Designing Japan from Sketch to Finish

Japan: Stages of Development 

Of all the backgrounds I designed for the Reversed Front: Bonfire game, I can't really pick a favorite - I loved each one. However, Japan stands out for its uniquely challenging color scheme. Each territory was supposed to feature a specific color - or combination of colors. When it came time to design Japan, I was told the featured colors should be "pink and matcha green." This combination intimidated me because it is not a color scheme I would normally choose. Below is a breakdown of the process that led to the final painting... and you can judge for yourself if I was successful in applying these colors. 

Ideation Sketches

This first page was an early attempt to envision the world of Reversed Front. Through "thumbnail sketches", I explored composition as well as architectural styling, and even details that would appear within the finished environments. All of my work on Reversed Front was executed in digital media. I used my iPad with Procreate for very rough idea sketches (the iPad's portability facilitates developing ideas anywhere - doctor's office, coffee shop, etc.) Next, my iPad sketches were imported into Photoshop for refinement on my desktop PC. On my desktop, I work in Photoshop and/or Painter on a Wacom Cintiq 24 Pro (you can read about my homebuilt desktop PC setup here).   

Concept Sketches

Having roughly mapped out the world of Reversed Front in ideation sketches, we needed to solidify the designs of each territory, casting aside material that didn't fully support the story. Reversed Front was supposed to be styled around "Asian Steampunk" - and honestly, I wasn't quite sure what that was. I had to research steampunk design and more specifically, what makes for "Asian Steampunk".  

Also, I had to figure out how to incorporate steampunk elements throughout each landscape. In an early version of Japan, I envisioned steampunk elements interwoven throughout a medieval Japanese castle. I think this would have been fun to draw, but I don’t think my sketch really captured the spirit of Japan.

The chosen design was a view looking across the water at a modern Japanese city, interspersed with mechanical steampunk elements and the occasional Japanese temple. This next sketch is not mine - it's by my colleague and good friend, Scott Cook, who worked with me for a little while on this project. He had some great ideas and suggestions on how to make the steampunk elements look more functional. Honestly, Scott's concept sketch was actually a better representation of Japanese culture, and so it became the basis for my preliminary drawing for the final background below (this, by the way, is what I really enjoy about working with a team of creators - the opportunity to bounce ideas off of other artists and create something that I probably wouldn’t have thought up on my own). 

Pencil Layout

Working from Scott’s concept sketch, I began the pencil layout for the final painting. I worked in Photoshop, drawing on the Wacom Cintiq. I chose a greenish color to work out the preliminary drawing - this technique harkens back to earlier days of traditional animation, when animators would begin a drawing in blue pencil before tying down the final drawing in graphite. I like this technique especially for handling highly detailed subjects. Plus, this technique readily accommodates revisions. When I finished the penciled version, I was asked to revise the roof of the foreground temple - and I was very happy to do it, because revisions are just so much easier to make at this stage.

Inking Stage

Next, I inked over my pencil drawing (or rather, applied the digital equivalent of ink with a thick/thin brush in Photoshop). This process is similar to how old-school comic book inkers would ink on top of a penciled page. It's a time-consuming process, but the result is a drawing that I think might hold its own as a pen & ink illustration.

Underpainting

Following the inking stage, I applied soft-edged pressure-sensitive brushes in Photoshop to render the entire scene with a full range of value from light to dark. This process is a modern counterpart to the Renaissance method of creating an underpainting ("Verdaccio" was the Italian method of underpainting with gray-green tones, while the French employed "Grisaille", or grays). The goal is to separate the problems of color from the problems of value (light and shadow), freeing the artist to focus on color and refinement during the painting stage. I find that my painting goes much faster and is usually more successful when I paint over a full-value underpainting. It's harder to mess up the finish when you start off with a solid foundation. 

Color Rough

Before starting the final painting, I made a rough pass at color using mostly soft-edged brushes in Photoshop. At this stage, the paint can be rough and unrefined - I am just trying to decide which colors work best. My color roughs are generally much rougher than this, but I was really enjoying this painting.

Final paint

Working over a solid drawing and full-value rendering, the colors can be layered on top, building from transparent towards semi-opaque. At the final stage, the paint is actually not fully opaque - I like to leave some of the underpainting showing through the upper paint layers even in the finish. This is a holdover from how I paint in traditional media, but I like the effect of layering paint this way. 

In the final painting, you might notice the colors are more vibrant and fully saturated whereas my rough is more muted and painterly. I like the colors in the rough stage, but there is a necessary tradeoff between painterly subtlety and readability on the video game screen. Hence, I applied fuller saturation in the finish.

Finally, I had a last-minute request to change the distant "Fuji-like" mountains to rolling hills with cherry blossoms. It's difficult - even frustrating - to make revisions this late in the process; working in Photoshop, I had to go back to the ink drawing and rendering layers and make changes there before coming back to the paint layers - but I did make the revision.

Japan represents a turning point for me as an artist, specifically in my handling of color. Before Reversed Front, I put lots of energy into drawing, but I don't think I ever really explored color enough. The colors in my paintings tended to be muted, perhaps even timid. As the Reversed Front series progressed, I became more confident in my painting skills. By the time I got around to painting Japan, I was feeling ready to tackle unfamiliar color combinations, even a particularly challenging one like "pink and matcha green."