Shape Painting - Concept Art Workflow

[@TheJukkernautti]

"I think this is pretty cool for under two hours" dude... :D Amazing job. Holy heck.

[@fowlerillus]

Thanks! I appreciate that :)

[@Here4ClankNotRatchet]

I remember a comment you made in a previous video about "painting from dark to light," and this has helped me tremendously! I've been painting everyday for ~2 years, and I've done ~105 one-hour value studies, but my paintings always felt like I was trying to save them rather than progress them -- jumping all over the place with the value slider caused this. Because of you, I now feel much more confident to iterate and study!

[@fowlerillus]

That is fantastic. It sounds like you are painting with a lot of confidence these days. So cool

[@MoranaPetrusic]

"Trying to save them rather than progress them" damn, felt that in my bones

[@DaUrbanTeam]

Oh, which video is that?

[@Jasmine-cn4wc]

This saves me from spending countless hours adding detail and polish to a painting only to have it still feel incomplete or lifeless. Great video🔥 thanks for sharing!

[@fowlerillus]

I'm so glad this was helpful. Thanks :)

[@ardmary22]

Yep! I noticed this too - 3 of the most common colors in your works and thought that it's your favorite

[@fowlerillus]

Haha. I had no idea until a former student pointed that out to me! They are definitely my favorite but I need to leave them alone for a while :)

[@ElfenRebel]

One of the best things I did was start studying your courses as I recently rediscover my passion for art with intention to use professionaly. I realy enjoy the techniques you use, simple but effective. Not to mention the joy of the process of learning, I couldn't find anywhere else. I'm really thankful for your teaching process. Thank you so much!

[@fowlerillus]

This really makes my day. Thank you and I'm so glad to hear that this has been helpful :) Thanks, seriously.

[@tripplejaz]

Thanks for sharing your workflows and thought processes with us, Hardy! It's crazy how much time you can save with a good workflow. I recently discovered a trick in my workflow while rendering that saved me (no joke) about 4 hours of time. The trick, if anyone is wondering: work in local colors. Duplicate your local colors and set it to multiply with a mask. Using the mask, you can paint in a saturated colored shadow without thinking about what color the shadow should be. I like more chromatic, vibrant work, so I usually saturate and lighten my shadow layer a bit. Great for concept art renderings!

[@fowlerillus]

That's such a cool idea @tripplejaz ! I've never thought about just multiplying the whole thing to darken itself. Everything would line up perfectly. Thanks man - you should make a video about that if you haven't already!

[@octonolite_0]

One minute into this video and I'm already kicking myself for not watching it earlier. The soul-sucking problem of laboring over detailed renders and then lamenting the fact that the sketch was more of a finished product than the thing that I've been noodling with for countless hours that still feels hours from being unfinished gave me a massive headache just this past weekend. I know the answer lies in shapes, whether we're talking about the silhouette, inner shapes or shadow shapes and edges. All this to say, Thank you Hardy for talking to us about this issue.

[@fowlerillus]

I'm so glad! It sounds like we are very closely aligned on this - you described the problem perfectly and I have definitely been there. It still gets me occasionally, but this really helped to pave the way out of this pitfall. Thanks for letting me know and good luck!

[@SavMortem]

This is exactly the sort of video I've been needing. Trying to learn this process to get the sort of style I want was a struggle and I think a lot of the has to do with my inconsistent work flow. Was trying to figure out how to get from point a to point b in a way that works and sometimes it would and sometimes it wouldn't. Having help finding a proven system and being able to stick to it and come back to this video as needed will help immensely so I can start improving my work instead of feeling stuck. Thank you so much!

[@fowlerillus]

That's awesome! I'm so glad the video found you right when you needed it. Good luck with this - it's a really fun and liberating way to create. I hope it works well for you

[@tundranone8366]

This makes so much sense in the most satisfying way. Thanks for sharing!

