Steps to a Hirez Masterpiece
By The Knave of iCE (November 1998)

Hirez is much like painting, there are a lot of variables to consider through the whole process of creating a thriving image. An artist doesn't start from anywhere and end up anywhere. The artist must calculate the piece from step one to its final stage. The following steps are part of an overall basic process which I naturally follow during the creation of one of my images.

THE IDEA
Images aren't just born out of nowhere. An appealing piece is normally anchored to some thematic idea which gives the picture life. The idea is so important because it determines the rest of the piece; its aura, its atmosphere, its life. If you are creating an image, its going to be a painful process if you are simply designing shapes off the top of your head and letting the pieces fall where they may. That makes for a dry, dull image. If your drawing hirez, it should be because you have something you want to portray, a vision in your head that must be captured on the screen. Your idea should interest you. This will make your process a lot less tedious, and much more satisfying from start to finish. Its hard to portray an idea as detailed as you would see it in you mind, but your goal is to go as far as you can in building your vision so that others may interpret it as you have, or as close as possible. Maybe their interpretation will be entirely different, and that's alright, so long as they have something to interpret.

FORETHOUGHT
It's a bad idea to start parts of an image without thinking about how the whole piece is going to fit together. The image has to go somewhere in its entirety. I've seen people start a great foreground, but are at a loss when they realize how tough it will be to work in an unplanned background. Forethought is thinking about how the overall image is going to fall together in its totality when you reach the final stage. If you plan an image, its more likely to turn out great than if you fly by the seat of your pants and start throwing down pixels every which way. This is an important step which will lead you to balance in your piece later on down the road.

CREATIVITY
Cliches in art are the worst types of cliches. Art is supposed to be about new and unique ideas, not redundant images being churned out by every artist who comes along. People like to see new things, new archetypes, new landscapes, new methods of coloring, new shapes, etc. This will make your art more appealing to the eye if you have some individuality to it. Its good to get crazy with your art, let your ideas form freely and let nothing hold you back from things that might be too odd for some people to handle. That's what my art is based around. People sometimes think I'm crazy for the images I put down on the screen, the visions I see in my head of elastic creatures melting into the sky in a field of tangled vines. But they seem to be moved by those images, because it makes you think and wonder. Being creative really shows how far your imagination can go and what types of boundaries you are willing to cross over. STYLE Linked closely to creativity is style. You must have style, or you simply wont have any appeal. Art without style is art without life. You need to give a breath of your own air to an image, your seal of creation. It makes your pieces unified under your imagination, your way of seeing things. People like to see my art because I have a certain style, a sense of linework and coloring that is unique to me and me alone. This keeps them coming back for more because they have gotten a taste of the way your mind works and are interested in delving further into your imagination.

BALANCE
For hirez to be pleasing to the eye, it has to be balanced. An unbalanced work simply doesn't hold the eye. If you balance your works, it keeps the eye in the image, which is exactly where you want it to be. Make your foreground and your background work together, as though neither could exist without the other. This makes the image sturdy, rather than tipsy and loose. Balance will show planning, forethought, and skill. It shows calculation and caring about the images success.

QUALITY
Quality is pretty much the summation of all the above steps and how they work together. If you've planned your image and paid attention to details, while still remaining aware of the overall aspects, you will have a quality image. It will show through. People like to see quality work because it displays effort and skill. If you remind yourself to always end up with a quality image, chances are you'll be a praised artist at some point or another. Well, that is my speculative look at the thought process of hirez, later on down the road I want to explain technical aspects like linework and color, but for now some people really just need direction. A lot of artists forget the underlying factors of creating images and its important to remind them now and then, god knows I needed reminding when I first began as a hirez artist.

The Knave of iCE
http://knave.ice.org