Transcripts
1. Introduction: Creating a block for me can sometimes feel like
I've forgot how to draw or any idea that I think
of doesn't match the brief. I'm trying to create, and there's nothing
that's coming to mind. They almost gets me
question, can I draw? Hi, I'm Smitesh Mistry, an illustrator and content
creator based in London. The type of work I
like create is fun and through the illustrations
incorporating a bunch of color. In this class, I'm going to be taking you through how I've used AI to help me
conquer creative block, and improve as an illustrator. Being a creative, I'm sure that you've experienced
creative block, and going through, it
isn't the nicest feeling. However, getting
on the other side feels 10 times better. You've got your mojo back. You feel like designs are coming to you left, right and center. The project that we'll be
creating in this class is an illustration
about creative block. The idea for this
illustration is going to be generated from the AI and
the prompts that we feed it. I'll be walking you
through ways in which you can prompt ChatGPT, and then further
develop those concepts. Then we'll be putting those into another AI engine where
we'll be generating reference images for
lighting composition or even color palette reference. Then we'll be
implementing those into our sketch before we get into
the illustration itself. I think the concepts
that we're going to learn in this class will be fairly transferable
as the way in which we are going to be
prompting the AI engines can be tailored and applied
depending on which field industry you are in. Feel free to follow along or with the skills
that we learn, keep them near
[inaudible] when you are experiencing creative block. One way to break through
it a lot quicker, whilst implementing AI into your creative process.
Let's get started.
2. Why AI?: Since AIs come out, I know there's a lot of
talk about how it's replacing or taking over the creative industry by
producing these images. But after playing with
it a little bit more, I've decided to implement it and use it within my
creative process. I've been using it as a tool. One way that I've used it is to break through
creative block. The two main types I use are
ChatGBT and Adobe Firefly. ChatGBT. I like to refer to
it as just another human. I like to use it whilst
brainstorming and generating ideas or prompts in
order for me to sketch. With Adobe Firefly, I like to use that to
generate reference images. Whilest some sketching an
idea and I can't imagine, say, a character in
a certain position. I'd use Adobe Firefly and prompt it with something
that'll help me imagine or visualize a way in which a character
is interacting with an environment
and then use it as a reference image for my sketch. In this class, I'll be walking
you through my process of how I deal with creative
block whilst using AI. Initially, we're going
to be starting off with a concept which is
creative block, and then we're going to using this and will be feeding ChatGBT with prompts to help and give you some ideas of what to draw. Once it's giving you some ideas, we're going to be
using that and then we'll be plugging that into Adobe Firefly to help you generate reference images
for your sketches. Then what I'm going to be
doing is taking you through my process from sketching
to a final illustration. The tools I'll be using in
this lesson will be my iPad. I'll be using this to create
all the illustrations that I'll be doing and
for the sketching. In particular, I'll be using
Procreate. For ChatGBT. I'll be using my laptop,
but feel free to use your phone or a tablet too. I know in this class
I'll be covering how I use AI with illustration, but I do feel it's a great tool for many creative industries. Whether you're a
photographer trying to plan a photoshoot or a songwriter struggling on what
lyrics to choose. ChatGBT and AI is a great
way of saving time, but also great for brainstorming ideas you
may not have thought of. Now that I've covered the materials that
we'll be using in this class and run through AI, how we will we be using it, and how I've implemented
it into my process, let's get you on your way of getting through your
creative block.
