posted
I have a friend who illustrates children's books, and he recently started exploring the computer as an alternative to acrylics. Yesterday I paid him a visit, and watching him work inspired me to start taking old sketches and turning them into finished pieces. Here is one I did today:
Started with this sketch from several years ago:
I used Photoshop to make this:
There is no purpose behind it other than to get some practice. I love illustrating, and I rarely get a chance to do it.
My mind wanders. And that's not a good thing, 'cause it's too small to be out there alone. Posts: 3129 | From: Tooele, UT | Registered: Mar 2005
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I use PhotoShop exclusuvely in my drawing these days... after starting with a hand drawn sketch on paper of course. I used to use Painter, but find the layers and other features so much more powerful and friendly in PhotoShop... once you get up to speed.
-grampa dan
-------------------- Dan Sawatzky Imagination Corporation Yarrow, British Columbia dan@imaginationcorporation.com http://www.imaginationcorporation.com
Being a grampa is one of the the most wonderful things in the world!!! Posts: 8738 | From: Yarrow, B.C. Canada | Registered: Nov 1998
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First of all - I think you're an excellent illustrator and layout designer...and this is no exception.
Cool layout, great little lizard...and I really love the texture and effect you gave to the rock in particular.
Did you use a Wacom tablet/airbrush for this?
How did you achieve the rock texture?
The only critique I might give is that perhaps a little more in-focus appearance to the texture of the lizard might help pop him a bit...certain areas look kind of 'smudgy.'
I whipped this out as an illustration of what I'm talking about...didn't do the legs and tail though...but you get the picture.
You might take something like I did and then give it a soft focus to fit into the surreal focused background, etc.
I need to get the tablet out - this is a job where pen pressure would come in handy.
Anyway - great concept and fabulous layout...keep messing around...I think you could have a market for this theme.
posted
Thanks very much for all the replies and encouragement.
That's some really cool texture on the scales Todd. How did you do that? Like you say, it's a little too tight to fit the soft look of the rest of the image, but it looks great. I would love to do something similar.
I have an old Wacom tablet that I used for some of the work, but most of it was done with a mouse. The tablet is really the way to go; it just takes some getting used to.
The rock started out as a medium gray, and from there I made the texture by adding dark areas for cavities, and then highlights to pull other areas out. I also added in different colors to give it some personality. Finally, I used the tablet to do some hatching with colors at 100% opacity. That way I was able to get some sharper lines and still allow the colors underneat to show through.
I haven't had a chance to try to duplicate the technique with the scales, but I darkened the rock and added a few more tweaks:
Painter is a program I would like to try. It used to be really complicated, but I've heard it's easier to use now.
My mind wanders. And that's not a good thing, 'cause it's too small to be out there alone. Posts: 3129 | From: Tooele, UT | Registered: Mar 2005
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Russ - there are ways to do a "focused" look as I've shown and then run it through a filter to give it the painterly, soft-focus look.
Also, check out your "brushes" settings in Photoshop... you can set *jitter* and *scattering* settings with a pre-defined brush shape and it will scatter those shapes in a random pattern as you use your pressure sensitive (or mouse) airbrush Wacom pen to paint for a more random "scale" effect....if you want to do it by laying down little ovals, etc.
It looks great though Russ....the rock has some great colors and a real feel of an experienced painter look to it....
Please keep us posted as you tweak this one or do others, because I really like viewing your stuff!!
-------------------- Todd Gill Outside The Lines Potterville, MI Posts: 7792 | From: Potterville, MI | Registered: Dec 2001
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My mind wanders. And that's not a good thing, 'cause it's too small to be out there alone. Posts: 3129 | From: Tooele, UT | Registered: Mar 2005
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posted
Thats awesome work Russ.You're a talented artist. I got a wacom for Christmas, well actually my birthday which is Christmas, but been wanting one for a long time, just never would make the deal. I wish I'd have bought one a long time ago. They are great! You gave me a good laugh there too JOe!lol...
-------------------- Maker of fine signs and other creative stuff. Located at 109 N. Cumberland ave. Harlan, Ky. 40831 606-837-0242 Posts: 4172 | From: Ages-Brookside, Ky. Up the Holler... | Registered: Jul 1999
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posted
Looks cool Stephen. It would look good as a print on the tailgate of a pickup truck.
Happy belated birthday John. What size tablet did you get? Are you using Photoshop or Painter with it? I hope you post some of the results here.
Jake, and Stephen, I didn't keep a close eye on the clock, but it seems like I had most of it done in 4 or 5 hours. I kept messing with it, and trying different things, so, I would say it was at least 6 hours and probably more. Like any thing else, speed comes with experience, so I hope to get faster with time.
My mind wanders. And that's not a good thing, 'cause it's too small to be out there alone. Posts: 3129 | From: Tooele, UT | Registered: Mar 2005
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