The Mysterious Evolution of Sparse Heckler

Exhibit A: The Sketch

Hello, and thanks for stopping in.

A funny thing happened yesterday while I was working on a character for my upcoming book The Rescuer's Tale (the second book in the Mary Morgan's Journal series). For only (maybe) the third time since I've been working in Photoshop for character development, a character actually turned out almost exactly as I'd originally sketched him! Since this rarely happens, and is as curious a mystery as I've ever known, I wanted to sort of "Big Deal" it here with some evidence.

(In case you're curious, his name is Sparse Heckler and he's a petty criminal who may have a future in government - where he's likely to become even more of a criminal.)

Exhibit B: Primary Paint

I usually leave the sketch layer turned on while I begin painting on a new layer above it. If you've ever worked with Photoshop, you know that the files consist of many layers, one atop another, and each can be left on or turned off. I generally lock the sketch layer so that I can't accidentally paint on it. If I lack the required amount of coffee when I begin a painting, I also make a backup copy of the sketch layer, lock it, and turn it off to keep it safe. Thankfully, I have never lost a drawing, and am certain that's mostly from developing good (and paranoid) habits early on.

Exhibit C: Added Details

  After the initial "fleshing-out," I start adding details and features. These, particularly the features - eyes, ears, nose, teeth, lips, etc. - I paint on separate layers. Each gets its own layer, and with the exception of the nose and ears, they stay that way. The nose and ears have to be blended with the face, so I merge them back onto the face layer once they're mostly finished. The main advantage to leaving the other features on separate layers is that I can then add special effects to each individually. Textures, highlights, drop shadows, color adjustments, etc., will then only affect whichever layer I add them to, and not the whole drawing. 
 

Exhibit D: Accents & Accessories

An advantage to leaving details like the five o'clock shadow on a separate layer is that I can turn it off when I want to, as shown here. The hat and the eye patch are, of course, on their own layers so that I could add textures and drop shadows for each. And notice I also turned off the sketch layer. And this! This is precisely where I usually stray from my original concept and start adding oddities like spare arms sprouting from a head, or a flashlight in the ear. (Is this why I didn't wander off the way I normally do? Is it because I left the sketch layer turned on longer than usual? An excellent theory I'll have to test on my next painting!)
 

Exhibit E: Background

So, as you can see here, Sparse Heckler's evolution is complete. I slipped in a suitable background to hint at Mr. Heckler's environment, then reduced the overall size of the image just enough to add a white backdrop. This leaves me with white edges - the same as old photographs have - which I can then rough up. I also add stains and wrinkles so that the "photo" seems more realistic. Once these final elements are added, I tidy up my file by grouping layers (to conserve space on my Layers Panel) and save the file as a .psd file. Afterward, I add the saved .psd image to the page where it's needed in The Rescuer's Tale. (Did I mention it's available for pre-order on Amazon?)

 
That's it for now. I hope you enjoyed this little walk-through of how I work in Photoshop, and might consider visiting again. I think I may have stumbled onto the reason my paintings seldom turn out like the sketches they started as. But, who's to say that's a bad thing?
 

Thanks again, and don't forget to leave a comment or question, or find me on Facebook, Twitter, or my website.