A_P_TPC_Vol11_2015_

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GRAPHICS AND TYPE


PRO DIGITAL ARTISTS AND ILLUSTRATORS SHARE ESSENTIAL ADVICE FOR IMPROVING
ILLUSTRATION TECHNIQUES AND GETTING THE MOST OUT OF KEY PHOTOSHOP TOOLS

© Shaivalini Kumar


  1. ADJUST COLOR DYNAMICS AND TEXTURE
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Texture with brushes: “To get good texture, I recommend
AďFEWďPRELOADEDď0HOTOSHOPďBRUSHESďNUMBERSďďANDďďDownloaded dry medium brushes and watercolour
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TEXTUREDďBRUSHES ďASďITďMAKESďPARTSďOFď
THEďILLUSTRATIONďSTANDďOUTď(EREďTHEďFACE ďETC ďISďFLAT ďBUTďTHEďBODYďOFďTHEďMONSTERďISďTEXTUREDƒ

Blend in text: “I mostly create my text
INď!DOBEď)LLUSTRATORď(OWEVER ďTOďBLENDďthe text into the image, which is quite
rendered and textured, I go over the text once with Airbrush (Soft High
$ENSITYď'RAINY ƒ

Gradients: “Subtle gradients, shadows and highlights add
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MASKďAďGRADIENTďLAYERďOVERďTHATďSPECIFICď
object and, after adding the gradient at 20% Opacity, I go OVERďTHEďAREASďTHATďREQUIREďSHADOWSďWITHďAď$RYďBRUSHƒ

Smudge tool:give depth under the eyes, I used the “On the face, in order to
3MUDGEďTOOLď4HEď3MUDGEďTOOLďISďGOODďfor highlights and to fade a foreground
COLOURďINTOďTHEďBACKGROUNDďCOLOURƒ

Colour transitions:THROUGHďTHEďBRUSHďSTROKESď)ďCHOOSEďBRUSHďNOďGOď “To achieve colour transition
TOď"RUSHď0RESETSďANDďTURNďONď#OLORď$YNAMICSď3ETďTHEďTONESďFORďYOURďBRUSHďTHEďBACKGROUNDďCOLOURďANDď
FOREGROUNDďCOLOUR ď4HEďCOLOURďOFďYOURďSTROKEďWILLďTRANSITIONďFROMďTHEďBACKGROUNDďCOLOURďTOďFOREGROUNDď
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ILLUSTRATIONS


20


BETTER


TIPS FOR


GRAPHICS &


© Aaron Campbell


  1. TAKE CONTROL OF PATHS WITH THE PEN TOOL
    Aaron Campbell (www.aaroncampbell.ca) explains
    how to get the most out of this essential Photoshop
    tool: “I use the Pen tool in Path mode instead of Shape
    mode, therefore for my shapes and lines I use Fill
    Path or Stroke Path instead of having separate shape
    layers. This makes it easier to edit the shape in
    © Aaron Campbellalmost any way and paint over the top of them or use


the Pen tool’s Make Selection function to minus off
any part of the shape. I often do my illustrations as
paintings and having rasterised blocks of colour
makes it easy to paint other colours into the shape,
erase parts and merge other shapes together. I could
create a full piece with just the Pen tool since it offers
so much variety in just one tool.”


  1. USE GRADIENT MAPS
    A designer and illustrator based in Vancouver, DC,
    Aaron Campbell (www.aaroncampbell.ca) says: “I
    like leaving my sketches a bit on the vague side so
    that there’s lots of room for experimenting in
    Photoshop. Quickly brushing in some black and
    white for values will establish your lighting early on
    in the piece, so there’s no confusion when you’re
    painting the final. I draw out a perspective grid and
    start Pen-tooling in the largest blocks of colour, then
    begin adding in the lighting, starting with the largest
    areas and the main focal point. I also add some
    Gradient Maps over the top to add harmony to the
    colour palette. I like mixing it up between multiple
    Gradient Maps on different blending modes and
    opacities to give some very unexpected results.”

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