I tore myself away from a fabulous book to finish this:
I must REALLY like this technique because I couldn’t put that book down for any other reason. (It’s amazing how much you can get done one-handed).
“These is my Words” by Nancy Turner. On page 296. So good.
We had TWO new babies born in the Stott family this month! Two! (Not THIS Stott family, the extended family. Obviously. Phew.) And this is our little gift for the first one. I’m pretty happy with the effect I’m getting from my pastels. I used a really nice brown paper that looks like it came from a paper grocery bag. I used to get fancy paper from the art store, but this is actually from a scrapbooking set I got on sale at Michael’s. I figure as long as it’s acid free (which it is. I don’t actually use grocery store bags anymore) and SUPER CHEAP I might as well give it a try. I’m feeling like a genius. Plus it’s easier to store cause it’s not on some random 20×30″ sheet that just ends up getting mangled in a drawer.
Welcome to the world Samantha Skye! Good luck with your big sister, she’s a firecracker!
Usually when I get educational work the turnaround is really really REALLY fast (really). And though it’d be fun to lovingly craft a beautiful set of heartbreakingly sweet illustrations, I ain’t got time for that. I still want them to look good & enjoy working on them though, so I came up with this technique. It took be about 2 years of experimenting, but this is how I do it now.
First I start with a sketch. I print that out & trace the lines to clean them up. I scan this into Photoshop as a CMYK image & usually convert it to a sepia tone (brown lines are “friendlier” than black). I clean it up even more & punch up the parts that I want darker.
Then I add my 2nd layer (usually titled “colors” cause I’m so tricky like that) and add in the color. In the layers palette I change the layer from “normal” to “multiply”, which allows the sketch to show through the colors. Genius, right? I add in blocks of color with the “lasso” tool & then clean it up with the “brush” tool.
I add my 3rd layer, titled “Skin Tones”. This is where I start to add texture. I do it on a separate layer because then I can select the whole shape on the “colors” layer. If I put the texture on a separate layer it makes it easier to go back & make changes. Like if I put too much blush on a kid or decide to change the shirt color, whatever.
If I have any tricky patterns, I usually put them on a separate layer too. That way I can make changes easier. For this pic I put the tablecloth pattern on its own layer. I got really fancy & adjusted the perspective on it too.
Next comes shading. Usually with a soft brush tool, black, 10% opacity…
Then I add in the highlights. I also put the border around the thought bubble on this layer.
Sometimes as a final touch I’ll flatten the image (to 1 glorious layer) and punch up the color under image, adjust, curves,input: 45, output: 55.
Tah dah! So do you have any tips or tricks you want to share with me?
So have you heard about the economy? Apparently it’s a little slow right now. As in no work for the past month. But right now things are hoppin’ here at the Stott house. And though I’m glad to have some projects to work, having them all at the same time? Not quite as awesome. But still good. Now I will stop complaining & show you what I did Saturday:
