Transcripts
2. Phase 1: Artboard, Concept & Sketch: - Hey, - I'm Sarah Blake adds a studio, - and this is phase one. - In this phase, - we're gonna focus on determining your subject matter, - gathering some reference, - putting smart boards together with that reference and then sketching out three concepts or - designs. - We're gonna start by a gathering reference for your drawing. - Every every illustration starts with the idea. - So you want to pick some subject matter and gather five to maybe 20 images on guy. - Use Pinterest to keep track of my reference images, - and you can just pin them on any board and create a title for this project. - I decided Teoh, - use a bat for my illustration. - I'm taking this class with you guys, - and I I learned about bats azi being really social creatures from this book I'm reading. - And turns out they sort of survive as a species by sharing their skills and foods, - and resource is with one another. - So I thought this would be a great subject matter for this concept. - I collected about 10 different images of bats, - and they all sort of very in a different way, - you know, - stylistically, - some actually photographs and summer illustrations, - and I just sort of wanted to collect six some studies of bats to see what they actually - look like. - Before I started jumping into the drawing. - Here's a close up version of the feet. - I really liked this one with the different bat faces on duh saw the variety that, - um, - different species have. - It's pretty cool. - And, - um, - you know, - seeing a variation presented like this is could be really helpful when you're just coming - up with your ideas. - I want you guys to do just three really quick. - 60 to 90 seconds. - Sketches. - Um, - three different versions of whatever you're drawing is going to be either explored it for - designs, - orientations, - you know, - different patterning and just like bang out three different versions for your sketch face. - Here are my three really rough quick drawings There really just illustrate different ways - of laying down what I want to jump into and face to the 1st 1 I just explored a close up of - the bat faces, - and I just really quickly doodled out, - you know, - a little goofy back, - maybe tougher bat, - and then this guy with maybe some more elaborate years. - And I really liked the bat with, - um, - symmetry and his wings with his full wingspan out and just, - you know, - um, - very straightforward. - And then I also wanted Teoh do a quick thumbnail of Dracula back with, - you know, - one wing out of one sort of pulled in toward his chest. - I ended up choosing the second bat sketch. - I did because I really liked how his wings gave me a lot of room to play with all the - patterning and abstraction that I'm super interested in. - And so I just, - you know, - in this 60 seconds that I was just sketching and doodling, - I already sort of layering and dots and just, - you know, - adding embellishments. - And so this was my favorite. - It was a close call between about one about to cause the faces offered something similar. - Um, - and so I'm gonna charge forth with sketch number two for phase two drawing. - Now you've got your three sketches. - Um, - I would maybe sleep on it, - pick your favorite in the morning, - and then you're ready to move in a phase two, - which is creating your handmade elements
3. Phase 2: Hand Made Elements: - I'm served like as though studio And this is business. - You we're gonna be focusing on create your handmade elements and face to, - um we're gonna basically be drawing for probably eight hours. - That's the minimum time I recommend. - And, - um, - getting your ideas down on paper, - We're also going to collect some textures, - which we're gonna use in phase three to lay them into our digital version. - When you work digitally, - it can get sort of sterile sometimes, - and it looks very computer re. - But if you're flexing like, - you know, - graffiti smears or like watercolor remarks or coffee stains or whatever, - it's sort of adds like a real world element to your art. - And, - um, - that is super relatable and cool to me. - You are gonna want to make some design decisions at this point, - you know, - you're gonna have the almighty undo