Camouflage, eh? Tough one! Ok, camouflage, war, no don't like war, fighting , hunting
This was supposed to be a sketchbook blog and a lot of the stuff I've been posting isn't very... sketchy so I thought I'd do a crop from a corner of my current (suck ass) sketchbook. I tried to crop some of these guys out but they look just so random all together, exactly as I drew them, but they just wouldn't separate! You've got the guy in the top left who looks a bit zombified, some flying books (the staple of any good horror movie), a guy screaming, a Nosferatu guy dreaming of sun beds and a gangster looking vampire dreaming of being able to wear shades. Oh, and some teeny guy looking lost in the background. Oh dear...
Back when I first started out I used to email people all day long. One dark rainy Tuesday I got sick of getting one reply out of a hundred emails which read, to paraphrase, "Thanks so much, we have a bunch of guys we already work with who fulfill every need but we'll keep you on file." I thought I'd put myself on file. I never got round to finishing an image for it, but here's the sketch anyway.
Rejection eh? Good title for Illustrators that one! Rejection is very much part and parcel of the Illustration game, much like acting I guess. I've got a great sketch somewhere on this subject which I will try and dig out from the archive later (when I get home).
I'm really pleased with this one. Not much more to say really! After the last long post I'm a little drained! I recommend you click on the image to see all the detail.
Ok. A little explanation seems in order. I've been illustrating for £'s for around 3 or so years now. Except I had a big old break (as in not doing any work) for the last year or so in which I was "re-evaluating" things, such as whether I wanted to concentrate on my career in Graphic Design or whatever really. So in the last couple of months I had the big lightening strike I was waiting for. It came after I had another interview for another Graphic Design position that I kind of didn't really want. However, I went along with the whole interview thing, got through to a final stage and...
So, I've lost some weight. Again. This now makes me ridiculously skinny. It wasn't intentional, I promise! You know, you eat right, exercise and instead of building muscle, I just loose it. Stupid high metabolism! So I had steak and roasted potatoes for dinner. With a tomato salad and a double helping of cheese. Take that body. I'll be looking like this guy in no time...
My image for illustration friday this week, topic being "Suit". It's a digital collage with digital paint all done in Photoshop. I've been wanting to do something like this for a little while now but they've always come out a bit... dunno. I'm very pleased with this one though.
Yep I really do. I have a big black A4 hard back sketchbook that I bought because it was cheep. Now, I like most Illustrators love moleskine sketchbooks. I love the off white paper, the size of them, the elastic strap that holds them together, the pocket in the back and, best of all in my opinion, the rounded corners so they don't catch on other stuff in your bag. The problem is, they ain't cheep. Not by half. I could buy 4 of the big black A4 sketchbooks for the price of one moleskine. Other companies do make moleskine copies for less dollar but the quality of the paper is very substandard. "So what's wrong with your big black one" you ask? It's too big, it bangs on my back in my bag and I don't like A4 paper to draw on. My compulsion is to fill it and my line work is affected as the movements my wrist makes are unnatural. Oh and it's not a moleskine. Sweet moleskine, oh how I miss my moleskine...
So I tried to do Illustration Friday this week. I sketched it, but I didn't have time to finish the piece. Oh, and I wasn't sure if it was rubbish or not! The theme for this week was "My Paradise" and I'd had a crappy day at work. I guess the rest is pretty self explanatory!
I've got a week's worth of sketching to post so get a cup of tea (strong black coffee would be my choice but whatever you like..), there's gonna be a bunch of stuff to enjoy! I seem to remember these guys turned up whilst I was watching
Finished! Well, finished as can be I guess. With an image of this sort (where the variables are self imposed, i.e. no immediate deadline or dimensions) you are entirely your own worst enemy at judging what the finished article should be. The main differences in this final stage are a finalised colour scheme, added buildings (giving depth), refined light on the lampost and a compromise in composition between the two earlier options. Were all of these things essential when the last stage looks pretty final? Yes, I think so and after all that's who matters!
So, I took the scanned sketch and messed around with it whilst trying to retain the spirit of the drawing. I cleaned some of the line and then dropped it into illustrator and ran a "Live Trace" on it, vectorising the lines. I do this quite often as it tends to create interesting smoothening and straightening to my line work. Sometimes it sucks, this time I preferred the "traced" version. I took the new file back into photoshop and copied and pasted the buildings and lights around as I felt I wanted more city.
Ok, so I find "Illustration in stages" posts very interesting so I'm going to try one. I'm working on a new image in the evenings about my thoughts on recycling (see crazed scrawl under the thumbnail). The idea came to me one night whilst watching a debate on the issue on TV. I get pretty fed up with carefully washing up everything that possibly can be recycled and dutifully carrying my bags of stuff over to the designated bin when all around my flat giant office blocks have every single d*mn light on 24/7. So I sketched it down with my trusty Rotring fine tipped nib pen that I use for everything. I don't worry too much about anything at this stage, just getting the gist of the idea down and all the elements in. Everything else will happen in the computer.