First step is always the vision. Getting it clear in my own head. That's what the sketch is for. Making what's in my head into something physical. This piece is an illustrated bible story. Other examples of this type of illustration can be found HERE. This is a single page I worked on, telling the story of Job.
Because this story is being told in a comic format, hard lines were used after the sketch. I decided against using black (aside from the panel borders) because I wanted the lines to look more natural, with less contrast after adding color. A dark brown was what I settled with.
Now the color! At this point I already have an idea of where I want light to come from. Most of the colors I used here are mildly saturated. This stage is really a stepping stone. The shadows are really what make the image complete. In this stage you can see I've already started adding minor lighting effects and shadows.
Each panel has a different setting. However; to add some subtle consistency, light comes from the same direction in each panel, left to right, with the exception of the second. The second panel has light coming directly into the subjects face. This creates harsh contrast, and gives the subject an ominous, intense feel.
We need words! We're telling a story after all. The placement of the speech bubbles were planned from the begging as you can see in the original sketch. This is the final draft. All thats left is cropping.
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