[@fowlerillus]

Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks

[@semikaden]

"All of it implies greater complexity, without showing it. This is kind of 'Impressionism', in a way...we're showing little hints of detail and counting on our viewer to complete the image in their own mind. We have to kind of invite them into the party to connect the dots. And this is what makes art engaging - is leaving that space, for your viewer to participate." Well said! That sounds like when the magic happens

[@fowlerillus]

Thanks for this! Wow, my words look so much cooler and smarter when in quote form :) Haha. Seriously, thank you and I'm glad that this resonated for you

[@RayGalactic]

Incredible! Thank you!

[@fowlerillus]

Glad this was helpful!

[@frogecafe]

THANK YOU for this video. It will help me SO MUCH with a personal project. Love from Brasil 🇧🇷❤

[@fowlerillus]

That's awesome, I'm glad this was helpful!

[@deadpixeldesigns4308]

I remember many years ago when I was a student, (before the digital age) one of my favorite professors loved my thumbnails and larger sketches I had done for a project. Go with it he said. When I later turned in a comp and value study, he asked, "What happened to the spontaneity of the original sketches?" "It looks a little lifeless", he said. I had no answer.

[@fowlerillus]

Me too! Almost exactly the same thing. And I was seeing that myself too - I always seemed to like the sketch more than the polished final product and it just seemed so backwards. This definitely helped - and even if you aren't strictly using this minimalist, shape driven technique, it's still a good philosophy to include in more detailed work - letting those highlight and shadow shapes do most of the work.

[@asunhug]

This is EXACTLY what I needed right now!!!!!! Thank you!!

[@fowlerillus]

Awesome! I'm glad this was helpful

[@saliuarts]

I personally use a mixture of quick skeletal frames and outer broad outlines to register subjects quickly. So I'm happy i across this video, it would be interesting to incorporate this into my workflow as well

[@fowlerillus]

That's awesome! I'm so glad this was helpful.

[@StefanMarjoram]

Absolutely fascinating - and enlightening. Amazing what massive changes happen with the tiniest tweaks and additions. And so well explained. Thanks very much!

[@fowlerillus]

That's great to hear. I'm so glad this was worthwhile for you. Cheers

[@gutmun]

I always enjoy coming back to these types of videos of his and just enjoy his process; thanks for the inspiration man.

[@fowlerillus]

Glad you enjoy it!

[@michael_Song]

This is truly a beautiful piece! Every time I watch your video, I feel and learn a lot. thank you. I want to study your program, but I'm worried because I'm not good at English. Big thumb up from South Korean. 👍

[@fowlerillus]

Thank you! I'm so glad this was helpful. Cheers to our friends in South Korea :)

[@arturmatuszek3255]

Stunning work 🔥 congrats! 🙌

[@fowlerillus]

Thanks! I appreciate it.

[@3lithepunk]

inspired by you to finally try harder

[@fowlerillus]

Cool! Glad this lit a fire :) Good luck!

[@michaelrasmussen1342]

You never fail to inspire Hardy! Thanks!

[@fowlerillus]

Thanks Mike!

[@korruptnovellst4751]

Youre a fantastic teacher

[@fowlerillus]

Thank you!

[@tombenford227]

Everything about this video is perfect. The music, voice, art, design, colours. Incredible video-thank you for this, it fills my sci fi soul

[@fowlerillus]

Wow, thank you! I really appreciate that. Glad you liked it. More in the works :)

[@yeee3602]

Just came from your Skillshare courses. Was pleasantly suprised to see you’re on KZbin too! INSTANT sub!! Great stuff man

[@fowlerillus]

Welcome! If you enjoyed the Skillshare courses I think you'll love the channel. Thanks for the sub :)

[@TheeArtSmith]

Love your style bro! Great work!

[@fowlerillus]

Thank you!

[@thudar9]

Very nicely done - great technique !

[@fowlerillus]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@sr.dorneles9677]

Eu adorei. A ilustração está incrível.

[@fowlerillus]

Thank you!

[@jmspttr2]

Invaluable information from such a young illustrator! Thank you very much for this…

[@fowlerillus]

Haha - I'm getting some gray hair but thanks anyway :) I'm so glad you enjoyed this.