and phase three. - But right now we're working all analog. - It's, - you know, - pencil to paper, - pen to paper. - People always tell you not to repeat yourself, - but I actually find if I'm kind of drawing something that I'm just interested in and want - explore more, - I will draw over and over and over again to try Teoh. - I wanted something about it and teach myself sort of like my own style. - Um, - you know, - exercises that, - like to dio used to do this are portrait drawing, - um, - and typography. - You know, - I think that I'm growing as an artist happens in very small steps. - You know, - um, - evolution over time happens in very, - very small changes. - So if you draw the same thing over and over again or explore a technique, - you're gonna grow from that, - um, - I've been exploring typography. - You know, - you start with a structured form, - you know, - the letter A. - And I just like to try to embellish around it and almost freestyle a little bit just to see - what comes out of my own head. - And so it's kind of Ah, - good exercise to just pick a solid form, - a solid structure and a belt around it, - and just spill into the negative space. - And you'll have tons of these. - I've been doing this for a long time now, - and I've also been trying to get through the whole alphabet. - Well, - I got to d so far, - but, - um, - you know, - just explore, - have fun and do something that you really like to do? - Portraiture can also be a really great exercise for exploring your own personal drawing - process. - I like portraiture because a faces a structured thing. - Everyone recognizes the face. - And so you kind of just get the main features, - your eyes, - nose mouth in place, - and then you're free to bring pattern into the hair or the background. - And I sort of gave myself a self assigned project of called 100 Girls. - And the point of this process is just just do that explore, - explore my drawing style. - I got quite a few of them, - and all of them are just sort of exploring different pattern, - um, - or different elements. - Get yourself into the zone. - I want to give yourself eight hours. - At least that's usually good for me. - But, - you know, - feel free to draw as long as you want. - Take a long as you need, - um, - get something down on paper that you're really confident and feel good about, - You know, - maybe ask some friends. - But first and foremost, - you have to like it. - You're investing the time this is your drawing. - This is what I've come up with and this'll drawing processes is where you're really gonna - kind of convey your own flavor and style. - Obviously, - this doesn't look like a riel bat. - He's got some crazy wings. - I don't think he's very aerodynamic. - Actually, - he's got some crazy things coming out of his head. - He's got scales on his belly because they look cool. - Um, - you know, - and this is just sort of what I came up with when I sat down and was embellishing, - Um, - and a couple of things to keep in mind for phase three to make this a nisi transition, - uh, - you might want to pick something that has some negative space so that some of the skills - we're gonna learn and face three are easier to do. - And you're gonna wanna have some, - you know, - solidly defined lines so that we can isolate. - Hm. - We get that phase after you have your drawing, - you obviously want a scan it and I've set up some some settings that you can check out for - how to get this successfully scanned into your computer. - If you want to make your life easier, - probably do a drawing that will fit on your scanner bed. - If it's bigger, - you might have to stretch it. - Stitch the scan together in a couple pieces. - Um and Yeah, - get yourself set up with your scanner and drawn. - Hey, - sir, - what happens? - But don't have a skin If you don't have a scanner, - you know, - a scanner. - A good option pre solid option is to just take a HD photograph, - but use a staple stone street. - You could probably use the staples. - I haven't ups in. - It's kind of old. - It does the job just fine. - You're staples. - Have the scanner and they're pretty cool, - too. - Dollar face you got here. - Finished drawing. - It's scanned in the computer. - Your offsets to start phase three.
