Wacky Reference Wednesdays, No. 440

Wacky Reference Wednesdays, No. 440

Wednesday, November 4, 2026

HELLO DARKNESS #3. 2024.
Photoshop, 4125 × 6263 px.

I'm losing steam... but I'm pressing on. (This is 6 weeks in a row!) This cover was unusual in that I built it around the reference, as opposed to the other way around. I bought this model collection (and many others) from 3D Scan Store. I loved the pose so much that I was just waiting for an excuse to use it.

This one's for the censors...

Still, I used plenty of internet reference to get the right look for rocks, waves, and lighthouses. I got lighthouse model from sketchfab.com, but ended up not using it much. It happens. At least it kept the lighting angle consistent with the figure.

digital color study in Photoshop

I'm always trying different ways to construct digital paintings. I wish I could just pick one. But in this case, it made sense to do most of it as a monochromatic underpainting, with color added in later stages. Honestly, I can't remember without opening the original file. Every painting is different, and that's my problem. The process was pretty quick, though. Hourly breakdown below!

digital underpainting in Photoshop

Total hours: 26

• layout: 1.25

• 3D: 1.25

• pencils: 6

• underpaint: 11.5   

• paint: 6

digital layout in Photoshop

⊡ 10:42:00 AM