Post Apocalyptic Character Design Sketch

[@Staravora]

This just blows my mind, especially the accuracy of the lighting and shading.

[@daarken]

Yeah, unfortunately I switched computers for the last part of the painting so I didn't record it. Sorry!

[@II6clique]

Brilliant video. Thank you so much for showing the side tool bars and not just the canvas. You're one of the few who do that and that's where I learn the most.

[@daarken]

The music credits are listed in the description of the video and they are also listed at the end of the video.

[@daarken]

The song is listed in the description above and at the end of the video.

[@daarken]

One reason is that it allows you to see your painting from another angle which helps you notice your mistakes more easily. Another reason is that sometimes it is easier to draw a line going in a certain direction, depending on if you are right or left-handed.

[@Therioz]

Man I love watching your process from just an idea and some sketchy lines to something so realistic and lifelike. You have an uncanny skill to paint detail but also imply detail with subtle strokes and edges. Your channel is not only educational but inspirational as well. You should do a video describing how you got into concept artistry and what your job is like throughout the day to day. Maybe another from scratch painting like this like others have suggested but with commentary about that.

[@ZenMasterT07]

Hey Daarken just wanted to thank you for creating your website ENLIIGHTEN to help coach young, aspiring digital artists like myself. Very noble of you to share your wealth of knowledge for free. Many thanks. Keep it up!

[@daarken]

Some are from Photoshop, some I made myself, and some I downloaded. You can download my brushes from my site.

[@Misticblair]

I know that video from your site, and i must admit, that's one of my favourits videos! Very useful and filled up with art knowledge . Big respect for that work! Daarken you are amazing.

[@daarken]

I use a lot of different layer modes. I use overlay, hard light, color, soft light, and multiply to add the base colors. After that I create a new layer and then paint opaquely on top of everything.

[@daarken]

It depends on the situation. If I am just painting for fun, I don't have to worry as much. If I'm working on a video game concept, I have to think about clipping and tech restrictions. Look at a lot of real armor and figure out how it works. I do tend to go with "cool" over functionality since none of my designs are being built in real life. It doesn't have to work 100%, but as long as it looks like it might work, then you should be fine.

[@qigong1001]

Should have a million views. That was spectacular.

[@daarken]

I took the illustration route. It looks like the game design major has you taking a lot of 3D classes, so it really depends on what you want to do. Personally I wanted to focus more on drawing and painting. The illustration major actually offers a lot of concept classes, which they didn't offer when I was there.

[@MarketOcarina]

The video is awesome but I gotta say that the music playlist is freaking out of this world!

[@daarken]

Thanks! In the description of the video it mentions that this video is unfinished and that the final part of the painting was not able to be filmed. That is why the gun wasn't painted in this video.

[@applefan9999]

You have such fantastic advice! And your paintings are awesome, your style is totally fresh, and I can't wait to see what you come up with next!

[@daarken]

The brushes I use the most are just the round and chalk brush. I always have opacity jitter set to pen pressure under "other dynamics" or "transfer" if you are using the newer versions of Photoshop. My Enliighten site actually has my brushes and videos about brushes and how I paint using pressure sensitivity.

[@daarken]

Actually, I had no idea what I was going to paint when I started this, I just came up with it as I was painting. I normally don't know ahead of time what I am going to paint unless I am working on a project for a client.

[@xenopoko6050]

I love watching these random little marks (or what seem to be random) turn into an amazing piece of art. I wish I could do this sort of stuff :D

[@9876710]

I want to see more videos like these in the future, and great music choices.

[@daarken]

I either listen to music or watch movies while I work. I wouldn't say it gives me ideas since usually I am working on freelance and I have to stick with what the client wants, but sometimes it helps set the mood.

[@erezkz]

YES! finnaly another video! iv been waiting since i subscribed! Cheers mate!

[@daarken]

Nope, it isn't a limited run. You can buy it from 3DTotal, Amazon, or any other site that sells books. Some local stores also carry it, so you might want to check your area.

[@Sh1zn3t]

This is unbelieveable. You are extremely talented man. And thanks for the free tutorials on your site!

[@daarken]

It depends. Sometimes I do a line drawing, sometimes I start with shapes and values.

[@daarken]

Hmm, I'm not sure which brush you are talking about exactly. If you mean when I am painting the highlights on the armor, I think I am using a round chalk type brush. It might be the one called lukebrush, it should be in my brushes if you download them. Other than that I think I am mainly using the round brush, a round bristle brush, and a chalk brush. All of them have opacity jitter set to pen pressure.

[@theQiwiMan]

daarken for President!! ..of my HEART.

[@DerAngriff]

You're an amazing artist (layperson perspective). Whenever I see great illustrations, I wonder how long it takes to become competent at this sort of illustration genre. Was it super frustrating in the beginning? Did it come easily? Where did that person start off - just doodling? and what was the initial inspiration that kicked off the drive to draw despite those first drawings not matching the imagination... Awesome YT contribution mate.

[@Regnear671]

Thanks, I probably should have just waited to ask you as I was looking at your site and found them shortly after my post thanks again!

