"The Dragon's Ruby"

Another personal piece. I ended up learning a lot on this piece and doing a few things I haven't done in the past. First, I paid much more attention to my edges, focusing on crisp sharp edges in my foreground, especially where I wanted to focus my viewer's eyes. In contrast I used a lot of similar values in the background without very many sharp edges. Many artists try to take a shortcut and just make it blurry trying to reproduce what the human eye does but I've found using value and edge control does a much better job without the distraction of something being fuzzy.

I also used a little technique where I paint 95% of the image in grayed out neutral colors but in key areas I pop a local value. The local value is the true value of an object unaffected by surrounding light. Since this turns out to be a color of much higher saturation it works well to add volume to things as well as pop the color. You might notice it a bit on the dwarf's face and the green of his shirt around his shoulders. You have to be careful where you place them though. Local color usually only shows up right where your shadow and halftone meet.

I hoped I haven't bored anyone with my ideas here but I think an artist should never stop learning and I find that by explaining some of the methods behind the choices I make I cement the techniques and ideas more firmly in my brain.