4. Phase 3: Digital Elements: - I'm Sarah Blake at so studio. - This is phase three. - Today. - We're focusing on three steps cleaning up your drawing, - Um, - isolating some flat shapes with your pen tool. - And then we're gonna also isolate your line work. - Oh, - yeah, - I forgot. - Also, - make sure to refer to the pdf to supplement these videos because there's gonna be some - stuff in there that's a little easier to follow on paper. - Now that you've gotten your drawing scans your computer and open up in photo shop, - I always just like to do a preliminary cleanup of my Leinart so that it's ready. - Teoh play with color and texture. - And I don't have to worry about smudges or anything like that. - I hope to get a cat hair on my drawing. - My scan it. - So we're just gonna clean that up. - And all you're really gonna need to do is use the eraser tool, - um, - and utilize your levels. - So I'm just gonna show you what I've already started using the eraser tool by, - um, - Command clicking on this original Leinart layer in my layers panel. - Let me go over here to my erase tool, - and you're gonna go Teoh. - I always like to use a soft brush on, - uh, - in my capacity, - 100 of my flow to 100. - And I'm just gonna zoom in here and show you what I mean. - So you've got these sort of gray, - discolored areas, - and I'm just gonna go in and buy hand. - Um, - just touch it up. - Sig, - over here. - I think I have a little fuzz or hair that got into my scan. - I'm just gonna go around the whole drawing, - um, - and clean it up. - This is particularly useful if you have a drawing like mine where there is some negative - space. - So you're gonna want a stark contrast between your drawing and the negative space. - Another quick way to do this is going to your adjustments. - So make sure you're selected right here in the layers panel on your Leinart layer, - going to image adjustments in levels or command. - L now show you how this this affects your drawing. - This little handle right here will make your blackmore intense on this edge will make your - white more intense. - So I always just like Teoh bring my black up a little bit. - I weighed up a little bit and that will just automatically get rid of some of that gray - haziness around my edges, - and it'll make process of it quicker and seamless for you. - And now we're ready to go into the next phase of locating our flat shapes. - Now that we've cleaned up our drawing out, - it's always helpful to block off the flat shapes of your drawing so that you can easily - select parts of your artwork further in the process. - So to do this, - we're just going to create a new layer behind or under your Leinart layer. - And we do this by command shift and to make a new layer, - we're just gonna call it flat. - Now you're gonna use your pen tool very powerful and awesome tool that you're gonna want to - get a handle of if if you're new to this and so I'm just gonna zoom in here with my pen - tool to my line edges and start laying down some busy points. - And this just takes practice if you're not used to it and you just sort of drag your edges - so that they smooth out. - And if you mess up, - there's always the almighty undo. - So if you don't like that apple or command Z and you can just do option commands you to - keep going backwards even further. - I'm just gonna go around my entire drawing and we're done. - So now you're just gonna wanna use little precision to meet those end points. - You're going to see the little circle when you hover over it. - There you go. - You have your completed pass, - which you can see. - If you bring up your paths panel, - you're going to see it cut out. - So make sure you're on your new layer flat, - which we just named, - and you don't want to control. - Click just on your screen there and go make selection. - And I always just like to set it to zero. - You can feather weaken further the lines if you if that's your sudden preference. - Zero and it's gonna treat little marching ants there. - And I always just used the paint bucket, - Um, - and let's make a purple bet like purple, - especially purple bets and just bam. - So you see, - it shows up as purple in your layers panel. - Now, - in order for you to see through the liner and see your purple background, - select your original liner and up here in the layers, - um, - layer mode. - Go from normal and go to multiply, - and that'll show that will make the whites transparent. - There you go. - Now you designated your solid shapes. - Now you can go even deeper. - You can, - you know, - you do the same process to know. - For instance, - uh, - cut out the belly, - cut out the feet, - cut out the wings these little this weird little ear shaped and you can go crazy with that - and just cut out more detailed shape so that you can select them later on in the process. - All right, - now, - let's Ah, - isolate our liner. - When you have this flat shape designated, - it makes it really easy to just color in and and paint in a more natural way. - So my right click. - Or if I command click on this flat layer, - you'll see the marching ants. - And it's just, - um, - already cutting out that shape. - Now I create a new layer above that. - We'll call this crazy paint, - select a new color. - Let's do, - um, - do green be really ugly and, - um, - control click and