Kevin Barba

The Smallest Subject

The Smallest Subject

BY KEVIN BARBA

Artist, Creative Director

Illinois, USA

Kevin Barba uses “Brushes” for creating fine detailed paintings of one of earth’s tiniest subjects, earning him a reputation as a master in the world of mobile digital art.

Step 1: Rough Sketch

In the app “Brushes”, I start with a white background and use a middle gray color to sketch in the basic frame. I keep the lines loose and sketchy so that everything is just suggested at this time. Then once that is done, I rough in a simple shadow and build it up slowly with a low opacity brush.

Step 2: Color Layer

Fill in the ant’s body with a red brown color at a medium opacity. I use this method to build up shadows quickly. I start slowly mixing in yellows and a hint of white to give the body and legs some tone value and to help suggest a “wet” look.

Step 3: Shadows and Detail

Now, with the basic colors filled in, I zoom in to complete detail work with dark browns, reds, and light yellows. At this stage I use the coloring process to better define the edges and some of the finer details in the leg joints and body intersections.

Step 4: Highlights and Atmosphere

For me this is the fun part. I’ll add a few more shadow blocks to the body before starting on the highlights. I work with a 50 percent opacity white or a 75 percent opacity gray to lay out the main reflection areas of the ant’s body. My references for these are part instinct and part looking at reflective surfaces. For this one, a stapler that was on my desk was used as a guide.

Step 5: Final Touches

For these, I go over areas of the ant with a large brush with white at 10 percent or lower to help push back part of the ant’s legs. This technique works to give the figure depth and the illusion of transparency.