It's all his fault for being an artist!

Chapter 49, Realm of Xu Sheng, Memory Point, Thick Paint Style

Cheng Wang skillfully opened the drawing software and took charge of designing the generals for the Three Kingdoms Kill game.

The judging criteria for the game mechanics and the original artwork will be separated. The organizers welcome contestants to participate in both categories, but if they only participate in one, it will not prevent them from receiving a separate score.

Since I'm planning to sign up for the design competition, I definitely need to aim for the best of both worlds.

The skill mechanics are intuitive and clear, fun, and not too complicated.

The original artwork matches the character's background and image, with a distinctive style that immediately captivates the viewer.

"The key is to have memorable elements; both the official team and players will vote and score separately."

"In terms of mechanics, the official team will conduct internal testing. The so-called fun is actually about the enjoyment, not fancy stuff or a lot of unnecessary features."

"Either the male characters are powerful enough, or the female characters are sexy enough, otherwise how can you sell card packs?"

Based on past experience, Cheng Wang unconsciously turned the digital pen with his fingertips, pondering deeply.

"The original artwork isn't that complicated. I remember what the more well-known cards look like. Once the mechanics are finalized, we can just copy them into the game."

So.

The most popular game in the Three Kingdoms Kill game.

Meanwhile, other players are getting so frustrated that they've drawn a character that allows them to win hands and have a blast. Who will it be?

Aha!

Jie · Xu Sheng.

Cheng Wang already had the answer in his mind. Following the logic, he deduced the scoring advantage again, and the result remained unchanged.

Taking criticism to the extreme can also make a lot of money. Back then, the company's senior management must have been grinning from ear to ear, and the role design and planning team got a real treat in terms of performance.

Ancient sword, used to kill with wine.

Those who invade the territory of Great Wu will be attacked and defeated by Sheng.

A sunny and cheerful young man...

There are countless trending memes that can be applied to this character card, making him a renowned and powerful general in the Three Kingdoms Kill game, with countless fans.

Cough cough, haters are fans too.

Although I haven't picked up a pen yet.

Cheng Wang couldn't help but smile as he recalled the online frenzy following the card's release.

How times have changed! This beast card might be released ahead of schedule because of my arrival.

The players suffer, and Xu Sheng bears the infamy!

However, he quickly adjusted his mindset, suppressed his smile, and got into design mode.

This time it's not about creating something original, but about openly drawing inspiration from the future.

There must be a reason why Jie Xusheng's image design was successful.

The majestic and imposing hero card art, with its awe-inspiring posture, combined with the beastly skill mechanics, creates a sense of incongruity that evokes a strong desire among players to create their own fan art.

That righteous and heroic face fully demonstrates that someone who can create such a stark contrast between their public and private personas is not necessarily a sweet and charming fairy.

It could also be...

Jie·Xu Sheng!

When copying, one should grasp the essence of copying and avoid adding unnecessary details.

The character's card art should first be designed from a low angle, from the player's perspective, to make the illustration appear taller and more imposing.

Return to the principles of character movement.

Looking up, the distance to the crotch is closer than the distance to the head. Since things appear larger when closer and smaller when farther away, it is necessary to draw the difference in the center of gravity.

With just a few strokes, Cheng Wang outlined the basic design.

The imposing male silhouette, legs spread wide, stands at the tip of the ship's deck, feet concealed, chest and abdomen subtly protruding.

The head is smaller in proportion to the whole body than when viewed from eye level; only by taking in the height of the hat can it reach a seven-head-tall figure.

The Romance of the Three Kingdoms describes Xu Chu as having "a height of eight zhang (approximately 33 meters), a waist ten spans wide, and astonishing strength." According to research, this was the typical image of fierce generals in ancient times, hence the nickname "general's belly."

Let's set aside the jokes and banter.

The character design of Xu Sheng in the series is quite in line with this sentence. He is worthy of Chen Shou's ranking of him as one of the Tiger Generals of Jiangdong. He is loyal, diligent, courageous, resourceful, and capable of leading ten thousand men.