just go create clipping mask. - And this is gonna basically cut out the background of cut out the positive shape from - whatever you paint. - So we're gonna go into your brush and let's just do make sure that capacity is set to 100 - and just do big sweeping brushstrokes. - So there you go. - It's already That's the whole brushstroke, - and it's mapping to the shape that you just cut out. - Another reason why I like to have my flat ships cut out is if you just double click on your - flat shape layer. - Um, - I just like to play with the color overlay option. - It's a really quick way to just drag around your, - um, - your selection and see what colors you like. - Um, - on the fly. - And it's, - you know, - you don't have to use the paint bucket, - and, - um, - you can sheikhoun sort of dragon adjust as opposed Teoh testing and then refilling, - testing and refilling. - Uh, - so this is a powerful tool to do that just quickly. - Often, - I like to separate my liner so that instead of it just being a big shaped like this with - black and white pixels, - it's just isolated black and grey pixels so that you can easily, - um, - work around the liner and colored a solid etcetera. - So to do this, - the first thing you wanna want to do is make sure that you're just working with, - um, - de saturated layer. - And you could do this in your adjustments. - Go to hue, - saturation. - This is just a really quick, - quick and dirty way to do it and just drag your saturation all the way down to Gray. - Now, - we're gonna want to use our channels to do this next step, - so go into your window channels and that brings up your channels panel. - Make sure you're on your Leinart layer and Photoshopped, - and you're just gonna command click on the RGB channel air and command ship I That's gonna - just select your dark pixels and create a new layer command shift new. - And we're just gonna call this solid lines and our foreground color. - We're gonna make black paint bucket or just hit the geeky and just paint bucket that sucker - in and there you go. - So it's double black because we have our original liner and that are solid pixels. - So to show you what I mean, - just double click on the sidelines layer you just created and go to color overlay overlying - . - We'll do it read so that you can really see the contrast. - So now you can easily just experiment with color and the same way we just learned to adjust - your flat shapes. - And this is also really cool for when we start lying and textures because you can do the - same sort of clipping mask. - I'm just gonna clear layer style. - Okay, - Dio pink so you can see it. - And then great clipping mask over your solid lines and big restroom. - And there you go. - See, - now you're just only coloring on the solid pixels. - You just cut out, - uh, - using your channels. - Step four is going to be the most fun step in this phase. - It's all about playing experimenting. - This is where you're gonna want to switch up all your colors. - You're gonna wanna Lanson those textures that you've created and captured on your camera. - Um, - you're gonna want toe just, - you know, - experiment form, - maybe rotate things around, - cut things out, - move them, - wallpaper them. - Um, - just have some fun. - And, - um and hopefully you're gonna have a couple of different versions of really cool stuff that - you've made. - Is it true that there's no wrong way Yes, - it. - Now that you guys have the basics down, - I want you just to play around. - Ah, - you also have my source file so you can see how I did the same. - I've made these three versions and the colors very, - quite a bit, - But the first thing I realized once I got things new on the computer screen was that it - actually made a lot more sense for the back to the upside down. - I just like to better. - It looks like he was maybe hanging out in a cave, - and I just like the composition better and the way it felt when I added in the sculpture - tag. - So you guys just you're gonna have a fresh set of eyes when you get on the computer, - and that's a really cool thing. - You'll you often can't see um, - your drawing and say my once you start, - you know, - adding in solid, - solid shapes. - It changes the composition of it. - So now it's time to play one tool you're gonna want to get familiar with and photo shop for - use with your Leinart, - and also exploring your textures and experimenting with that are your your layer blend - modes and these were found up here at the top of your layers panel. - Um, - and let's let's explore, - multiply. - First, - Um, - multiply is a tool that's gonna, - ah, - blood more that's gonna make your whites transparent in your drawing. - So to show you that, - let's just create another layer, - um, - called paint right under your original lighter layer. - And let's just go to your paintbrush and, - um, - and draw big paint smear like this. - And you can see this even though it's behind your liner layer, - because you're liner layer is set to multiply to show you what? - I mean, - let's let this to normal. - And then all of sudden, - you can't see um, - the parts of that paint smear that are behind um, - this selection of your original drawing. - All right, - um, - so you're gonna want to use this this multiply future, - for instance, - if your artwork that you've scanned in