Vector Drawing with a Graphic Tablet (Part 1 – Path Creation)

Astute Graphics discusses how to configure the Graphic Tablet for easy operation and configuration of Illustrator’s standard vector drawing tools to create a variable width path for illustrations.

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Win a Wacom Intuos 4

Hello Everyone! Go Media is having a contest to promote their WMC Fest.( Weapons of Mass Creation Fest) Entering is very simple and you can go to their blog for a chance to win. Wacom Intuos 4 is a nice tablet and I recommend it. They're not cheap, so I highly recommend entering to save money. I've used it and you'll like it.

To enter click here

To read more about their Weapons Of Mass Creation Fest, which involves 20 speakers, 20 designers, and 20 bands click here.

365 Days of Creativity -Day 55 & 56

Day 55- Still working on a baseball them...Done in Adobe Illustrator with my Wacom Pen Tablet

Day 56 - I was working on something that needs more work. done in Illustrator

365 Days of Creativity -Day 38

Here is the final result from the sketch that I was working on the last couple of days. I honestly had no direction, except that I wanted to create a simple face in Photoshop, instead of illustrator. I decided to work with shapes and I felt splatter could make for an interesting element in this illustration. Even though I used splatter in this design, I still feel as though the white background still makes this image clean, because it's very clear. The focal point was obviously the face, but I think the diamond in the background and the glimpse of the circle adds a nice a touch. If I even wanted to put this on a t-shirt it is already separated.

Leave your thoughts and/or comments. Click on the image to enlarge.

Drawing a Tattered Scroll From Scratch

This is another video from Jeff Finley, but unlike the Wacom Tutorial, this isn't a clear step by step video. It's an interesting video and you see how he transfers the art from Photoshop to Illustrator to make it into a vector image, but there's no clear explanation.

Draw an old-world style tattered scroll from scratch from Go Media on Vimeo.

Wacom Illustration Technique Video Tutorial by Jeff Finley

Designer and co-owner of Go Media Jeff Finley released a video tutorial showcasing his step by step design process. You’ll learn the process for manipulation and compilation of photos for reference, secrets of illustration with a Wacom tablet, and techniques for adding color and texture to finalize the piece. Honestly, it's good to see and can be very helpful, because there may be tips and tricks that you may not know about.
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Here is what will be shown in the video to create the image that is shown above.

Photo manipulation

-Setting up document
-Finding reference photos.
-Combining reference photos into cohesive composite reference.
-Aligning the anatomy of a reference skull to a stock photo.
-Using layer masks to clean up composite reference.


Illustration

Ideal brush settings for use with a Wacom.
Drawing the skull

-Roughing in main outlines.
-Adding illustrated hash lines and stipple dots to suggest shading.
-Knowing the difference between anatomy & illustration.
-See the entire skull drawn in real time.
-Drawing more realistic teeth.
-Interpreting detail from the dull areas of the reference photo.
-Adding texture with illustration techniques.


Drawing hair

-Creating your own style from insufficient reference material.
-“Chunking” areas of hair to frame the flow.
-Subdividing the chunks to fill in the hair.
-Controlling line density to suggest light & dark areas.
-Drawing hair like a twisting tube.
-Getting in the zone with the lines.

Adding type, texture, & color

Adding fill and texture

-Filling the linework with a background color.
-Adding “noise” with texture.
-Blending in the artwork to the background with layer masks.
-Creating noise textures with the “guess & check” method.
-Adding positive & negative noise to the foreground & background to add cohesion.


Adding type

-Combining faces, weights, sizes & kerning for the perfect type treatment.
-Using Photoshop’s align & distribute functions.
-Simulating ink bleed on the type.
-Adding color

-Experimenting with textures & layer blending modes.
-Applying the global vintage color treatment.
-Spot blurring to add visual interest.
-Adding grain & sharpness with the high pass filter.