[@AlexLusth]

i worked on some real armor just for fun a while back, building it in metal, helped a lot with my designs, if u cant do that, try doing a study of a real armor in paper or something like that, understanding the shapes becomes so much easier if youve tried it in real life.

[@erezkz]

sounds like a good plan doing that along with really studying more about real life knight armors i will defenitly try doing that. thank you both for your thoughts :)

[@nuboc]

this could be an amazing looking character for the new game Ravaged. Its perfect

[@daarken]

It really depends on how you like to work. Some people like to start with silhouettes while others like to do a line drawing first.

[@HonkAbby]

Love your videos! And appreciate the time you spent doing this and to upload it too. Great art~!

[@Legovestman]

Around the 4 minute mark I was like okay he's done, then he proceeded to flip my brain over with awesomeness

[@daarken]

Yes, you can download them from my enliighten site or my daarken site.

[@natloziarap]

Useful tip: you start paint in small size (~1000px in longer side) and continuously increase image size as the painting develop.

[@MrBodies07]

Really enjoyed this video man, I feel like I learn something each time I watch it

[@daarken]

I did a Livestream demo for Awesome Horse one time, so you should definitely check that out. Typically I don't work on personal paintings very often, which is why I don't use Livestream. Maybe in the future if my schedule opens up I can take that into consideration.

[@MyAramil]

id recommend looking at scale male, it may not provide the same protection as plate mail but its close enough, as well it provides flexibility for those wearing it.

[@reesesursely5466]

If this was a traditional Oil painting i would have bought it around the minute thirty mark! Dude your work is amazing. +1 subscriber for you. =D

[@GabrielFineArt]

great paintings! and your website is very appealing. thanks for the opportunity to use your brushes, it's appreciated!

[@mantiscore90]

That was fantastic!

[@daarken]

The video skips ahead because I didn't film that part.

[@betogalado]

Man, this is just amazing! congratulations for your skills! Regards from brazil

[@daarken]

I only have one art book called Elysium. 3DTotal has a lot of other really nice tutorial books, so you might want to look at those. Color and Light by James Gurney is another good one.

[@Rexen91]

Hi Daarken, your paintings is very amazing! But i've a question about your canvas, what type color mode you use (RGB or CMYK) and you use a 8 bit or 16 bit color depth? :D Thanks in advance for answer me!

[@daisynette00]

I love your character, nice job

[@miturtow]

Liked and faved ;) More "from scratch" recordings, please! P.S. Is there a way to create a livestream of you, painting? Maybe something for the fans? It would be awesome, just think of it! ;D Thumb it up if it's a good idea!

[@saikopiratos]

thank you for the tip! ( my pc has 3.50 ghz(turbo 3.90,dont know how they mean turbo...), with 16 gb ram- should it not run fast? also with little brushes, i sometimes(if i draw fast) got a big fat strip-should i maybe reinstal the tablet?

[@NicolasTylerDoyle]

ok ok yeah i knew you took the illustration prgram they had ! i really ask because my plan "b" is to go to Academy of Art University if Art Center doesnt accept me for their entertainment design program. but thanks for the info ! now i am thinking to go more into the illustration program if i take that plan B ! keep up the great work ! and i am DEF gonna buy that Art of Book from you !

[@erezkz]

hey, just saw your stream on awsomehorse and i was wondering about armors.. alot of times when i try to paint knights with heavy armor like the one youve done on the stream im having trouble with designing it cause im thinking alot about mobility of the knight and it always seems to me as if my knight wont be able to lift his arms or bend his torso ect..could you give me an insight on how you go about designning these kinds of armor. how deeply do you think about functionality vs looks? cheers!

[@Perilous815]

Really good concept. The music actually makes me want to paint something post apocalyptic haha did you happen to listen to this track while you were painting this? :P Props!

[@daarken]

No problem! Thanks!

[@daarken]

The round brush and the chalk brush. I have a bristle brush I use a lot now. You can download my brushes from my site.

[@MambaPurple]

Hi, very nice video, you have a great knowledge of light and shadow and anatomy ! When you colorize, did you increase the level of grey on your illustration ? Sometimes my black is too dark.. Your black is 98 o 95% max ? Thank you so much to stream your art work ! Have an happy painting !

[@noblejones399]

Hey! i love your videos you have helped so much! 1 quick question. are you planning on upgrading to cs6 and doing tutorials on it? thanks!

[@ochiorbus]

awesome process with awesome music :D

[@evrenince]

Perfect.i really like your style

[@Pand3miic]

Your website is pretty inspirational! I've kept away from doing art like it's some kind of disease but this is amazing and is making me eager to try myself! I understand that practise and dedication is the key to mastering skills such as art, but if you were to give one tip to a beginner like me, what would it be? How can I best make use of the time I have to advance my artistic skills?

[@fuzi8n]

Never mind that was a stupid question, obviously with a drawing tablet.

[@daarken]

In the description it says that the painting in this video is unfinished and that the final part of the painting was not able to be filmed. That is why the gun wasn't painted in this video.

[@JalilovTimur]

This video helps me ALOT!! Thx Mike!