3. Brainstorming Prompts: How do you know if
you're experiencing creative block and what
are some of the signs, either you forgot how to draw or you've got
your blank piece of paper or your canvas in front of you and nothing's
coming to mind, or drawing just feels hard for you or whatever
you're creating. It just feels hard or sometimes you start questioning
your own ability as to, wait, have I forgot how to draw or how come I can't
draw this time? These are few of the ways in which creative block
has shown up for me. But depending on which
creative industry you're in, it can show up in
many other ways. I think it's time that we start generating way in which we can start breaking
through creative block when we are experiencing it. Before we get into it and
start using Chat GPT, let's brainstorm a few ideas or ways in which you
can prompt Chat GPT, depending on the type of
creative block you're feeling. If you're just sat at
the desk and you're facing a blank
piece of paper and just nothing's coming to you. One thing I like to ask it is give me something
to draw [NOISE]. But then say, for
example, you already have a specific style and you know what type of illustration
you want to create. You can start tailoring it depending on what your style is. One way that I like is my illustrations
are quite surreal. I like to prompt it
with maybe give me three or five thrill
illustrations I could create, or say for example, you have a very specific client brief in which you need
to work towards. Say for example, it's a clothing brand and they
need an illustration of their models or aspects of their clothing in
certain conditions, then you can prompt it with very specific or very niche prompts. With this one, I'm going to say, give me five ideas of an illustration
involving character with regards to a fashion brand. Another way I like
to use it is I give myself a frame
or give myself a structure in which I
can use depending on the number of prompts or
ideas you want to get. I'll start off by saying,
give me five and then blank. Then that blank is where you can input your style or the type
of work that you create. For me, that's
going to be three, so is going to be give me five surreal
illustrations about a, and then for me a lot of my illustrations
involve a character. It's going to be
give me five surreal illustrations about a character. Then you can add
a verb after it. It could be swimming,
walking, talking. For the purpose of this class, the prompt that we're
going to be using is with regards to
creative block. One way in which
you can ask this is give me five
illustration ideas [NOISE] about creative block, or it could be, give me five illustration ideas to
conquer creative block. But what we can do is
we can combine some of the previous ones that we
thought of into this one. It could be, give me five and then blank where
we input our style, so for me, it will be surreal. It'll be given me five
surreal illustrations [NOISE] about creative block. Like I mentioned
before, a lot of my illustrations
involve characters. It could be give me
five illustration ideas about a character
experiencing creative block. Now that we've gone
through and brainstormed some ideas and some prompts
that we can feed Chat GPT. Let's head over and see
what ideas it generates
4. Using ChatGPT: Now that we've
brainstormed the type of ideas and the prompts
are on feed into ChatGPT let me show
you how I like to use it and how you can sway it depending on your
own creative style. One tip I would give, especially whilst using AI is it can feel a bit odd
speaking to a computer, but I like to imagine just as if I'm speaking to
another human trying to brainstorm with them and tailor the questions or
ask the questions as if you're talking to a human, as opposed to just asking
interview questions. This will give you
a lot more ideas based around or tailored
toward your style. What I'm going to
do is I'm going to copy the last point that we created and then I'm going to tailor it depending on my style, and you feel free to do
the same with yours. At the moment I've got, give me five blank. In that blank, like
I mentioned before, a lot of my illustrations
are surreal. I'm going to change
that to surreal. Give me five surreal ideas about a and like mentioned a lot of my illustrations
of characters in there. I'm going to change
up to character. At the moment,
we've got, given me five surreal
illustration ideas about a character who's going
through a creative block. I'm going to press
Enter now and then see what type of
responses it gives me. With this generally just wait a little while for it
to do its thing. With the prompts are generated, there's one that's speaking to me. Let me read it out to you. The character is shown
as a shadowy figure surrounded by a swarm of
brightly colored butterflies. The butterflies represent the
character's creative ideas, but they are fluttering
around aimlessly, unable to find a place
to land and take root. For me, that is more along the lines of the type of illustration that
I would create. But now what I'm going to
do is I'm going to use point 2 refer to that in the message bar at the
bottom and then ask it to generate more ideas based
on that single point. The way I'm going to
wear this is give me four more ideas based
around point 2. What ChatGPT has done
here is it's taken the butterfly aspect of point 2 and applied that to
all of these concepts. It's changed how the character is shown within
the illustration. With this first idea that
one speaks to me a lot more. This one goes, a character is shown standing in front
of a blank canvas or empty page surrounded by a cluttered and
chaotic workspace. The character's thoughts
are depicted as a swirling cloud of
butterflies floating around, aimlessly unable to find
a way onto the canvas. For me, I'm not too much
into the butterfly either but I like the idea of a character standing in
front of a blank canvas. I'm going to take that aspect
from point 1, reword it, and then ask it to
give me more prompts about a character standing
in front of a blank canvas. This is a general
process I like to use. Like I mentioned, it's
like a brainstorming. If you're in a
brainstorming session and you get a bunch of ideas and you like
one particular idea, you can go further
down that route and ask everyone else to tailor their responses based on that one prompt that
you like initially. That's basically
what I'm doing here. The way of where that is, I like the idea
of the characters standing in front
of a blank canvas. Could I have more ways of
this being represented? With these prompts,
there's one aspect to point 2 that I quite like. Here it says the character
