art process: posters

1. plan + research

The illustration process begins with planning out what character to draw and what food or drink to pair it with. Sometimes, the combination is determined by matching the colours of the character with the food. Other times, the character is paired with a food that it interacts well with. Once the pairing has been decided, food photographs are collected as references for the illustration process, similar to that of a still-life painting. The planning and research process can take several hours.

2. composition + sketch

The next step is to paint in large blocks of colour to define the major elements of the piece, such as lighting and composition. Generally, only a large flat brush is used at this time, as no details need to be rendered yet. The focus during this step is on the values (i.e. lighting and shadow). A simple sketch is completed for the character.

3. the details

Finally, the details are layered in using the same flat brush, though occasionally switching to a smaller one to create the details. The focus during this step is on the colours. Touchups are added in using Paint Tool SAI’s built-in functions, such as brightness and contrast, saturation, and lighting layers.