Today's #Sketch is from our Dublin-based 2D Artist, Gloria Gambino. We love Gloria's work and this piece really shows off her amazing talent!

Gloria: This piece that I've named “Let Them Come” is inspired by Red Dead Redemption 2 stories and visuals, a game that I loved so much.

Usually, when I start to work on something, I start researching a lot of images and creating a mood board, a collage of all the things I would like to implement in my work. It could be a detail or a type of light or just a cool outfit.

After this, I start thumbnailing sketches. I do really small line work to block out the story or the idea. It happens very often that I start my work based on a “light/mood” that I think will fit the story, and then work around it.

When the line art and the idea become clearer, I start throwing down colours quickly and I try different light sources also. Always keeping in mind my thumbnails and having them near me as reference.

Only after I have done these steps, can I enlarge it and start painting and refining all the elements. It's very common for me to first block out the background and then do flat silhouettes and colours and then paint them on to measure their weight and values.

As the character is influenced by the surroundings, I find it easier to control the character. Then I start to render it; I use a lot of soft light and overlays to help me block out the main lights. And it's a back and forth to real life references until I'm satisfied with the result. Then I stop detailing and start putting in mood, atmosphere and colour balancing the whole image.

This process helps me to stay focused because, in a larger and very detailed piece, it's easier to become frustrated or lose your way. Just keep things nice and easy, step by step!