Overwhelmed by Details When Painting? Here’s a Quick Strategy: Jilted Process & File

Hey everyone,

Here's a brief introduction to my process behind 'Jilted', my latest illustration. The intro is divided into concept development and technical execution. Enjoy.

Concept

I wanted this composition to be red, that was the first step, but not a red character, a red background instead. I've been afraid of changing the white background lately since my last illustrations have been well received not only on Instagram but X as well, nd although I have some theories on why, I'm very superstitious about changing features, so I wanted to try something different just to see if the reaction would still be strong. Good news, it worked!.

I wanted to contrast the dark value of the red background with pure white in the character's costume. I just was not sure what to do. I was torn between a nurse or a bride. The bride idea is an old one I had for a short animation in which this character would be full of blood at her wedding. Why? I was not sure either. I just thought it would be a shocking scene. Eventually, since the bride's dress could potentially be big enough to occupy a large part of the composition, I chose that topic.

To bring a little more complexity into the concept, I searched for animals related to weddings, but I did not like any for this "bloody" concept. Then I remembered a fun fact about mantises: they eat their partner after reproduction. So, in a sense, this character would not eat her groom, but she would end his life for a particular reason, she got jilted.

With that simple idea, I searched for a variety of wedding dresses and proceeded to move to the execution phase. The list looked like this:

• Color: white/red
• Ref: Hymenopus coronatus
• Action: bride getting “jilted”
• Costume: complex folds wedding dress, interesting shoes, reloading gun… props? flowers.

Execution

So this was a relatively short process. As I've been saying in past posts, I'm trying to come up with more efficient ways to convey my ideas quickly. How did I apply this logic to this composition? My strategy consisted of a shocking facial expression (line art shapes), complex and realistic fabric folds in the dress (values) and blood (color). In addition, I chose some details to connect the reference with the character, like the character's arms posture and the katana to simulate the raptorial arms, or a veil on the head that resembles the mantis eyes. But I would say the most complex phase was the shading for the dress folds.

When creating a piece, it's important to balance by asking questions like, "Where do you want the viewer to spend their time?" In my case, I use facial expressions to capture attention, and once I get that attention, I like to use props/costume, either with line art or values, to deliver a new layer of information through shapes, then color, and so on.

How would you like the viewer to travel through the composition? If you like my approach with expression, after the face, what other point of information do you want to highlight? This can be anything, more shapes with lines, values, or colors.

It's not necessary to flood the whole composition with details. You can divide it into three big ones, "big ones" meaning complexity and time of execution, one being the most complex and three the least. And as an extra, some small ones you can do quickly. It's a matter of what you consider visually important based on your experience and how much time you want to spend on it.

Conclusion

Remember, most of the time we don't really know what people really pay attention to, so try this strategy and explore different points of interest using a similar structure. Perhaps instead of focusing on facial expression first, try to put your effort into values, or in a very strong, contrasted color palette. The point of me sharing my executions is to provide guidance for you to take that first step, but after that point, it's up to you to go beyond the limitations.

Check the process video and PSD to have a better understanding of these concepts, and if you have any questions, just send me a DM. I'm more than willing to help. Thank you for your support.