Kris Atomic archive

I haven't done a process post in yonks, so thought I'd share the steps in making some new postcards for  my shop. I just ran out of the last batch and I'm pretty sick of looking at the same drawings while packing prints, so it was a perfect excuse to make something new.

First, little thumbnails to work out the composition.

Roughing out the ladies. I do everything on different layers, refining the details and hiding older layers as I go. I find the more precise (not necessarily detailed, but everything the right size and shape) my sketches are, the less time I spend changing things further down the line once colour is on an it's way more cumbersome and annoying.

Some colour thumbs to work out the palette. I wanted to limit it to just a handful of colours and it's easier to experiment while everything is still rough. I quite liked the pink/turquoise/peach version but it was too washed out on a larger scale, not enough contrast in values.

(I was listening to the audiobook of The Grapes of Wrath while I was drawing this, so I was tying not to get too bleak here too because damn, Steinbeck.)

I went with two versions in the end, the cool blue/red above and the warm pink/yellow/purple at the top of the post. Maybe next time I'll order another colourway and make it a little series!