Time for a final render pass. I follow the same technique as before, dabbing with a soft brush and refining with a hard-edged brush, but with progressively lighter tones. I don't want to overload the painting with details, so I'm treading very lightly and trying to pick out only what's necessary - the shoulder, arm and fist, the demon's face and the skull in the hand. I know I still have highlights to come, so I'm not taking things too far. I also added a few simple pieces of jewellery to help add some interest in those 'secondary' areas not picked up in this render pass. Again, I'll jump to 50% zoom here and there for the more detailed work.
Highlights :
Less is definately more when it comes to highlights. If the rendering has been handled carefully, all that should be necessary here is a few well placed strokes. Bright highlights will draw the eye, so it's particularly important not to spread them into areas where I don't want the viewer's eye to settle. I use a hard-edged brush to accent the same principal elements as before - the arm, face and skull, with a few carefully placed marks on the horns, hoof and jewellery to help communicate their hard, shiny surface properties. I add the highlights on a seperate layer, so I can quickly swoop in with the eraser if I feel like I'm over-doing them.
I'm also balancing a few other areas of the image, adding some more bones and details to the rock, and working into the background with some brighter tones, trying to up the contrast around the demon's face and hand to hold the focus in that area.I think I'm just about done at this point, so I Ieave the pic to rest over night. I can look at it again tomorrow with fresh eyes.
Fresh Eyes :
Oh dear! Spending a few hours away from an image can really give you a different perspective - the skulls just aren't working now I look at it again. I said that leaving certain elements undecided was bad practise; I should listen to my own advice! At least digital paintings are easy to adjust, so I paint out the hand and rock and prepare to begin again.
