Just 3 References Helped Me Complete 'Casino' Art in Minutes - Process Video & File Inside

Hey everyone!,

Here is the process video, file, and brief insights of 'Casino,' my last illustration. These kinds of articles are often split into two parts: the concept, where I share the idea behind the piece, and the execution, where I explain the technical aspects of the illustration's development. I hope you find this useful, as always.

Concept

The initial idea behind this piece was the actual Venus Fly Trap plant. This might seem evident, but lately, I get inspiration from very unconventional sources and then proceed to find a main reference on which to base the whole concept.

I did a mix with Poker as a concept (Casino) because I was looking for a way to represent how this plant captures flies. Often the plant attracts flies and other small insects through a combination of visual lures and scents. On the other hand, some casino games hook people, and if they have gambling problems, they might get in trouble. I'm not sure if they will die from this, but hey, that seems like a possibility to me. Also, the main character, inspired by the plant, is very attractive, making the secondary character, 'the player,' distracted and even showing his cards.

This piece is not just visually inspired by Venus but also provides a different layer on how the behavior of the plant would be portrayed in a human-like situation. I did some research on casino games, cosplays, and costumes, and they helped me come up with eccentric shapes and patterns.

The list looked like this:

• Color: Green and Pink
• Ref: Venus Fly Trap Plant
• Action: Sexy dealer shuffling cards, while the player is captivated by her
• Costume: Casino dealer uniform or dress, casino props, casino tourist outfit, poker

Execution

The gesture problem was mainly addressed thanks to a combination of the references previously shared and a few more. The shape and colors of the plant were very useful when thinking of interesting costume integrations. At first, I thought about making the hair of the main character iconic, but after looking at different dress references, I considered the bottom of the outfit a better place to resemble the plant structure and colors.

I must say that I went a bit saturated with colors in this one, but it was fun to use the red of the plant to highlight some parts of the body that might be most popularly attractive, and green as a companion.

The casino table was supposed to act as an extention of the main character, both representing different parts of the same plant but at the end with the same goal, which is capturing the secondary character attention. As for the secondary character, I used dark tones and some white (shirt), to get those "fly colors and values," also the red sunglasses, supposed to resemble flies' eyes as you might have guessed by now, but also to bring some contrast to the sober and almost serious color and value choices for the secondary character.

Please check the process video to catch some of these points and other aspects of the process I currently don't share in these posts, as it might be too much theory. Be sure to check the PSD to find out how I pumped these colors with filters and adjustments.

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Conclusion

This process was very much solved by the combination of references I've found. Indeed, it was a collage of some form, but still, I managed to pull up something original in my opinion. The key for you to try out this "collage" approach is to list some visual aspects you would like your character to have. For instance, I wanted this dealer-like character to have:

• A pose in which I could see her full body and yet have a poker table some way in the composition
• Fabric folds in some parts of the costume
• An interesting action or gesture going on, luckily I found a guy shuffling cards.

These points change depending on your goal, but listing what you visually consider appealing and then seeking references to address at some degree will help you streamline your process. Give it a try, and if you are still struggling, just hit me up on Discord, and let's find a way to get those references.

Thank you for your support!