More colouring experiments! Featuring Jellybean the betta.

After my prior gradient map experiments with Shadowheart, where I had one gradient map applied to the whole drawing then did further rendering on top, I wanted to try something different.

The first picture is the greyscale drawing. The second is with gradient maps applied and minimal rendering on top. This time I separated elements of the grayscale image so each were on separate layers based on the colour group – for example, the fish on a different layer from the plants. Then I applied a gradient map to each individual layer, which lead to a wider range of colours.

I liked how this turned out, but I wanted to try it again with harder lines, leading to the second one. I often like the look of masking (or alpha locking, in Procreate) the linework then colouring it, but sometimes it can feel a bit tedious.

Anyways, more recording of the process. The digital art journey continues!