Back when I was exploring art, I didn’t know how to properly begin an art piece from start to finish. I had no idea what a workflow was and things were very disorganized. For studies and experimentations, a workflow isn’t important, but there should be a workflow that we follow for serious artwork. Without a workflow to guide us, we can easily get distracted and lost in the process of making art.
As my knowledge and understanding increases, I like things to be structured and organized. This makes learning and applying art a lot more easier for me, and I’m sure it’ll be for beginner artists as well. So I have been thinking about this three “R” inspired by the Bible. Before I get to it, I must point out that I’m primarily into digital art—drawing, painting, modeling and sculpting. I’m sure this 3R-Workflow can apply to everything else, but my main focus is on drawing | painting and modeling | sculpting. Like I said, there’s nothing new under the Sun. This is just my take and me putting what I know together in a system that works for me. Some people see it in term of a Two-Stage Workflow, but being a Christian that has a solid foundation to stand on, I prefer to take my inspiration from the Word of Truth. I see it as a Three-Stage Workflow or simply 3R.
Ecclesiastes chapter 4, verse 12 has this interesting saying,
“A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart.” (LSB).
If you would like to study this passage and have a more in-depth understanding of what it means in its proper context, you can check out this article: https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/bible-study/why-is-a-cord-of-three-strands-not-easily-broken.html
What I’m after here is the principle and concept that is taught in that passage and how we can use it to our advantage as artists. This cord of three “R” is not easily torn apart. It builds upon and supports one another. What are the three Rs?
R - Research (Reference)
R - Rough
R - Refine
We know that anatomy, thumbnailing, ideation, block-in, base color, lighting, gesture, line theory etc… these are all important. But where do we fit each one of them into the 3R-Workflow? This is something I’ll be thinking and working through to put together in a logical structure, and hopefully will have plenty of examples to demonstrate and show in the future.
For serious art: Research > Rough > Refine
For casual art: Reference > Rough > Refine
Reference falls under the first R (Research). For serious artwork, we would put in the time to research to better understand our subject and this includes gathering reference materials. Most of the time, we’re just lazy and go with references—copying, combining and adding our own twists to it without putting in the effort to do in-depth research.
Anatomy, thumbnailing, ideation, research sketching etc… would fall under the first stage: Research. Want to draw or model a realistic car or even improvise and come up with a Sci-Fi car? Research and study its anatomy! If you don’t know what makes up a car, then you’ll have a hard time with the second R (Rough). It’s in the second R that you begin your construction. How will you construct and rough out a car (real or sci-fi) if you don’t know what makes up a car? Hopefully you’ re beginning to see how the 3R-Workflow can carry you through.
The second R is where you block things out. This is where you come up with block-in strategies. The first R gives you the research, knowledge, ideas and even the references. Now, it’s time to rough things out. This is where gesture, pose and composition (for example) comes into the picture.
The last and final R is where things get more refined as you work on your Rough. Line theories are applied, for drawing. And it’s pretty normal to go back and forth between Rough and Refine during the process of making art. Most of the time we’ll be stuck in between Rough and Refine. There’s also another R that is holding all three Rs together that is not included, and that is (R)evision. Revision allows us to (R)evisit the three Rs.
I have a lot more to talk about this in the future. For now I’m just putting it out there to give people an idea of the 3R-Workflow and how it can help artists. Also to show you that the Bible can teach us how to learn and approach art!
—2023