BladeRunner 2049 color study!

(edit - squid suggested I add some background and insight into this piece, which I'm more than happy to! I sometimes feel like no one wants to hear about it, so I tend to not, but I think I'll do it more often!)

Soooo I'm color blind and I've always tried sticking with black/white drawings because colors have always scared me haha but I always loved the use of neon colors in pieces that some of my favorite artists use. so I decided to spend a little time trying to paint something digitally working with those colors!

I decided to pick the scene in Bladerunner 2049 because I absolutely loved the contrast between the blue, neon pink, and red. it still felt normal, though the colors are otherwordly.

I started with a quick and simple, heavy outline to get the shape of everything. it's super cartoony, and that's kinda what I was goin for, but I wanted to more focus on the colors.

I started with the neon pink as a sort of base, and worked in shading and highlighting after that. I moved onto the blood and beard, which I feel turned out super well. though they are similar colors (at least in my eyes) they still hold a nice contrast. 

I mostly used oil and gauche brushes with a low opacity to help with the coloring, which I am not used to at all. I like my cel-shading, but I want to work more with soft shading. so this was my first step! 

Overall, I really like how it came out, and it gave me a great start towards working on conquering my fear of colors! lmao

I do want to remake it, with some slight changes, maybe a different style, but for now, I am more than happy with how it turned out!!