[@Blake28267]

thamk you so much man, you're a real hero🖤🖤🖤you inspire us alot.

[@fowlerillus]

Thank you so much :)

[@Strudelbrain]

Impressive process and beautiful art, really stunning impact , love it!

[@fowlerillus]

Awesome - thank you so much

[@Willyoart]

Dang. This is insane man.

[@fowlerillus]

Thanks! Glad you liked it

[@pearsonsweeney]

Awesome video!

[@fowlerillus]

Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks

[@setterfieldstray]

Great advice! Thanks

[@fowlerillus]

Glad it was helpful!

[@pixelsapling]

Digital art is a behemoth of a subject to approach for me I'm sticking with pixel art for the time being as it feels much more approachable lol (and cost efficient) But I like exploring art theory stuff to take these concepts into consideration while learning pixel art on my own pace..

[@fowlerillus]

I love pixel art! It would be interesting to see this applied - actually I can see it translating really well since I would think pixel art is all about economy and getting maximum effect for each mark you make - that is definitely what the goal is here. Thanks for watching!

[@mohammadalaaelghamry8010]

Great work, it's very beautiful.

[@fowlerillus]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@socrates112]

Brilliant video. Many thanks for this. Love that artwork. It looks like a well done render of a mesh scene.

[@fowlerillus]

Many thanks! Glad you enjoyed it.

[@TygerBleuToo]

This is oddly fashion forward. I would expect to see this on a runway.

[@fowlerillus]

That's really interesting because I think a lot of the shape design principles I'm relying on here would apply equally to high fashion or sci fi space armor.

[@godhand73]

Beautiful art :)

[@fowlerillus]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@fenomentalarts]

Well, I think it is GOD DAMN AMAZING for under two hours 😅👍❤

[@fowlerillus]

Thanks! I appreciate it :)

[@RonDangerSolo]

I wish we had more videos like this on KZbin. Awesome stuff. I painted like this a whole bunch after discovering Sergey Kolesov. Not good at it yet, but it's a lot of fun.

[@fowlerillus]

Thank you! I have somehow just discovered Sergey. I mistook a lot of his art for Cedric Peyravernay who is my absolute favorite. Sergey really is a genius though and there is such a variety of work in his portfolio.

[@RonDangerSolo]

Thankfully Sergey has some videos on here of him painting to study from. Lol it's not that common I find one of my favorites posting videos of them working. @@fowlerillus

[@shannonbrocas9408]

Thanks for sharing this valuable lesson! I only really understood the value of "shapes" in concept design over the past few years, something I hadn't really experimented with in the past, but your point's really make this factor clear and easy to understand! Btw, just an observation in the illustration you did, I feel that its hand holding the gun is a bit lost, feels like the guns too close to his chest to realistically hold the handle, like, if I were to imagine where the fingers are, they would be merging with the gun. Fantastic design though! you've inspired me to get back into sci-fi designs!

[@fowlerillus]

Thanks! Glad this was helpful. You nailed it - that foreground hand is something that didn't quite land but I wanted to keep this one brisk and quick to demonstrate the concept. Great eye and I appreciate the feedback. Cheers!

[@KRUChY_80]

I love this ambient vibe with so easy flowing speach and this visual masterpieces... make me so relaxed and pumped for next day to come!!! THX

[@fowlerillus]

Thank you! I'm so glad - that's exactly what I was hoping for

[@beetlejuss]

This is exactly what I want to learn, instead of wasting hours doing endless brush storkes....

[@fowlerillus]

Awesome! I'm planning more of these asap :)

[@M.Menger]

It looks good, but it doesn't look loose at all and a few rake brush strokes won't make it look loose

[@fowlerillus]

Yeah that's fair. I guess I was thinking loose in the sense of me being loose and not getting bogged down in detail, keeping things breezy. Very fair point though. Glad you liked it!

[@berca76]

You make it look so easy and logic. And yet when I'm trying to do that I'm failing miserably :D

[@fowlerillus]

Sorry to hear it. There are some shape principles like Big, Middle, Small and Balance that govern a lot of this - I'm wondering if that's where the difficulty is coming from. I hope it works for you!

