Red Sonja Colouring Process by Sean Harrington

Step 1:

This is the initial pencil sketch that will be the basis of the picture. I don’t bother with really clean lines as you can see, since most of the lines won’t be visible in the final picture. I darkened it a bit in Photoshop so that it will be easier to see against the background color.

Step 2:

Speaking of the background color, here it is! I put the lineart on a multiply layer and the background color is on a layer underneath. This is the layer I’m going to color on.

Step 3:

Now I lay down my first and darkest skin tone. I’m using a standard soft-edged brush in Photoshop. As you can see, I’m not really defining much with this color; just a few places where the darkest shadows will be, like under her chin, where I use hard-edged brush to make a stronger line.

Step 4:

Next lighter color coming up! With this color I begin to add most of the major definition to the body. I’m still using mainly a plain soft-edged brush for most of this, just switching to a hard-edged brush to define the lines of the body, such as under the breasts and around the bend in the leg. It’s important not to define things TOO well, because if you do, it will leave very sharp contrast between the dark and light colors, which doesn’t look very realistic. Take a look at some photographs of people, and you’ll see that the definition of the features and muscles, etc., is actually rather slight. Less is more, as it were.

At this stage I also start erasing and lightening some of the lines, as I don’t need them anymore. You can do this by painting white with a brush on the lineart multiply layer.

Step 5:

Now it’s time to add the main lightest skin tone. This color is used much the same as the previous color, just bringing a little more definition to the body all with the standard soft-edged brush. When you’re picking colors to use for skin tones, this is the color that is going to be most representative of the skins’s final appearance, so choose it first, and base the darker and lighter gradations off of it. Oh, and go ahead and get rid of the remaining lines at this point, too. You shouldn’t need them anymore. I leave the outer outline because I like the look, but you can get rid of it too, if you like it better without.

Step 6:

Now it’s time to add highlights to the skin. Ordinarily it’s good to keep these fairly muted, but in this case I used a heavier hand with them to give the appearance that she’s sweaty. I assume that slaying a horde of bloodthirsty barbarians would make one sweaty, but I can’t say so with absolute certainty, so if you know otherwise adjust your highlight intensity accordingly. I also added a slight reddish cast to her nose because I think it looks good, but do as you wish.

Step 7:

Now it’s time for hair and makeup. Yes, makeup. She’s not just a barabarian, she’s a barbarian PRINCESS, after all. You can buy brushes that simulate strands of hair which makes coloring the hair easier, or you can just do each strand individually with a really small standard brush if you’re a purist or a cheapskate.

Step 8:

Now for the armor. The best and easiest way to get good metal effects is to lasso the different parts of the armor, paste them to a new layer and use layer styles to get a look you generally like then merge it back down to background layer and touch it up a bit with the brush. If you’re a purist that disdains styles and filters and such…well, you’re on your own.

Final Picture:

Add a spiffy background of your choice and voila!
Here are the colors that I used:

Background:
R= 123 G= 46 B=0

Step 3: RGB 157 – 83 – 39
Step 4: RGB 183 – 110 – 64
Step 5: RGB 217 – 142 – 90

Highlight colors:
RGB 250 – 173 – 103
RGB 251 – 199 – 147

Initial Sketch :

Colouring :

Final Product

How long have you been drawing?

I’ve been drawing pretty well my whole life. Being an artist was all I really wanted to do when I grew up. In 2004 I started up an art studio here in Virginia with my brother John, and I’ve been working at it ever since. So, although I never grew up, I did become an artist. I’ve also worked in advertising, which I never dreamed about when I was a kid, but it made pretty good money.

Is there anything particular style you try to achieve?

Realistic and dynamic is my goal, although whether I pull it off or not is debatable. I try to capture the feeling of motion with my pictures, like it’s moving even though it’s a still picture. My favorite things to draw are people; faces, bodies, muscles, I could do that all day. I really don’t like drawing backgrounds at all, so I tried 3D modelling them a few years back, and it was a lot of fun and I thought it suited my style well so I add 3D elements to my pictures whenever possible.

Did you receive any formal training?

I’m completely self-taught.
Just like Pink Floyd, I don’t need no education.

Wow! That’s impressive.
Who would you consider your influences?

Adam Hughes, Travis Charest, Paolo Serpieri, Alphonse Mucha, Howard Pyle, Masamune Shirow, Kenichi Sonada, and of course Frank Frazetta like everybody else in the fantasy art biz.

Thanks for your time!
The Red Sonja piece is absolutely amazing.

For more on Sean check out his website :

http://www.Harrington-Artwerkes.com/arthome.htm