Flat vs Rendered Twitter Trend (Honkai Star Rail / Original) (Patreon)

There's been a trend going around on Twitter where you share what your art looks like with flat colors and what it looks like fully rendered -- I shared the Stelle piece, but I threw in Knight of Lust as an alternative for y'all to check out!

My philosophy on rendering is the same as my philosophy on art in general -- I do what feels necessary to communicate whatever I'm trying to say with a particular piece, with as few extraneous elements as possible. Many of my personal favorite drawings are ones where the rendering is minimal. Line, color, composition and pattern is usually more than enough to get my point across, and anything extra is just a distraction. The more simple, the better.

Even as far as the other artists whose work I admire, the simple drawings are the most impressive to me. Simple pencil sketches that give life to a character with a scattering of lines. Concept art, studies, practice work. When I pore over the artbooks I've collected, that's what captures my attention.

In the Stelle piece, I felt like the atmosphere and the softness of the figure were the primary elements -- the juxtaposition of a warm welcoming body and the cold darkness of the stone-lined alleyway. That's why I ended up softening the cel shading and adding fake subsurface scattering.

In the Knight of Lust piece, the primary elements were the composition and the concept -- I wanted viewers to see the sword, the blood succubi, and most of all, her piercing eyes. Everything leads to the eyes. In my opinion, if I'd added more dynamic lighting and rendering to the piece, it would've been pointless -- the way she's lit doesn't matter at all, nor does the space she's in. The antique paper texture adds enough variation that it still feels grimy and organic instead of flat and clean, which would've gone against the vibe she needs.

Anyway, I thought these might be fun to share here -- hopefully y'all find them interesting, too. Thank you!