Lieam 5x7 Print Process

I've been trying to offer up more 5" x 7" matted prints at conventions and in my online store. The most requested character for one of these prints in 2016 was Lieam. The redfurred mouse never was supposed to be as important to the Mouse Guard story as he ended up being, but after his heroic moment in issue #1, his role only became more important with each appearance. In today's blogpost I'll share the process for creating the image for this print.




Layout:
I merged together several rough sketches (one of Lieam, one of his sword, another of the stairs and then a fourth of the ivy) in Photoshop to create this rough. This way, I could reposition and alter each component (resizing, rotating, etc.) and add some tinted color to help me see the difference in what was ivy vs stone wall or Lieam himself.



Inks: 
I printed out the above layout and taped it to the back of a sheet of Strathmore 300 series bristol. On a light pad (I really like the Huion brand of these) I can see through the surface of the Bristol and ink using the printout as my 'pencils' to guide me. I used Copic Multiliners (the 0.7 & 0.3 nibs). I broadcast LIVE as I inked this piece over on Facebook and you can  watch the video here: https://www.facebook.com/david.petersen.777/videos/10155779637514778/



Color Flats & Final Colors:
After scanning in the inked piece (and adjusting the levels and cleaning up any dirt, dust, etc from the scan) the first step to coloring is Flatting in colors. This means, like any good coloring book user, you color spaces inside the lines. But when flatting, you don't need to worry at all about shading, lighting effects, or even if you are going to use the real colors.


After the areas of color are isolated by flat colors, I went in an rendered each part using the Dodge & Burn tools in Photoshop. I have my settings on Range: Highlights and 1% exposure most of the time and I use a textured brush.

I also broadcast as I flatted and colored this piece: https://www.facebook.com/david.petersen.777/videos/10155799623789778/

The final 5" x 7" matted print will be available at my 2017 convention appearances and in my online store.

More of the 5x7" Mouse Guard character print process Blogposts:
Saxon Print: http://davidpetersen.blogspot.com/2015/04/5x7-saxon-print-process.html
Sadie Print: http://davidpetersen.blogspot.com/2016/04/sadie-5x7-print.html
Gwendolyn Print: http://davidpetersen.blogspot.com/2016/05/gwendolyn-print.html
Kenzie Print: http://davidpetersen.blogspot.com/2017/02/kenzie-5-x-7-print-process.html
Rand Print: http://davidpetersen.blogspot.com/2017/05/rand-5x7-print-process.html

2017 Appearances: 

Heroes Con: Jun. 16-18

San Diego Comic Con: July 19-23

Baltimore Comic Con: Sept. 22-24

New York Comic Con: Oct. 5-8