[@alex_sz-x5t]

We needed this, thank you so much for sharing your knowledge :) Your skill is just so amazing! And a question: what brush settings do you use to draw these shapes? And do those brushes you mentioned work in any software?

[@fowlerillus]

Thanks! Glad this was helpful. I have shape dynamics > brush size set to pen pressure so a soft touch makes a small mark and a hard press makes a larger one. I'm sure that abr files work in Procreate but I'm not sure about other apps. I think abr files are pretty widely compatible though.

[@cory99998]

Thanks hardy

[@fowlerillus]

My pleasure! Glad you liked it.

[@Willyoart]

Do you have a process video where you go step by step on what you’re doing ?

[@fowlerillus]

Not really anything slower than this outside of my mentorship, but perhaps I can make a real time demo video on this for KZbin.

[@Willyoart]

@@fowlerillus mannnnn that would be soo much help if you could post a longer process video. Even if it’s a Gumroad exclusive or something I’d pay. This the level I dream of. Watching exactly what you do and how you do it would help soooo much

[@HuyNguyen-qj1vf]

great

[@fowlerillus]

Thanks! Glad you liked it

[@Sketching4Sanity]

One Love

[@fowlerillus]

🤘

[@llawrencebispo]

Which course on Concept Art Academy would be best for jumping into the shape design drills?

[@fowlerillus]

The mentorship is definitely where we drill on this. It's pretty intensive and I'm not sure if you're up for that but we have another session starting February 22. www.digitalpaintingstudio.com/academy

[@llawrencebispo]

@@fowlerillus Thank you

[@jancarsonweatherby1579]

mmm... looking for that freebies channel? Doesn't appear on Discord.

[@fowlerillus]

It should be visible in the Information category near the top of the channel stack. It's right above the welcome channel - let me know if you aren't seeing it

[@jancarsonweatherby1579]

@@fowlerillus ... INFORMATION Channel has # start-here, then rules-and-regs... Immediately below that is ARTIST'S COMMUNITY, featuring The Lounge... then, ROBOTS-IN-LOVE-CHALLENGE... I don't see the welcome channel. 🙂

[@fowlerillus]

Sorry for the hassle @@jancarsonweatherby1579 There is one extra step - go the Start Here channel and pick one of those three roles and then all public channels will be open to you. Please let me know if it's still not working and we'll troubleshoot

[@TifCip_Chungking2399]

I love this , Can you do a video with a more organic character like an ogre or creature

[@fowlerillus]

Awesome idea. Thanks! Definitely.

[@Narsty_Boy]

My strong point has always been my gestures. But i have a hard time taking a drawing and turning it into a painting.

[@fowlerillus]

Gestures are so important so that is a great foundational element to work around. I would definitely give this a try - it could bridge that gap a bit for you. Good luck!

[@alejandrovazquez2208]

Hola Fers había echo una consulta, pero no esta... porque fue borrada...?

[@fowlerillus]

I'm not sure what happened there. No comments have been deleted here as far as I know - if you repost, I'd be happy to reply.

[@DJRaverTeddy]

Reminds me of Vash the Stampede

[@fowlerillus]

I totally see it!

[@MarkCMoran]

I'm super curious. When I watched "Creator" (the movie that came out at the end of 2023) the design language just screams "Hardy Fowler" to me. Did you work on that film? And, if not, what did you think of the visual design of the various sci-fi elements? Thanks!

[@fowlerillus]

Hi Mark. Thanks for that - no, I wasn't involved in production for Creator but I absolutely loved the visuals and the whole concept of soulful robots. Thanks for thinking I might have had a hand in it :)

[@Manithan123]

I don't see the link to download these impressive brushes!

[@fowlerillus]

Here you go! www.digitalpaintingstudio.com/community It's in the Freebies discord channel which is in the Information folder

[@John__67]

Does this stay in the electronic world only.......or can you/have you printed your piece to....hang up on the wall?

