Behind The Scenes: An Artist Workshop

The purpose of this post is to detail the steps used to create one of my digital images “Trumpet”:

1. Concept/Inspiration:
This is an illustration from the “Gideon Project” that I’ve been working on. This scene depicts Gideon, a young man whom God has called to be a defender of his people, about to launch one of the most miraculous battles known in the bible. Gideon is seen here blowing his trumpet, creating the sound that sets off the surprise attack on the Midianite invaders.

Since I wanted to have a Sci-Fi look and feel, but remain true to the original text from the bible, thumbnail sketches were done that reflecyed both an ancient and futuristic culture.

2. References:
Since this was to be a battle scene taking place in the desert, I chose to demonstrate a blend of modern day equipment as seen with the night vision-type goggles on the head of the subject, along with the ancient use of the “shofar” , a horn made from a rams horn.

3. Sketches:
The secret behind this sketch is that it was reversed from the original drawing, meaning that the trumpet was actually in Gideon’s left hand and his torch was raised in his right. After closer review of the verses of the bible that this scene represents, I realized that the trumpet and the torch were in the wrong hands! “…Grasping the torches in their left hands and holding in their right hands the trumpets they were to blow, they shouted, ‘A sword for the LORD and for Gideon!’ “ –Judges 7:20 As you can see, I flipped the sketch in order to make the illustration accurate.

Original Sketch

Corrected Sketch

4. Color/Composition:
This was one of the last digital works I created where I wanted to maintain a graphic novel type feel by including a layer of line art within Photoshop. The sketches and line art were all done by hand. The line art was then scanned in and color added using Photoshop. My love for warm colors is once again seen through my choice of orange and yellow hues.

Line Art

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