Rob Gale's Sketchbook

[robgale]

@Heather-Boyd
Thanks! yes, I'm having so much fun playing and experimenting with brushes and effects.

@inkandspatter
Thank you! That's nice to hear as I've been learning new things about light and color recently and trying to push those elements, so I'm glad it's coming through

[Erin.Cortese]

@robgale Your work is definitely paying off! I have been trying to improve my colour and lighting skills, and I find your work very inspiring. Do you have any advice you can share?

[robgale]

@inkandspatter You've probably heard this before, but getting the values right is really the first key. I'm still not great at this when I am working in color, so I find that it really helps me to separate light layers and local color layers and tweak them. I have been treating it almost like I'm lighting for a movie, or in a 3D program rather than "painting" in a sense.

I like to also keep a layer on top of everything that I can turn on or off to see things in black and white. I often think one value is quite a bit darker than another (say I'm doing a reddish shadow and a bluish light side) but when I turn on the b/w layer, it becomes obvious that this isn't true! Once I fix that, the piece always looks way better.

Another thing that I've finally learned recently as I've been studying light more, is that being mindful of how the secondary colors (yellow, cyan, magenta) are all brighter colors (at their most saturated) than the primary colors (red, green, blue). So if I want to have a really saturated light side, I need to stay with the secondary colors, whereas if I want a really saturated shadow, it works best to stick to the primary colors. Other than that, I just have a process where I can continue to tweak the colors endlessly until I'm like it. I usually change the color scheme several times while I'm painting.

I'm still (always I guess) learning about light and color myself, but I've been drawing and painting in black and white for a long time. Actually, recently I've been going back to black and white to just reinforce the value structure again for myself. I feel like you can't do too many value studies.

Hope some of that can be of help to you!

[Erin.Cortese]

@robgale That is very helpful, thank you! Everything you said is very new to me, especially the use of primary and secondary colours in light and shadow. I do struggle with values, but the truth is that I have not spent much time focusing on them. Starting there sounds like great advice. I like the way that you work with layers, it sounds like a good way to experiment.

[robgale]

@inkandspatter Great! I'm glad I could offer some help! That's what I love about these forums, so much to learn from each other.

[Erin.Cortese]

@robgale Could you answer one more question for me? Do you keep the value (black and white) composition and layer your colour over it, or do you just use it as reference?

There seems to be a debate about whether or not to start with black and white, and it has left me very confused. Some artists say that starting with black and white and painting colours on top makes the overall colour muddy and dull. Whenever I see an artists value sketch, I always wonder if it is for reference or if it is used in the final composition.

[A Former User]

@robgale This particular black and white sketch based on Ian McQue is excellent. Keep going everyday!!

Also love your portraits. Maybe challenge yourself to get those characters in more enviroments and remember to continuously practice from observation and reference! Keep going!

[robgale]

@Ben-Migliore Thanks! Totally, I hear what you're saying about challenging myself to get more backgrounds in there! Thank you for the encouragement to push further. And reference... absolutely... it's something I need to work into my process more.

BTW, I dig the landscapes you have on your website.

[robgale]

@inkandspatter I actually haven't had results that I'm super happy with when I try to do the black and white first then lay color over it. I mostly either do black and white OR color. When I'm working in color, I have a blank gray layer on top of everything that has a blend mode of "color" that I turn on and off to check my values from time to time, but when I'm working, I'm still working in color. If you'd like, when I have a little more time over the weekend, I can post up a photoshop file for you to see my layers and how I've been working. It's probably not the process I will ultimately land on, as it's a bit cumbersome and has some limitations, but it's definitely been useful for me.

[Erin.Cortese]

@robgale That would be amazing, thank you!

[Jessica Jolicoeur]

@robgale I love this one. You have a pretty strong and distinctive graphics style developing which is really cool.
I myself work traditionally which I love but it is time-consuming and I am considering trying out a digital format. I know that digital work can also be time-consuming.
What device do you use? I did research quite some time ago but its nice to ask people directly about what devices they work with.

[Jessica Jolicoeur]

@robgale Wow, I love this one. I love sketchy graphite work. This guy is a dapper gent but something about his expression gives me the feeling that he is not completely trustworthy. Compelling image.