Maggie Stiefvater's Blog: Maggie Stiefvater, page 360

nataliehall:The birds are mocking me

nataliehall:

The birds are mocking me

dennybitte:calmby Denny Bitte

dennybitte:

calm

by Denny Bitte

shoomlah:Thought it might be interesting to show how my Mos...

shoomlah:

Thought it might be interesting to show how my Mos Eisley piece breaks down in Photoshop!  Despite technically being made up of a ton of layers (just for organization and ease of selection), the final piece breaks down into about five parts: inks, flats, shadows, bounce/atmosphere, and overlay.

Sketch
I actually blocked out a small scene in Maya to help me compose this shot – Mos Eisley has a lot of domes and ellipses and, as much as I adore drawing in perspective, it definitely helped having a basic maquette for placing the camera.  We had to get the sketch approved by Lucasfilm, so I did a quick value pass to hint at the time of day.

Final Sketch
This is where I’m finalizing the composition before inking.  This meant fine-tuning figure placement, environment details, and any text I had written on the walls.  Luke was almost entirely central in the initial sketch, so I shifted him to the left to let the piece breathe a little more.

Inks
The first stage of the final piece, and probably my favourite – I can just turn off my brain, zone out, and ink.  Since Star Wars is a notoriously “used” universe, I went for a bit of Geof Darrow vibe and let the inks do a lot of the texture work for me.  The inking is actually done over some twelve-odd layers (sandtrooper, Luke, foreground moisture vaporator, etc), but that was just to organize my file and facilitate expedient flatting later on.  The final inks are a dark green-blue, with a bit of variation in the distance to reinforce the atmospheric perspective.

Flats
This aaaalways takes longer than I expect.  This stage changes depending on my process, but I went with pretty basic local colors this time around.  Nothing fancy.

Shadows (multiply layer)
The shadows are all on 1-2 multiply layers, pretty basic.  This was a deceptively simple lighting setup, so I wanted to make sure any edges that were catching light read really clearly.  I added the warm rim of subsurface scattering to break up the edges a bit.

Bounce Light and Atmospheric Perspective (screen layers)
A couple separate layers, but they serve similar purposes.  This stage added bounce light from the sky and sand, as well as layers of atmospheric perspective to separate out the foreground, midground and background.

Final (overlay layers)
The final piece!  I used a subtle overlay layer to marry the colors, as well as some film grain and light watercolor texture to break up the swaths of flat digital color.

So that’s my jam!  I’m changing up and improving my process constantly, but this is definitely one way to get things done. :)

lunchbagmonster:For the few of you who said that drawing of...

lunchbagmonster:

For the few of you who said that drawing of Gansey in my last post looked like a Disney prince, I am here to say: Yes.

brkteenlib:Last night’s visit from the amazing...

brkteenlib:

Last night’s visit from the amazing @maggie-stiefvater was a roaring success!  Thanks to everyone who came and made the evening even more delightful.  More photos to come!

adamparresh:also is anyone going to @maggie-stiefvater’s event tomorrow in Saratoga Springs?My...

adamparresh:

also is anyone going to @maggie-stiefvater’s event tomorrow in Saratoga Springs?

My Nissan is coming as well

jollylines:TAROT LESSON!So, I’m in love with the Raven Cycle...

jollylines:

TAROT LESSON!

So, I’m in love with the Raven Cycle books by @maggie-stiefvater.  They’re big wonderful blankets of joy on me.  And I’m desperately fond of the master-apprentice relationship that forms between Persephone and Adam.  In my ultimate headcanon, Adam joins 300 Fox Way down the line as one of the psychics.  On and off.  When the occassion calls for it.  IT MUST BE.  hahaha.  

So I had to make something of them.  This is that something.  I want to do many more illustrations from these books, so here’s hoping!

~Amanda

hey maggie!! I love in Providence, RI and I have been looking forward to your book signing in Westerly since you announced the tour but my dumb ass thought it was today. Plainville isn't too far, but I didn't realize you had to register for it and it says

Dear nancyfuckingdrew,

Both Boston area events have been sold out for awhile, but I do have one last New England event in Saratoga Springs on Saturday if you’re in the mood for a drive.

urs,

Stiefvater

fangirlingismypasttime:Okay, maybe a little stalker/ish, but...

fangirlingismypasttime:

Okay, maybe a little stalker/ish, but it was worth having a picture of maggie stiefvater laying on the floor

Court and I found this old carousel

Court and I found this old carousel