Imaginative Illustration with J.P.

Targete
Volume 2: Tonal Underpainting and Detailing

1. Underdrawing Setup
2. The Central Rider
3. The Main Mount
4. Rider Two
5. Rider Two’s Mount
6. Rider Three
7. Middle-Ground Humans
8. Humans Continued
9. Texturing
10. Background/Castle Painting
11. Finishing

all contents copyrighT © THe gnomon Workshop and Design Studio Press
all contents copyrighT © THe gnomon Workshop and Design Studio Press

1. Underdrawing Setup

Once the loose color sketch is complete, the next step is the underdrawing and tonal underpainting. At this
point in the illustration process you should have a good idea of all the composed elements that will go into
the final piece. The idea is to use the previously created concept drawings and your sketch to do a clear and
tight compositional drawing of all the characters and creatures, props etc. If the final image will be painted in
Photoshop you can draw the elements separately and scan them in. I choose to draw my scene elements on
separate pieces of tracing paper and then later shoot them with my digital camera. I then import the images
into Photoshop, clean them up and arrange them compositionally in layers. If you have a scene like this one
with many characters or overlapping elements, it’s a good idea to put them on separate layers. Once I have the
composition pretty much where I want it, I then set the blending mode on those layers to multiply. I create an
underneath layer set to normal, and I can paint on the underneath layer without affecting the line work in the
above multiply layers. This is very basic, but a good way to quickly start a tonal underpainting.

For perspective, I create simple perspective lines on a separate layer and turn it on and off when need be. The
perspective lines will come in handy when I am ready to block out the castle structure in the background. Once
your layers are set you can begin to knock out the tonal underpainting. I like to use the gradient tool to quickly
knock out the white of the layer. Once I have a good gradient down I use a large hard round brush to quickly
block in big shadow areas. At this stage be very loose with your painting, but start thinking about lighting.

2. The Central Rider

I cannot stress enough how much creating a tonal underpainting helps me with the final piece. Many of
the great masters used to paint very detailed monochromatic paintings and applied color to them later
on. Thinking only in values and working out your lighting without the complications and thought of color
helps to create a stronger tonal piece.

As I establish the level of detail and finish on the central rider, I am able to carry the same level of detail
and finish to the other characters and throughout the painting. It’s very important to establish the level
of detail you want early on. The central rider is the focal point in the painting so I want to make sure I give
him his deserved attention by rendering him fairly tightly. He needs to be powerful and muscular so I try
to incorporate his armor into his anatomy, making his armor skin-tight in some areas.

In chapter 1 we discussed working with multiply layers and an underneath layer. In this chapter I create
a layer on top of my multiply layers with blending mode set to normal. On this layer I paint opaquely and
begin to establish more form and details. Throughout the tonal process be aware of the light source - it
doesn’t have to be precise but it does have to look believable. Don’t be afraid to use different brushes and
settings as you do the tonal work, keep it fluid and moving.

Key Points:
Tonal underpaintings helps you focus on just that - tones.
Establish the level of detail for your characters.

3. The Main Mount

In this chapter I reference my original oil sketch for value information when painting the central rider’s
mount. The oil sketch provides me with a rough guide to my value range and light direction. At this stage
in the process I am trying to match the values of my sketch but continue to add details and work out the
forms. One of the tools I use is the eye drop or color picker tool in Photoshop. If you have a Wacom tablet
it’s a good idea to have the alt key programmed into the tablet function keys along with the brush tool for
easy access and easy switchback from one to the other. The color picker tool allows you to easily pick a
value or color right from the image you are working from or any image opened in Photoshop. It’s a very basic

Imaginative Illustration with J.P. Targete volume 2: tonal underpainting and detailing
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all contents copyrighT © THe gnomon Workshop and Design Studio Press

but powerful tool. I like to pick local values and paint with them as I move to different areas of the painting.

For the main mount I want to capture the power and feeling I had in the original concept and color sketch.
The first thing is to make sure I have a good idea where the light source is coming from and how it will
shine on the creature’s head. Rendering at this point becomes a lot easier because I have a drawing
underneath to prevent me from swaying too much. This creature will end up being very pale in color so I
make sure his skin tones are not too dark in the areas where the light will hit. Though the creature’s skin
will probably be the lightest part of the painting it still needs to have good form and volume all around.