[@fowlerillus]

I typically just keep things digital but I do occasionally print and frame one if I'm especially pleased with it. I have a few prints for sale on Artstation if you're interested www.artstation.com/hfowler/prints?print_type=art_poster

[@owlytedailer-sg5cq]

Idk why but It's really hard to focus on the shapes when you're drawing a character from top or bottom view and trying to keep everything in perspective Most of the stuff I've seen you do are from the front view, and I mean idk a lot about like the concept art pipeline but I imagine the 2d illustration is passed on to a 3d modeler in most cases and so there's no need to go through the trouble of trying out perspectives that might be unfamiliar But idk, I'd just love to see you paint like a character in a scene with the horizon way above or below, using this awesome shape technique

[@fowlerillus]

Totally - perspective extremes always make things more challenging. You're totally right, I'm used to a concept art workflow so I tend to make designs with fairly simple perspectives - direct front, lateral or sometimes 3/4 just because it's the easiest way to understand the shape relationships and poses in character designs. I would like to try this though! I'm considering doing a YT painting on iso view environments and there would be some characters in it shown from a high angle - could be a cool way to explore these challenges. Thanks for the feedback!

[@byronvalencia1462]

Do you have a new link for the Discord? the one on your website keeps showing up as expired

[@fowlerillus]

Ah sorry about that - I've heard that from several people so something wasn't working properly. This should work! tinyurl.com/dpscommunity

[@lazrexpp2702]

Hi! I just joined the DPS discord channel but i can't find the Freebies in here :(

[@fowlerillus]

It should be visible near the top of the channels. It's in a folder called Information. Let me know if you aren't seeing it

[@lazrexpp2702]

Thank you! I think I was missing selecting a category in the #start -here menu, my bad 😅😅😅@@fowlerillus

[@TheArckon]

Can't find the brushes on the discord channel. Please help

[@fowlerillus]

Check the Information folder near the top. It's in the Freebies channel.

[@n-credible0753]

😮Aaah! I can't find my jaw! Help!

[@fowlerillus]

Haha. Yes, that could be a problem :)

[@Neerajk-wv9gp]

How much time does it really took you ?

[@fowlerillus]

This video is definitely sped up but it was a little under 2 hours of actual painting time for this one. That's the beauty of using these mostly cut out shapes and minimal detail and brush work.

[@pockypurse]

Don't take this the wrong way but I feel like you could do a killer Walter Brennan impersonation.

[@fowlerillus]

Haha, no offense taken. I can totally hear it. I have heard that my voice sounds like I've been hit with a tranquilizer dart :)

[@MmMm-up6hu]

Can u make a normal tutorial where you explain step by step and show each action not in quick playback

[@fowlerillus]

Ah, I just saw your other comment. Yeah, thanks for the feedback. I'll try to work in more real time tutorial stuff in the future. I have some live streams coming up soon that will be exactly that. If you are looking for step by step instruction, I do have a learning platform you may want to check out. www.digitalpaintingstudio.com

[@GildoPrimo]

[@fowlerillus]

🤘

[@Balcaceres_Art]

Painting against photoshop's light UI ???? A great way to have your AD tell you colors are completely off

[@fowlerillus]

Yeah, I have heard that before but it feels right for me. Each to their own :)

[@MmMm-up6hu]

all your videos are the same, it would be interesting if you showed the tip and tricks to speed up your painting in photoshop

[@fowlerillus]

Yeah, definitely a similar format in most of. A time lapse painting with some mindsets and workflow tips. Sounds like you are looking for more tutorial/procedural stuff which I'll try to do in the future. Thanks.

[@СерегаЛукьянов-л8х]

Hi, tell me what you are focusing on, and you determine where there will be light and shadow. I draw monsters, how do I figure out where to put shadow and light, because if you don't do 3D modeling, then it's completely unclear

[@fowlerillus]

Great questions and I should do another one of these with a creature just to show another take on the process. Keeping the light source consistent is key so I try to just imagine where it is and imagine little light rays striking the various planes that we create. Your mind has to be a bit of a 3D engine.