Everybody else is doing it...

hi! I've started working on cleaning up / finishing a sketch I did a little while ago (posted in the interview) and thought I'd occasionally post some steps along the way. (in an effort to keep myself on track and actually get it down)

Anyway - here's what I have done so far:



It's a little bloodier that I originally sketched it to be (aside from the fact that it's a pile of dead bodies) but I decided that I wanted something really EPIC - I'll be adding some smoke trails, etc. to the background (as well as making some proportional adjustments to figures, etc.) anyway - this is the first step. Unfortunately, today I will be editing packaging...

Edited by jecrt, 19 May 2009 - 04:21 AM.

Hey, Josh, this sounds really exciting! I would like it very much to see how you work step by step. Thanks for sharing this.
A question: do I understand correctly that you've scanned your pencil sketch and now tracing it with a tablet? I am guessing it is bitmap. Do you plan to rework it in vectors afterwards?

great question resurepus.
I've avoided scanning in some of my more detailed drawings because the redrawing em in illustrator is really time consuming to do layer after layer to get it to look like the drawing.
Something like this would it be easier to get that look your after using something like a photoshop air brush tool. like for lines that just end but show things like muscle detail ect. and shadows?

say I was drawing a super hero comic book style?

Awesome! Makes me wanna go back to drawing...

Hey Josh I have a question...

Do you use any type of model or image for the original concept or is this stuff that comes up off the top of your head?

Reason I ask is I need something that is a model usually... then I can manipulate. Im one of those people that can look at something then draw it. The human bodie is probably one of my biggest flaws. Especially hands and feet...oh and faces too lol..hell everything!

very sweet! reminds me of Conceptart.org there's some amazing artists over there u should check it out

Edited by Rockhart, 18 May 2009 - 10:42 PM.

fmd have the same problem. I usually can do the face then have problems with porportioning the body/legs, or draw the body and have problems getting the head right. usually takes me a while to get them looking just right.
drew an angle that was to be used as a tattoo that took me a week to get it correct. then was told they didn't want "that kind of angle" it was exactly how I was told...grrrr. my wife liked it though, so not a total waist. LOL
And hands hate doing hands, usually try to find a way to mask them or make them busy w/ something to hid my flaws.

rockart nice site just started looking through it like it.


have another question. Will you leave the black shadow area just black or play with it in some way?

hey guys! this was a page from my 5x8 sketchbook (the one I take to church - people get really freaked out when they look over my shoulder!) Anyway - I scan it at 600dpi then import it to Illustrator and scale it out to about 13x20. I then just trace it Illustrator (it's vector right now) It looks a little fuzzy, I guess - due to the compression when I saved it as a web jpeg(?) I usually save the scan on one layer (locked) then do the linework on a single layer above it. Then I go back and add the color. I typically work with just 2 - 3 brush tips in Illustrator. The detail is actually better at full-size - I'd like to offer this as a "jumbo" print for a tshirt. If I were going to do it at this size I'd probably knock the line width down about 20%-30%.

As for model/reference - for this I didn't use anything really as a reference (since I was drawing it over a couple of weeks durign church) - I do have a 12" artist's model on my desk that I sometimes use for poses. It's made by Art S. Buck - it's molded plastic and has muscles on it, as opposed to the standard wooden kinds. It actually doesn't HOLD the poses really well. I TYPICALLY draw really light stick people for proportions, than add light circles/ovals for body weight then finally draw the actual person. It's how I learned in school and has helped me a lot with proportions (although, as you can see on the guy on the bottom left that I re-drew, my proportions aren't always relative to everything else in the drawing!) The faces are usually the hardest for me - they always look really generic and I can't stop re-working them. I love drawing feet/hands!

I usually do all of my sketches on screen - occasionally I have a somewhat usable sketch that I scan in - it does make it a lot easier in the vectoring/"inking" stage.

I HAVE seen conceptart.org - those guys are crazy!! My preferred style is more line work like this with line/color field for color - those guys seem to be all about the "painterly" photoshop blends, etc. I used to use Corel Painter - but my computer can't really handle it anymore. When I do colorfill work for other people, I usually use Photoshop (books, etc.) - but for personal stuff I ALWAYS work in Illustrator.

originally I was going to leave the shadow areas black - (since I'm planning on using this as tshirt art, I thought I'd cut the colors down) but I've recently been thinking about drawing more "filler" bodies - faces, arms, etc." in a mid-tone - maybe have the shadows/line be 100% and have the medium shadows be a 75% black. I was then thinking that I'd have the "colorfill" a watercolor/paint wash of a transparent red - really loose. We'll see though. I think it's going to take me a while to vector all these guys first!

I'm thinking of calling it (Vi)King of the Hill

I'd like to see the sketch vectorized. I know, it seems like it's a lot of work, but imagine the satisfaction you'd get when posting the design on another board, or even this one, and saying that it's all vector !

I'd like to see the sketch vectorized. I know, it seems like it's a lot of work, but imagine the satisfaction you'd get when posting the design on another board, or even this one, and saying that it's all vector !

I pretty sure this comment means it'll be vector.

hey guys! this was a page from my 5x8 sketchbook (the one I take to church - people get really freaked out when they look over my shoulder!) Anyway - I scan it at 600dpi then import it to Illustrator and scale it out to about 13x20. I then just trace it Illustrator (it's vector right now) It looks a little fuzzy, I guess - due to the compression when I saved it as a web jpeg(?) I usually save the scan on one layer (locked) then do the linework on a single layer above it. Then I go back and add the color. I typically work with just 2 - 3 brush tips in Illustrator.

Hello, this sounds really very good! I would like it very much to see how you work step by step. Thank you for sharing it.

I'd like to see the sketch vectorized. I know, it seems like it's a lot of work, but imagine the satisfaction you'd get when posting the design on another board, or even this one, and saying that it's all vector !

yeah - it is all vectored. I really ONLY work in vector due to the scalability / ability to edit.

I'm hoping to get back to work on it soon!!

dang it, I thought I was going to see some progress.

get to it man.

FINALLY - found some time today to start working on this again. Here's what I did today

looking really good. Keep at it.. I want to see it finished.

It is really incredible that it's done in vector. It must be a lot of work there. You should write some kind of tutorial for us when it's finished to teach us how to work with all those details.

wow.. just wow

It is really incredible that it's done in vector. It must be a lot of work there. You should write some kind of tutorial for us when it's finished to teach us how to work with all those details.

it's really easy, actually - no special technique. I just make a bunch of basic round / 90% round brush tips and draw like I normally would if I were using a pen set. When I link it displays a lot more blurry then it is...it's a lot more crisp on screen. Is should silk screen pretty well.

Wow, great job so far! Looking forward to seeing the final product!