perhaps his color and you don't want to make it a - solid a solid pixel selection, - and you could just basically skip Step three and set your light your layer to multiply and - you're all set, - Um, - now the other main blend mode that I use a lot is pretty much the exact opposite of - multiply, - and it's called screen, - and that's just gonna make your dark pixels transparent. - So let's basically invert our background and our artwork. - Um, - command, - I will do this. - It's just the invert. - Select their the in virtual. - Um, - so now we have, - um, - a white bat with white lines, - and instead, - let's just set this layer just screen, - and it does the same thing. - Um, - now you can see through those black pixels and so those are that you're two primary what I - think are your primary blood boats and, - um, - you know, - play with those with your textures, - but also their very useful when you're, - you know, - um, - just setting up your basic structure, - using your main artwork, - working with lots of textures that you've hopefully captured and face to, - is going to make the digital part of this way more fun. - Um, - and this is a good time to just show you my personal little library that I've been - collecting over the years of just crazy stuff. - I have snapped, - um, - on the street. - This is just one of Gillian folders, - Um, - and it's mostly just city grunge, - and you know would textures and, - um, - you know, - corners of graffiti and weird tree bark and all stuff. - I kind of just seen as I've been traveling around the world over the years. - And it's, - um, - almost kind of a way of scrapbooking digitally because you're gonna know exactly where your - textures came from. - And, - um, - it's it's a kind of a way of infusing your art with a lot of your own personality and, - um, - and adding a lot of character to your art. - So, - um, - we just learned about blend modes, - and, - um, - I'm gonna show you what I mean about using blood modes with your textures. - So let's, - um, - let's go into version two of my bat. - And if you see in this adjustments folder, - I've got a couple textures. - Um, - this one is using screen, - which we just learned about him so you can see these little like white flecks. - Um, - that's because the white is showing through, - um, - or the black is invisible in the white showing through. - And then, - um, - I used a couple of these crazier textures. - I think these air from some cement textures that I've played with the hue of, - um so Let's let's just some experiment with our blend modes, - and that's really the only way to do it. - You just sort of see what happens when you switch switch up the blend mode. - And as you play, - you're gonna sort of have a better sense of what each one does. - Um, - and just sort of play around and try things out. - You can see when I turn it off. - Um, - no. - This is how it affects affects the artwork and so ultimately decided. - Soft light looks the coolest. - And give me the effect that I wanted and you could just kind of keep layering in different - textures. - They're gonna each add a little different look to your art. - Um, - so there you go that is playing with blend modes and now adding your textures. - There's one more thing I want to tell you guys about, - um Photoshopped wise, - and that is using your layer adjustments. - These are all these guys and the adjustments folder, - um, - that I've created, - and this is just a personal preference of mine. - I like to create a whole folder of, - um of layers that affects my composition as a whole. - So this whole block of stuff effects my my bat, - which I've created in another folder. - If I didn't like my subject matter in one folder and all of my adjustments and the other so - you can find all these sets of layer adjustments in your layers panel, - and then you go to new adjustment layer. - And they're all sorts of different layers that effective and things vibrance, - for instance, - don't create this new layer and that, - um, - he's gonna make your art more saturated are vibrant, - and these air just sort of sliders that you can use. - And the cool thing is, - it's not permanently affecting anything in your actual pixels, - and you can turn it off and get back to your original eso. - I like all of these to be, - um, - fully edible and in separate layers and layer dress, - for instance. - They're just settings are also pretty low in terms of affecting your file size, - so it's a great way to have a lot of flexibility, - um, - and go back and forth and change your mind Experiment. - Guys have made it through this entire process, - and I want you guys to have fun with it. - That's really gonna come through in your artwork. - Now you have this digital image, - and you can use it for wallpaper, - wrapping paper rugs, - scarves, - textiles, - your website fencing poster. - You'll work a lot faster. - Clients will love you. - Just You've already got this awesome piece of artwork in a form that you can use in a - multitude of spaces. - There's no right way to do it. - These are just some skills that hopefully you teach yourself your own workflow and you - build upon these skills and, - um, - you know, - take your drawings and continue making tons of awesome digital art with it.
Sara Blake, Illustrator, Fine Artist, Designer, Art Director
