These sketches are from a Sports Illustrated that appeared in my mailbox. I was spotting lines of action and then tried to keep my drawings really gestural and quick. I used some markers that are nearly dried out. I’ve been keeping near-dead markers for a while now. They create a nice semi-drybrush texture and midtone for sketches.
I was commissioned by my sister to draw a large Leprechaun for a St. Patrick’s Day party she was throwing. I sketched a few versions out and then drew the final 3 ft tall leprechaun. Afterwards I liked the look of my final so I did this vector head. I opted to use the pencil tool in AI to do the shadows and details. It’s my way of being more spontaneous.
Exploring brush customization to create traditional media effects. I stared some one-point perspective lines and let the scene develop. I’ve been watching more Westerns recently. I just kept building layers of color and let the composition develop. The main figure isn’t the right scale but I liked how he was shaping up and didn’t want to redraw so I added the dark arch on the right to create a new plane that he might occupy somewhat believably.
Beginning with a great photo taken by my cousin in AK, I created this image almost entirely using the History pallete and the History brush in Photoshop. I’ll admit that hitherto I have only glanced at this tool, mostly because of ignorance and thus, an irrational fear. Happily, while reading up on digital illustration techniques my curiosity was piqued and I decided to put my toe into the water of discovery. I’m pretty happy with this first foray and (hoorah) I have a new tool in my arsenal.
If anyone has any techniques or examples that make specific use of the History brush, please share with the class.
I felt like painting something so I pulled out the gouache tubes and my waterbrush pen. This started out as freeform pencil lines on bristol board. I looked at the doodle until I could “see” the character and then just developed the lines. After scanning I applied some Photoshop fun and…Voila!
I’m working on a stop motion projcct for a friend of mine. Right now we’re working on set and character designs. Before I started to sketching character concepts I wanted to do a little research sketching. I went down to my local library and got a stack of books on American and European costumes from the 19th to the mid-20th century.This is a collection of some of the clothing samples I sketched (ink, watercolor, pencil, water-soluble stabilo-marker, and a little bit of Photoshop).
Scanning pencil doesn’t always produce good results (especially when I’m rushing just to get the pages scanned), but while working on this collection I had one of those epiphanies: the humble pencil is the rock star of drawing tools. The range of values and marks that it can create, it’s portability, economy, and reception by most drawing surfaces make it the most versatile in the artistic arsenal. But one thing I really appreciate about the pencil in the context of a sketch is its power of conveying possibility—several lines can be lightly roughed in to imply a nearly infinite number of directions the drawing or idea could take without necessarily committing to, or singling one out.
This ability is certainly able to be mimicked in the digital realm by adjusting the opacity of a drawn line. Over on her blog, Emma posted a drawing that combines her strong sense of story and motion with a loose sketch style (if you haven’t visited her site, go take a peek).
Mike Kunkel actually just scans and darkens his pencil work rather than ink it, retaining his organic, animation-influenced line.
It’s cheap. It’s versatile. It can hold your hair in a bun*. THE PENCIL.
*Hair not included.