4. Rider Two

As I begin to start working on the second rider I refer back to the main rider for level of detail and style
of painting. I am constantly reworking the forms and even the drawing as I progress with the character’s
values. I try to keep these four things in check as I am working: light, form, materials and contour. As I am
refining the form I am constantly drawing over shapes and molding the anatomy and the armor etc. I am
also still working on a normal layer, but I use different opacity levels on my brush. The brush I use is just a
normal round brush, I may go softer at times.

It’s very important that we begin to establish materials in the tonal stage. By materials I mean armor, flesh,
leather etc. Sometimes it may be difficult to come up with a wide gamut of materials when you are creating
something from your imagination, but that’s where your memory should kick in and help you out. Think care-
fully about your materials and what they are made of and how they are distributed in your image.

Rider 2 has become my favorite character in the painting - he is big and ferocious and a fun character to
paint. I want to block his values out as fast as possible and focus on the head. Because he is facing away
from the main light, I use a lot of reflective light to fill in the shadow areas and also illuminate his eyes to
give that eerie look. As I paint the muscles I want to make sure they feel organic and read like real muscles
and not plated armor or a plastic suit.

5. Rider Two’s Mount

Working into the shadows is just as important as working on the values and details in the mid-tones and high-
lights of the painting. One of the things that will make the elements in your painting believable is the subtle
values and reflected light in the shadow areas. Most shadowed areas will never be completely black.

As we move along with the tonal underpainting, we will use light to bring out details and create focal points.
Lighting is so powerful that it can change your composition’s focus without you having to reposition your
elements. I like to use the dodge tool to bring out the highlights as I progress with the tonal underpainting.

As I work I jump from characters to background and vice-versa. In the background I try to establish some
atmosphere before I move on to the other parts of the painting only because it’s generally easier to work
from the background to foreground.

Creatures are extremely fun to paint and detail, and the mounts are no exception. Like the riders and
human characters, these creatures, or mounts, tell their own story. We established a little of that in the
concept phase but there is much more that can be derived from their appearances. Each of the mounts
is unique. The second rider’s mount seems like an abomination of some lost enslaved beast with teeth as
thick as a man’s hands and a tongue as slippery and powerful as a giant toad’s. As I move along with the
rendering I personalize each creature and bring out more of their uniqueness. Remember that creatures
can have their own unique characteristics visually and narratively.

Imaginative Illustration with J.P. Targete volume 2: tonal underpainting and detailing
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Key Points:
Paint into the shadows.
Use your lighting to enhance your composition.
Put character into your creatures.

6. Rider Three

It’s always a good idea for background objects or characters to have clear silhouettes if they’re important to
the scene. Rider 3 (far right) is a good example. Since the rider’s tonal values cannot be darker then those of
the other two riders, I try to lighten up the atmosphere behind him a little so he can pop out more. I also resize
him a little - don’t be afraid to resize parts of your painting as need be, as you move further along with the tonal
work you may realize that perhaps some elements look better resized. Minor tweaks are essential and are con-
stant to the very end. You can easily resize stuff by picking the transform tool in the Photoshop editing menu.

7. Middle-Ground Humans

Stylized realism is simply a style that tries to follow the rules of realism but purposefully deviates towards
something different or unique. That is the fun and magic behind creating these types of images. Even
when it comes to creating and painting human characters it’s fun to exaggerate or simply enhance the
impact or emotion. I try to make both humans and creatures feel like they belong to the same world - I do
this with the design, details and level of rendering. For the middle-ground humans I like to focus on the
face and hands to give them expression and a strong presence. The color sketch enables me to carry over
a lot of the dynamics in the gestures to the tonal piece.

Motion is also very important in your paintings. Try to imagine how things move physically if they were real
- that’s what will make your scenes more believable. By adding motion to the character’s hair and clothing
I am giving a sense of movement and dynamics. Visually these will read as “character is in motion.” You
don’t want to create a still frame where everything looks frozen and crisp. Blur edges and fan out shapes
to read as motion streaks etc. Subtle hair blurring or cloth billowing can create that illusion of motion.

