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zymurgea β Lisa from Gatecrash
Published: 2005-08-28 04:38:43 +0000 UTC; Views: 1409; Favourites: 8; Downloads: 64
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Description
Original artwork of Lisa for the bookcoverRelated content
Comments: 7
I'm curious; roughly what dimensions are most of your character illustrations? (full body, face, clothing, gear, no background) ...assuming these began on paper at all.
The more I look through your gallery, the more amazed I am at not just the textures in the armor/weapons/equipment but also at the textures that you yourself drew in. ex. the seam on her shoulder, the stitching on her trouser's lower legs, the way the straps' clasps on either leg look like curved molded plastic clasps rather than boxy rectantular clasps. Those details aren't things you just pointed and clicked from a drop-down menu. You didn't let the computer replace you, you let it augment you. That's impressive! (and don't be surprised if someday out the blue I do take you up on your recent offer of Adobe Photoshop tips.)
Keep up the good work!
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Hey Puppetcancer,
This is the "Honey". Basically as Greg stated, he draws his stuff via pencil on a good o' fashioned drawing table. The majority of his stuff he draws on printer paper. He works the drawing thoroughly, and I mean thoroughly, taking perspective, weight and form in mind. I normally work the pretty faces as portraiture is my fortΓ© off the computer. (My original pieces are Sam Burns, Old Lady and The Witches Ball as I tend to be more into texture using pen and ink, these are also on deviantart). Often I'll give a critique here or there as to juxtaposition of a hand or head on the body. Sometimes Greg takes it to heart and other times, well, he does what he likes.
Anyway, after Greg cleans it up, he scans it at 100% size, 8.5 x 11 or thereabouts at 300 dpi. From his PC, it gets transfered to my Mac, whereas I take it into Photoshop. First I convert it to a gray scale piece. Next I use the curves menu to deepen the line and to get rid of any stray marks. From there I turn it into RGB as it has the most filters and effects that I can pour into the drawing.
I use layers, lots of layers, to build up the textures. I found a book called Character Design and Painting by Don Seegmiller. Excellent book, I recommend it once you get the 'feel' for working Photoshop. The enclosed CD had thousands of custom brushes with all sorts of textures for skin, leather, bricks and so on. I layer various brushes effects with different colors and then do the shading and lighting. All in all it takes about 5 hours to finish a piece, sometimes longer depending on the complexity.
Lately, I'm trying to get more proficient in reflection of color, especially on the patent leather or vinyl. If you take a moment and look at a person face, you will see the color they are wearing to be to be reflected in the shadows under the chin and so on. I remember my art teacher in college telling me once to put more green in the sky - until I figure that in nature too, color is reflected everywhere.
At first Greg didn't like the idea of posting 'incomplete', that is, unpainted work, but his line work is so good that I felt they should be posted as is. A few I've gone back and colored, but many I believe to stand on their own.
The big thing is to draw everyday, which Greg does. I know I should do that more myself.
Zym
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I can safely say yours was the first DeviantArt reply that I have ever printed out. Thanks for the step-by-step details!
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No problem. I've always been thank for one guy at a job many years ago who showed me some of the stuff Photoshop could do. His tutorial and examples got me going and has greatly helped me both in my career (I do packaging graphics production for a living on stuff you seein the supermarket) and in my art.
Have fun and if you get stuck or need a bit o' information, don't hesitate to ask.
Zym
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I draw these in pencil on copier paper and then go over them in ink, taking out the rough edges. Then I scan them in and my lovely mate colors them in photoshop.
So, the site is actually the two of us. The stuff that isn't in color hasn't been touched yet by my better half. Stuff like Lisa in action and Keith Gardener haven't been inked, just scanned as pencil and darkened in photoshop to actually bring out the rough look.
Glad you like the stuff. I'm sure my Honey will oblige with the tips. I know absolutely nothing about photoshop. I just work the pencil.
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And you work your pencils dang effectively, too. ex. The hilts and handles of weapons on your characters are often drawn at an angle while coming slightly into the foreground.
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