2D Artist

2DARTISTMAG.COM2DARTIST MAGAZINE | Design a bicycle power generatorthe generator. Based on a docking stationprinciple, the idea is simple: drive into thedocking station and “upload” the energy thatyou have already produced during your day’scycling. Or just dock on and spend a bit oftime cycling in your docking station. Both ofthese methods will power-up the energy.06The scene setup: All the shapes andideas for the bike and generator arenow set, so it is finally time for the real painting.I talked briefly in the introduction about thescene I had in mind, and now consider more ofthe details: a student room that is a bit messy,with sci-fi elements such as huge screens, asliding bed, and a simplified chair and table.All these elements will be quite clean in formand function to add to the sci-fi theme.Create a new document and a new layer. I liketo have as many layers as possible as it allowsme to go back and forth within my file, so I don’thave to worry if I make a wrong stroke. On thenewly created layer use the Lasso tool to drawthe floor. With the selection made, paint in roughcolor and play around with the Texture settingin the Brush palette. Follow a similar procedurefor the wall on the left- and right-hand side.With the floor and the wall in place you can easilycreate some perspective guidelines on anotherlayer, just to make sure everything is positionedcorrectly. The next step is to draw a fridge and ashower using the Lasso tool on a new layer again,painting with the Round or Square brush, andplaying around with textures and structures.07First details: The room and perspectiveare set so we can move on to the firstdetails. Add a new layer and paint the roughshapes of a table and a chair. The paintingcan be loose since it will be defined later on.Satisfied with the look of chair and table,start to use the Lasso tool to make the edgesand lines sharp and crisp. Then invert theselection (Ctrl+I) and erase all the brushstrokesto get a clean line. The design patterns aremade the same way, using the Lasso tool,but this time draw more precisely and fillthem with a round hard-edged brush.The bed on the right-hand side is made in asimilar way, but with one big difference: theblanket can’t be straight edged so this requiresa bit of freehand painting. Make the base withthe Round brush and add more and morewrinkles with a squeezed square brush. Youcan see some of the overlapping brushstrokeson the blanket in the lower right-hand cornerof image 07. They work nicely for a painterlyfeeling, but would destroy the look of a clean-edged shape such as the table. The lines on thefloor are painted straight with a round brush(with no settings at all) on a new layer. Thentransform (Ctrl+T) it based on the perspectivelines you have on another layer for reference.08First color splashes: Now it is time forsome color splashes. Create a new layerand fill the selection you have drawn of a rugwith a reddish-orange tone. Add another layer ontop and use a customized brush with a pattern.Paint the pattern straight (frontal) and thentransform the layer to match the perspective. Thepattern layer is set to Soft Light as this will makethe pattern more subtle and not too bright.09Bringing in the bike: Since wehave spent quite a lot of time``````PRO TIPSGet used to 3DSometimes a task can require working in a 3D environment, or at least the task will beeasier if you can work in any of the industry-standard applications. While I remain inPhotoshop here, designing a bicycle power generator has the potential to be such a task.``````It is fun to work in just a 2D environment and I really enjoy it, but the more complex thetask is, the harder it can be to do in 2D. Becoming familiar in a 3D software package of yourown choice is therefore not a bad idea. Just image if you had to design the inner workingsof the power generator properly. It would be possible to do it in 2D, but it would take somuch time.``````Add small details to fill the room and to set up the mood``````Once you have an idea in mind, the rest is just filling blank space with color, but it is important to makesure your perspective is correct