58 Paint a manga figure on the go
Ilya Kuvshinov sets aside his normal painting process and instead learns to develop a character illustration idea as it’s being painted
Ilya Kuvshinov develops a character illustration.
When I start an illustration I usually have a finished image in mind. So when I start painting, I just do all the steps I need to do to ensure my art looks as close to the image in my head as possible.
Isn’t that kind of boring? Yes, you could say that. But here’s the good news: that’s not the only way to work on an illustration (although it is the fastest way). How about I try to develop my cover illustration for ImagineFX on the go, upgrading it with every step, always thinking about what I want to show, and how to improve it? I don’t do it like this very often, but that’s what will make this workshop more interesting. Right now, you can see the final image on the cover of this cool magazine, and see all the steps here. So everything might look kind of logical. But when I was doing it, I had no idea where it was heading. All I wanted was to do something really cool, something close to ImagineFX’s style and something you’d really like to see on the cover and read about the creation of it inside.
I always think about what kind of character I want before I start to draw it. For example, what’s his or her past, favourite food and current mood? What’s the situation in which the illustration takes place and how is it going to develop in the next few seconds? For now, let’s see how the character develops by herself on the pages of this workshop!