Chat with a concept artist at the Seattle art walk changed my workflow

I was at the Capitol Hill art walk last month and talked to a concept artist named Jenna who works on game backgrounds. She told me she uses pure black for shadows but then layers a dark blue over it to keep depth, and I tried it on my latest piece. That one tip made my digital paintings look way less flat in just two tries. Has anyone else picked up a weird trick like that from a random conversation?

2 comments

2 Comments

noahcampbell24d ago

Tbh I tried that once and just ended up with muddy dark blue mess.

elliotc1024d ago

Lmao yeah that sounds about right, I tried it on a rainy day too and my whole palette turned into swamp water. Total rookie move on my part. The worst part was I was trying to recreate this sunset I saw but ended up with something that looked like a bruise. My roommate walked in and asked if I was painting a garbage can, so that was a solid ego check.