Training

OLD SCHOOL Art director Raphael Lacoste shows how staying in touch with old forms of making art feeds your ability to create compelling digital images

Raphael Lacoste goes back to basics.

Given the power of today’s digital creative tools and hardware, what do traditional methods have to offer? Raphael Lacoste’s brisk training video provides some compelling insights that could make you reconsider the value of the old ways, together with plenty of useful digital art tips along the way.

Raphael’s artwork – an imposing castle in an epic setting – begins on paper as he busily lays down crosshatching with a technical pen, building up values to suggest detail and communicate depth. A computer could have provided an equally viable drawing medium, but Raphael argues that drawing real-world subjects on paper makes you think more about what you’re looking, and how to represent it in your art. Even though this is predominantly a digital project, starting in traditional media brings qualities to the artwork that would have been absent otherwise.

After he scans the sketch and brings it into Photoshop, the digital tools take over. Raphael sticks to conventional painting techniques here, steering clear of photo-bashing or 3D assets. He starts by breaking up the composition into its main components with selection tools, placing each on its own layer. This enables him to control the depth and contrast of each element.

As the painting evolves, Raphael talks you through how he thinks about colour and value. You’ll learn why he ensures that shady areas are saturated with colour, for example, as well as discovering a simple trick that makes it possible to paint loose brushstrokes while confining them to the object you’re painting within. For a mere five pounds and an hour of your time, there are enough ideas here to fuel your creative growth for months.

Acclaimed games art director Raphael Lacoste makes a strong argument for how drawing in traditional media can enhance your digital art.

The original sketch stays visible for most of the process, although it’s largely erased by the final stages.

Raphael uses the flatting technique (common in comic book colouring) to divide his composition into different areas, working on each in its own layer.