Key Points:
Realism is great, but be greater.
Visualizing motion is the key to action in your scenes.

8. Humans Continued

At this point in the tonal underpainting I need to check the lighting to make sure all the elements are lit
properly and that foreground middle-ground and background elements look right. As I move onto the hu-
man characters in the foreground I keep in mind the light source direction and intensity. As the artist you
can choose where the light will cast, however introducing multiple light sources can get a bit confusing
so I often use one or two and maybe smaller accent lights like torches etc. The human character holding
the spear on the right side of the painting is a good example of how I control the lighting. There is some
light hitting him but he is not fully lit - the characters in the middle-ground take priority over him in terms
of lighting. I want to keep the shadow values dark but have areas where his belt and straps would give off
highlights here and there. This also reiterates the need to define materials as you’re working. Materials
will help sell the realism in your painting. In this painting there are a good number of materials. As you do
your own artwork make sure you have a good number of materials represented.

Key Points:
Use lighting smartly.
Defining materials will sell the realism.

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all contents copyrighT © THe gnomon Workshop and Design Studio Press

9. Texturing

In Photoshop it’s not that difficult to apply textures to your scene. The trick is to be constantly aware that
you need to add textures to get some grit and detail into your image. There’s a couple of ways I do it. I like to
sample photographs or scans of textures and drop them right in or I use Photoshop brushes like the dry brush
to create texture. In the case of this piece we won’t use photo reference, however I use some of the textures
in the original color sketch to dirty up my painting. I apply bits and pieces of my original color sketch in layers
with the lighten blending option on. I also use some of Photoshop’s brushes like the dry brush or stucco brush.
You can also create your own brushes if need be. Once I get a texture I like, I usually duplicate it and spread it
around the painting, resizing it as I do so.

In this chapter I also revisit the second rider’s mount, tightening up and resolving the teeth and gums. I usually
like to tighten up areas of interest like a creatures teeth, face etc. I want to make sure I do not blow out the
highlights since this particular creature is not in the spotlight.

10. Background/Castle Painting

In this chapter I begin to paint in the background castle structure. I want the castle to have it’s own distinct
design and feel, like it’s been there awhile. I start by blocking in rough value and shapes using the perspective
lines I created in chapter 1. Once I have the basic shapes I am ready to start laying in more detailed shapes
and designs. I created custom stamp brushes which are basically brushes I’ve made out of my own drawings
and paintings - a simple motif with some shapes and a skull-like design in the central area. I create a layer
and use the stamp brush to detail the structure. I used the same stamp brush but in smaller scale to add
smaller details. This is a good way to put in detailed customized looking textures and patterns that you cre-
ated from scratch. I duplicate several of those layers and use them in different parts of the structure. Once I
have details and texture info from the stamps, I paint over and erase some parts to show the underpainting.
From that point on I follow the perspective lines and just block out the castle. I destroy parts of it to give a
feeling of history. Perhaps some ancient battle took place there thousands of years before.

Key Points:
Treat your architecture and structures etc. as if they are characters.
Create your own customized stamps and brushes.

11. Finishing

In this last stretch of the tonal underpainting demo I want to do one more broader value pass to balance
the piece as much as possible before I jump into the color phase. I also add any details I’d forgotten in the
previous chapters. It’s always good practice to look over the image before stepping into color because if
there are any value problems you can correct them now while you’re still on the tonal image.

One last thing I do is go over the composition. I like to use the rule of thirds and dynamic intersections
which are basically crossing diagonal lines in the design to draw the viewer’s eyes to the focal point. To
use the thirds method separate your image into 3 even sections vertically and horizontally - wherever the
vertical and horizontal lines intersect is where your focal point should be. Use props characters, structures
etc. to move or direct your viewers’ eyes to focal points. Think of simple lines with arrow tips that point
your eye around a picture or setting, some of these lines cross each other but eventually end up pointing
towards a focal point. For this painting the characters’ weapons point towards the main rider or seem to
lead your eye in that general direction.

In the end, I leave a few of the foreground characters to paint but that should be a breeze and a lot of
fun. The painting “Dark Riders” is about 75% complete and it will now be a lot easier to complete with this
stage of the process done.

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