2D Artist

2DARTIST MAGAZINE | ISSUE 129``````81``````so I am ready to move on to the next step: thegenerator. Save the bike as a separate document.05Ideation for the generator: The brieffor this tutorial is to create a bicyclepower generator. What could this look like? Howwould it work? With these questions in mind, startto scribble directly in Photoshop. Keep it quiteloose to see if there is anything that jumps out.``````From this I develop the idea of a kind ofdocking station. To do this, create a newdocument of roughly 2,500 × 2,500 pixels, adda new layer, and start to draw a rough shapefor the docking station. The entire sketchprocess is carried out using the Round brushand a square brush for the silhouettes.``````In this step, focus purely on shapes and not ondetails. Details will change during the paintingprocess, but add some hints of details for abetter proportional aspect. One importantstep is to decide how the bike will fit into``````for portraying how the whole generator will work,without the generator being the only focus in thescene. At this stage I think the shape works well03Path tools: Use path tools to finalizethe outline of the bike. Path tools, suchas the Pen tool, allow you to be precise whendrawing, and so can be quite handy if you haveto work as accurately as possible. Paths are reallyhelpful for creating straight shapes, and are inmy opinion a “must” when you have to workwith rounded edges or more complex shapes.Check the box for the Rubber Band option onthe Pen tool (image 03a), which shows youprecisely the path that you create (image 03b).A quick note on the production side of things:try to avoid too many anchor points. Thiscould cause issues if you have to print anythingvector based. For example, a circle is just madeout of four anchor points; no more, no less.04Final bicycle shape: As the shape ofthe bicycle will become quite handylater in the painting process, spend some timedeveloping a clean silhouette of it. This shapeis produced entirely using the Pen’s path tool asdescribed in the previous step. Having a clearshape will allow you to quickly flesh out thedesign to fit the scene later on, and is essentialCheck the Rubber Band optionfor the Pen tool``````Make sure the silhouette of the bicycle is very clean``````Working with a path tool gives you the most precise and accurate shape and allows you to create acustomized shape``````“A clear shape will allow youto quickly flesh out the designto fit the scene later on”``````It is all about shapes, at least at this early stage. Shapes and silhouettes are more easily changed thanan entire painting