[@RadecMai]

If you have any old pictures lyin around from your high school days or something id love to see them

[@StraightCrossing]

Try using a smaller brush. A tip i see a few professionals do is they work on a smaller canvas and when they get the base shapes in they increase the canvas size.

[@Regnear671]

Amazing talent you have. I also read that you have your brush list up for free download is that correct?

[@codygurley9711]

i know im late to the party but loving your work. what graphic tablet do you use or prefer? (excluding the companion, lol)

[@sdlooze]

Thats so awesome!

[@anihiliator1]

God, your drawings are amazing and I aspire to be as good as you! Can I just ask what tool you used for drawing the basic background at the start? :) Thanks

[@daarken]

The link to my site is on the main page of my KZbin, but here it is. daarken.com

[@silentsoul3000]

love it!

[@natloziarap]

True. Possibly the PS (CS5) processing method "fails" above 1000px of brush size, i've checked it. Still, you have the opportunity to fine tune the performance under preferences (cache levels, GPU performance). Perhaps the whole things depends on the GPU as well, and or memory clock rate... Anyway, 1000px brush is pretty big, even if you work on a HQ-print, i guess ppl usually use such big brushes in a "point&click" way, rather than long strokes, don't they?

[@EdwinCloud]

Don't you like corel painter instead of photoshop? I've never seem such work in photoshop, really good

[@natloziarap]

I think the lagging caused by the lack of processing power not the amount of memory. (I use a quadcore laptop, but noticed if there is some sort of texture/complicated pattern in my brush settings, the PS starts lagging while painting with those huge sized brushes (1000px+)... But there is no lag in any other case.)

[@MrLiamRuss]

this is sick!!!

[@daarken]

You can download my brushes from my website.

[@Pand3miic]

Forgive me if I get this wrong but when software runs it takes up virtual memory (aka RAM). If it has maxed out the RAM available it will become slow. The speed of the programme is also dependent on the read/write speeds of your hard drive. If you have an old mechanical hard drive with a poor CPU and lots of junk running taking up hard drive bandwith, your computer will seem slow. Clear off the unnecessary junk and if possible swap out the hard drive for a much faster SSD (google 'em) 3x faster

[@TOBI10795]

hey, please answer please :D, so when you paint (digitally) you dont have to sketch for the body ? should I go immediately with dark (shadows ) ?

[@tajanstvenigazal]

I've noticed that you're answering on every question,showing some small tips and sicrets and you have even put your set of brushes for free download. Man,that's very enlightening. I've got to ask you about that brush you use for strong highlights,it seems that it doesn't have softness,but it have same flow,to me it looks like you're working with ball point pen. What kind of brush is that? Thank you for inspiration and help...

[@xJasdebix]

awasome... you are a GOD XD, Forgotten detail but the gun ^^

[@mmmrglmrglmrgl]

so goddamn amazing

[@sherifmedhat7920]

how do you turn this sketch into a finished painting ? do you start over , or do you go over it and carefully add details and blend ?

[@16roshan]

when your doing character design, do you always start by painting the values or do you sometimes do line drawings too ?

[@daarken]

Usually my canvas is around 5000 to 6000 pixels on the longest side at 300dpi. My computer only has 4GB of RAM.

[@Fantasy2012dz]

hello Daarken, Which newest art books are yours right now??? can you recommend me some art books ? becoz i want to improve my skills in color rendering , textures, and character design, creativity skill. Where should i start? i can draw a litle bit good =) thanks

[@SpeedArt1982]

really good stuff!!!

[@Simon2d3d]

@ the end: 'giggidy'

[@Karenkearns007]

what size canvas do you use ? I normally use around 3500 by 2500 pixels but my brush always laggs especially when i use brushes other than default round or soft brush. I have 16Gb of ram so i dont understand why my pc is shitting all over my face

[@garrette2010]

its all about good line work

[@bfm207]

Have a question, when watching this video I noticed the the brush tools you was using. Now are they tools that are in Photoshop, ones you designed or have downloaded?

[@Chironofolympus]

I love the colors to amazing

[@noblejones399]

hey daarken! if you could help me with one thing it would be great! how to you blend all the colors and every thing together to end up with a smooth look? please help! if you could explain your whole process that would be great!

[@TheeOaken]

Do you like to listen to music while you draw? If yes, does the music perhaps set a mood for an idea of a drawing/ future drawing(s)?

[@daarken]

I just continue to refine the painting, I don't start over.

[@8estie]

You might also want to check your Preferences/Performance options and make sure you're giving PS enough memory usage.

[@BerlinerSkill]

Very Nice!

[@fuzi8n]

Would this be done on a tablet/touchpad and pen or was this done with the mouse?

[@fuzi8n]

ognisty81 lol

[@Ghettocat2007]

Very skillful

[@talhakhalid7739]

Very Nice tricks used like your work specially the light and shade tests, very helpful😃🐼 👌 And you're right Hafiz Zareem that is Adzan and aint appropriate to have Adzan mixed with music. Adzan or Adhan is the Muslim's call to prayer. Hope you understand.