Necojita

Perspective and Light

Tango

BY NECOJITA

Artist

Kyoto, Japan

Necojita details his painting process and the importance of maintaining perspective and the direction of the light source to give even this representational piece a greater feeling of realism.

Steps 1 and 2

Using the app “Brushes”, apply the colors with a large brush across the large blank screen. Use only dark colors for the foreground figures and a strong balance of background colors. It’s important to establish a broad harmony of color and not worry about smaller details yet, since our goal, in the images below, is to block in two central figures, mother and child. I also rough in the purple Koi, or carp, in the background.

Steps 3 and 4

I am aware that we are viewing the figures from a low angle based on where I have painted the horizon line. This perspective is important when drawing the skirts, the details in the faces, and the Koi, to get the feeling of it hanging in the sky. Create new colors while blending the colors in the sky. Get comfortable using a brush at a low level of transparency. Using a much smaller brush, I now add the facial details of our subjects and details in the clothes, and start to define our background Koi.

Step 5

I add details to the purple Koi at a low transparency setting, which gives us the ability to add these details and blend the colors simultaneously. Adding white details at 20 percent looks like a lavender brush stroke on the purple Koi and keeps the colors unified.

Step 6

I add two more Koi to the background to increase the feeling of depth.

Step 7

By drawing in the clouds, I can clarify the direction of the light. The representation of reality requires the correct light from the background to the foreground figures of the mother and child. Be conscious of painting using subtle tones. Finalize the background details.

Final Image

I used “Brushes Viewer” to generate a larger file size and cleaner images when printing.