His robust waist appeared broad and thick in certain areas, and through the surface armor, it was more associated with the word "brave" than with lean eight-pack abs.

In the modeling step, Cheng Wang firmly grasped this feature and defined it as the key to the character's image.

Holding the weapon upside down with one hand, standing in front of the sword-wielding boat, the sword and the man were one, fierce and invincible, dignified without anger, and drove back the enemy from Eastern Wu.

Secondly, starting from the top and working down, draw detailed lines from the head.

have to say.

As the remake proceeded smoothly, Cheng Wang increasingly felt that the character's facial features likely bore a significant resemblance to stitching.

With sword-like eyebrows and bright eyes, he looked sideways with disdain, a sharp and clean beard, and sideburns as swift as the wind.

The image of a tough guy in Chinese aesthetics can be described with almost every adjective that can be applied to Xu Sheng's face.

A turquoise cloak draped over her body, the color scheme reminiscent of many interpretations of the Green Dragon Crescent Blade in various works.

Within the design framework of Chinese aesthetics, the cape is a very interesting element.

Wearing a brocade sable shawl, symbolizing wealth and prosperity, and with a zodiac sign leaning towards Yin, it signifies a person with far-sighted and profound scheming.

For figures like great heroes, the patterns on their cloaks should be as simple as possible.

The cloak shouldn't be too wide and flowing, nor should the brushstrokes be hesitant and indecisive, otherwise the character's aura will collapse.

The second memory point that Cheng looked up to recreate was this cloak.

With each stroke, the lightness, heaviness, speed, and slowness are controlled by muscle memory, while the forearm guides the wrist.

Whenever the fabric ripples, the elbow moves up and down, as if dry-drawing, capturing the curve in one stroke.

The detailed line drawing is complete.

Up to this point, there has been no difference from the usual order taking process on the forum.

Immediately.

Cheng Wang, taking advantage of his excellent technique, immediately moved on to the coloring step without any pause.

The most fundamental difference in art style between fan fiction and commercial fiction is about to reach a watershed moment.

This coloring technique is called thick painting, and Jie Xusheng is a typical example of this style.

Since his rebirth, Cheng Wang has never painted a work with thick paint.

The technique I used to favor was flat washes.

It mainly consists of flat color blocks with almost no light and dark transitions or volume shaping, and the outlines are clear. It is commonly seen in cartoon and Japanese cel style.

The impasto technique preserves or deliberately shows the layering of paint, emphasizing the texture of the object itself and creating a sense of volume by clearly covering the brushstrokes.

To put it simply...

Flat paint looks like 2D, while thick paint looks like 3D.

This painting technique originated from oil painting, and after some rounding, it shares a slight connection with the Mona Lisa; it is a more sophisticated method.

Many non-professional artists learn by copying and memorizing models, which is quick and effective but lacks solid artistic skills, so they can only use flat coloring.

Flat wash painting, when taken to its highest level, is certainly very beautiful.

However, generally speaking, these two coloring techniques are based on completely different logics.

The former achieves the desired effect by defining a large area of ​​color, and its principle is filling; the latter, however, may require re-mixing the color and brushing it on little by little for each new stroke of color.

The most common red apple only requires three or four colors for a flat coat, while a thick coat may require mixing more than a dozen colors.

Without systematic learning, being able to mix beautiful colors with flat washes naturally indicates a genius with exceptional color sense.

Those who master thick painting without a teacher, even if they don't pursue digital art, but instead go to art academies to study traditional art, will definitely be treated like treasures and trained even more.

Different schools of thought can be further subdivided into many different categories.

Moreover, once they enter the workforce, most non-freelance illustrators have relatively fixed projects and have even less energy to think about things randomly.

Trying to master multiple art styles at the same time is undoubtedly a difficult task.

By chance.

Cheng Wang had some knowledge of both, and happened to be proficient in both.

Armored and pen in hand, they charged into battle, breaking through the enemy lines!