New Technique: Layer Options

Technique:

Purpose: Changes a layer in severe ways to apply a type of color to an image.

Options:

• Normal:
• Dissolve:

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• Darken:   

• Multiply: Turns the layer into a transparent layer, and applies that layer to the image. The end result is the layer will apply a kind of texture to an image like flames. (see Image)

• Color Burn:
• Linear Burn:
• Darker Color:

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• Lighten:
• Screen:
• Color Dodge:
• Linear Dodge:
• Lighter Color

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Overlay:

New Technique: Transforming with the warp tool

Technique:

1. Select an area with the lasso
2. Cntrl - T to transform
3. Right click in the transform area and select an option.

There are several useful options within that transform menu. For example:

•  Rotate
• Perspective
• Warp
• Distort

As you can see in the above I took how I look in Digital Illustration class (it's an 8am class) and used it to deform my face into something even more humorously bad.  I 'warped' my lip, 'rotated' my whole face, 'distorted' my eye, and did a little 'perspective' to enlarge the top of my head and shrink the lower part of my head so it looks like I'm slightly leaning forward.


Note: The cross hair is the point that the image can be rotated around. so the cross hair can be moved and the image rotated around that point.

Assignment: Play around with Color - Mitt Needs a Poster

Assignment: Play around with colors on a pre-existing picture.

I noticed a lot of other people were pulling random images of interesting animals off the net as we worked in class, and I kinda wanted to do something different and a bit useful. I follow Mitt Romney and figured he needed some type of poster design. Who knows, maybe they might pick up the finished project, and I've have a country of liberals attempting to pick apart all my flaws? While not entirely complete, this is what I've come up with so far.

I'm undecided on the text. Should it be SOLVE, FIX, (or some variation, ie: solver, solved, fixer?)  or something else?

Anyrate.. here it is a previous version.

Illustration Assignment: Dune Bookcover cont

Intro to Illustration Assignment: DUNE book cover.

So far, I've finished up the three options and gotten the votes from my class. I thought I'd present them here before we do one final change up considering they are due this week. These three I've narrowed down from almost 25 thumbnails.

So the three so far: Skull in the Sand

Dune Footprints:

Paul's Moment:

Assignment: Copy a Master - Frank Frazetta

Assignmet: This is the copying a Master in color with texture and stroke as best I can.

I've spent quite a bit of time on this, and painted until my contacts dried out and my finger cramped so much I couldn't use the stylus anymore. Ugh. I really enjoyed the work though and so I want to be great. I could work on this for quite a long time. And I did. The finished result is a the bottom.

Techniques used:

This was a bit difficult as it's an "Oil Lift off" painting. Doing it digitally, I decided to use layers to my advantage. What took me hours to figure out, is that the top layer should be my black instead of the bottom as on previous paintings. Putting the black on top and then using a slightly translucent eraser tool I customized for the job, to erase down to layers to the correct area colors gave me that oil lift off feel.

So I have in layers:
1. Black
2. Green/Blue
3. Red
4. Yellow
5. White

I still feel like I could work some more on it, but as I've heard in the art world, the image is done 20 minutes before it's due.

Original:

And now the Final image:

To prep I did a value study and a pre-critiqued image. Which are also below if you want to see the process.

Assignment: Our next assignment will be to copy one of the create masters. This is similar to the Vitruvian man copy assignment, but now with the experience I've had painting, I'm supposed to be able to mimic as much of the original artists as I can.

Since I'm feeling a bit cocky, and entirely insane, I've chosen Frank Frazetta. One of the most influential people on the SciFi and Fantasy genre. While I don't particulary lean toward his style, (I'm more of a Brom, Jock, Karl Kopinsky, Paul Dainton fan myself) it doesn't get more 'master' for the world of geek than the 'original' Frank. That said, that guy REALLY loved his wife. If you look closely almost 90% of the women



The problem is I'm having trouble deciding which of his pieces to do. I can't really show TOO much boob as I'm hoping to display this in a relatively family involved environment, but I also want to capture him as best I can with out going too complicated and beyond my ability. As it is, I'll likely be streching here.

