'Photoshop'

Software Used :

Hello, my name is Ioan Dumitrescu (aka Jonone); I’m a 20-year old self-taught concept designer and a student of architecture. In this making of article I will try talking you through some thoughts, ideas and show you some of the workflow behind the creation of my ‘Worm Licker’ image.

It all started after I finished some work and needed to blow some steam. So I started doing some thumbnails on A4 Xerox paper, each one letting my thoughts roam wherever they wanted, with my hand following closely. When working like this I usually don’t think of a subject or story whilst doing them – they’re just for relaxation purposes. All of a sudden, on clean paper, I started working a bit bigger and there I saw an eye and a worm-like mouth appear, so I followed that track finishing off with some sort of deformed worm with arms (Fig.01). At this stage I would usually have an idea and form myself a story to continue the piece with, and this image was no exception from that rule. So I imagined a worm-like creature getting hit by light; the light being filtered by leaves and branches of trees in a dense forest; the creature hating light and being terribly disturbed by it.

It is always good to reference yourself on the subject at hand, but also to get inspired from stuff that has no apparent connection to your image as well. Here are 3 images photographed by me that I used as references and for textures (Fig.02a – c). If you are using references for atmosphere or colour then don’t colour-pick! Try finding the colours for yourself; try to get a ‘feeling’ for the appropriate colours (of course looking back at some basic colour theory will always be helpful). Always try to picture things in your mind; try thinking about all of your moves before you make them, and you will learn a great deal – some techniques will even become like reflexes!