having the sun behind-ish means a lot more of the face would be in shadow so I couldn't have the effect I initially wanted without moving the sun. I added a bit of shadow here but it wasn't enough.

8 - Refined the shadow and overall added more red and purple tones. Final detailing of the mane. A slight textured effect applied to the fur.

Finished Piece -

Description

I still love my lion!

1 - Sketch with a faint idea of shading/lighting. I knew I wanted some sort of sunset sky for the background so I chose some colours and just chucked them down

2 - Started blocking in colour ideas for the lion here. Looking back, I really should have used some shades and tones from the background here to blend it a little. I realise later and fix it, but really should have done that from this point.

3 - Slapping more colours on the lion, trying to get a sense of shape on the face and mane in particular as I didn't want it to appear too flat and lifeless. I really liked the idea of using deep reds or purples for the parts in shadow as it really helped with form.

4 - More detailing. I lost a lot of the sense of lighting here with the painting over of the lightest bits which I noticed and fixed in the next step.

5 - Big change. Started to add shapes and stuff to the background clouds and mountains to create a scene. Added warm oranges to the background so the colours fit with the lion more. Went a bit crazy with the lighting! I decided here I wanted the lighting to be super bright. I painted back in lighter bits on a new layer and added in a slight layer outer glow effect.

6 - Toned down the lighting to give it a warmer glow which fit in with the sunset scene a lot better. Detailing on the background

7 - More detailing on the mane and fur. I realised here that having the sun behind-ish means a lot more of the face would be in shadow so I couldn't have the effect I initially wanted without moving the sun. I added a bit of shadow here but it wasn't enough.

8 - Refined the shadow and overall added more red and purple tones. Final detailing of the mane. A slight textured effect applied to the fur.

Finished Piece -