I've narrowed it down to three options (.. okay five):

New Technique: Changing Lighting, and Selective Color

New Technique:  Changing the Lighting

Hotkey: Cntrl - L

This tool can be used to make the lights lighter, and the darks darker. It gives a graph of where the selection falls in the lighting category.

This can be done in a layer, so the best way to change an area is to cut it out with the lasso tool, and paste it on another layer, then mess with the lighting.


New Technique: Selective Color:

Layer - > Adjustments -> Selective Color

Hotkey: Cntrl - U

Much like the light tool, this tool can be used to change the individual colors in an area. So a selection can be made more red, or more blue. Very useful for fine tweaking an image.

New Technique: Mixer Brush (How to get an oil paint effect)

Technique:

Hold down the paint brush symbol (black arrow at the bottom) for the option to change to the mixer brush.

Mixer brush options: at the top of the screen are a few options to change the bush too: Dry, very wet; clear brush, load brush.

Mixer will only mix with colors on the current layer, unless 'sample all layers' box is checked. This is a bad idea. Keep it on the current layer.

A few things: The mixer brush actually 'runs' out of paint, as the red mark on the right shows. You can actually not load your brush with anything and just mix. (Two box options at the top)

Note: Personal brushes can be loaded into the mixer tool.

New Technique: Drawing over Reference

Well, this may not be new to most people, but it should be here as a note of the class.

Technique:

Find the image(s) reference.
Resize the image to fit the dimensions of the work.
Paste the resized image into the actual art work, and move to the correct location.
Free transform the image (Cntrl-T) to fine tune the image to the correct porportion, angle, etc.
Create a new layer over it, and make it white. Make the white layer less opaque, more translucent.
Create another layer and label it "Line Drawing', and being sketching over this layer.

I used the technique for my Dune kneeling guy.

Assignment: Give it some texture, Dunes and sky

Assignment: Create an interesting painting using multiple textures and layers with the out of the way color changing items to effect a modern art piece.

Yup.. no idea what I'm doing here cept creating texture.

So the end goal here is a moon lit desert scene. I think this version is a bit too dark though.

















And this is even more interesting.....

I really like that after glow effect over the mountains, but goodness knows how I could reproduce it. I lightened things up quite a bit, but I still really don't like it. It looks like a 3 year old vomited while having a epileptic seizure in photoshop...










So in the end This became the final, after a LOT of reworking, but I think I'm happy with the result:

I complete reworked the under drawing, and spent a LOT of time making an awesome windswept sand texture. Much more happy.

Illustration Assignment: Judging a book by it's cover: DUNE

I'm working on an assignment for my intro to illustration class. While these are in no way finished pieces I thought I'd share my progress and hear back which one is your favorite.

These are supposed to be book covers for Frank Herbert's DUNE.

I'll probably update these as I move along.

Speaking of which, I COULD really use some help on the first image, the facial expression has been bugging me and I'm not sure which to do. Here are three other possibilities for it:

So a few polls:

Which image would attract your attention to buy a book based on it's cover:

1. Guy kneeling in the sand
2. Sand pouring out of skull
3. Foot prints in the sand.

and which Guy in sand do you like best?

1. Screaming guy
2. Angry guy
3. Calm composed guy

New Technique: Removing a Background

This is used to be able to remove a drawing from a background. Especially from a texture picked up from somewhere like a camera.

Change the background layer to an actual layer.
Change the image to a greyscale image
select- load selection - delete

Assignment: Jack o Lantern with Emboss Brush

Okay, first things first.

Jennah, thank you so much for letting me stalk you down and get what the assignment is from you considering the lack of responses I've gotten.

The assignment, as I understand it, is to use the emboss brush actions technique we learned to create a textured JackoLantern. I wanted a bit of extra flame and lots of cool lighting effects for mine, so I grabbed a ton of reference. I used the bevel and emboss layer style and assigned it to an action so my hot key would create a new layer, activate the style and effect only my brush then merge down once finished. So the effect is I get a cool texture without effecting the entire painting. There is a back lighting layer and a front fire lighting layer incase my professor doesn't like it.

Hope you enjoy the end result:

 Critique: The background is kind of bland, redesign the flames, Design the piece a bit more.

I added in a background light source, cleaned up the texture on the front, gave it a foreground, played with the flames a bit, and added more red to the inside.