is depicted standing in a vast empty landscape with only the blank
canvas in front of them. For me, that relates a lot, especially when I'm going
through it because it can feel quite isolating
especially when you feel like there's
no one around or anywhere that you go you feel like there's no
inspiration around you. That one speaks
quite clearly to me. As you've seen here
with the process, I do, I like to read what
ideas are being given. Take aspects of maybe
point 1, point 3, merge them together, and then ask it to give you more ideas. What I'm going to do now
is go in and further tailor this around my style. The way I've tailored
this next question is, I like the idea of
the character in the vast landscape
with a blank canvas. Can you give me a few
ways I can add elements in order to help communicate
the creative aspect? I quite like the way that
the first prompt sounds. Here it says the
character could be surrounded by natural
elements like mountains, trees, and wildlife. The mountains could represent the character's grand ideas, whilst the trees and
wildlife could represent the smaller more subtle ideas. Right now, whilst
I'm doing this, whilst I'm going
through ChatGPT, at the same time I'm imagining the way that this could look, which is helping me prompt
it with more questions. Ultimately tailor it more
and more towards my style. There's another one
here too I quite like. The character could be
carrying a backpack or a satchel filled with art
supplies such as paints, brushes, and canvases. This would show that the
character is well-prepared and has the tool needed to bring their creative vision to life. This could be in a way
where the character, he's ready, he knows he
wants to create something. He's got all these
materials ready but he's out in the world
gaining inspiration, trying to break
through scraped blog. I quite like the way
that that sounds too. Then we got this
one here as well, where the character could
be shown interacting with the landscape in some ways, such as painting a
beautiful sunset or sketching a mountain. This would show the character is inspired by the
world around them and that their
creative process is a reflection of
their experience. That one definitely speaks to me as a lot of my illustration I do create is based on personal
experiences or emotions, or false I'm going
through at that time. What we're going to do is
with these three prompts that I feel resonate
with me the most, I'm going to be
taking those arms and creating some initial sketches based on these prompts just to visualize how these
ideas will look.
5. Starting Your Sketch: Now that we've got our
prompts from ChatGPT, let's start sketching
out a few of these, and decide on which one we like. With this, what I like
to do is I like to start off with very rough
thumbnail sketches. It's a very small and the detail's not
required at this moment. It's just a matter of getting
block shapes in there. This phase for me is just
getting the composition, and just a feel for how the
illustration would end up. One thing that I like to do
is just start off by creating a very simple grid just to house our
illustrations within. Right now I'm splitting
this up into three, just so I can explore each different idea that we prompted. Based on the first form
that we got given, the character could
be surrounded by natural elements like mountains, trees, and wildlife. The mountains could represent the character's grand ideas, whilst the trees
and wildlife can represent the smaller,
more subtle ideas. With this one, the first
that comes to mind is still having the character within
this vast landscape, but then having it surrounded by all these mountains
and trees and plants. So I'm going to go in and
sketch a very rough idea. For this, I want the character
to be in the center of the frame as that's why I want the
audience to focus on when they are visualizing
this illustration. That's my first concept
that I've created. Again, it's very rough and just imagining what it
would feel like being in that vast landscape. So what I've got is the
character in the middle of the frame very small, and the other
element is very big, and emphasize the aspect that
the character is very small and in this very open
and large environment. That's the first
prompt. Second prompt was the character
could be carrying a backpack or a
satchel filled with art supplies such as paints,
brushes, and canvases. First that comes to mind is a character walking in nature, but with a backpack with these art supplies
in [inaudible]. So I'm just going to start
again, just rough sketching, just get a base down. That's the second
drawing, as you can see, it's very basic and it's very rough just to imagine
what it would look like. This one is speaking to me. But let's move on
to the third one. The third one is, the
character could be shown interacting with the
landscape in some ways, such as painting a
beautiful sunset, or sketching a mountain range. With this one, the first
that comes to mind is having a landscape, but then having the
character interacting in a way where it looks
like he's finishing off a line maybe, or
coloring a hill. With this, what I'm going to do, I'm going to have a pencil, but I'm going to have the
pencil really big and the coat very small in
comparison to him. For me, the main
one that's speaking to me is the center one. The reason why is because I always have my art
supplies at hand and I'm always ready to create but I always feel like it's mission, or it's something
that I have to go out or is a challenge
I have to face. But also for me going
out in nature is a place I do like to
find inspiration from. What I'm going to do next
is I want to head into Adobe Firefly just to gain
some reference images. Before I start
refining the sketch, I want to make sure the
reference images that I have are more relatable, and more accurate so my illustration can convey the message a lot more clearer.
6. Getting Inspiration with Adobe Firefly: Now that we've sketched
out the prompts that ChatGPT has given us
and we've chosen one that we want to move
forward with what I like to do before refining
the sketch is to head into Adobe Firefly
to help me gain some reference images based on this very specific illustration. Before I go into Firefly, what I like to do is just
analyze passes illustration, which I would want
some help with awesome reference images. What I'm going to do, I'm just going to copy
this and make it slightly bigger just for
referencing purposes. For me trying to imagine
what body position a character could be
in can be difficult. Trying to search on Google or Pinterest for reference image, you could spend hours
just searching. This is the first
thing I'm going to search in Adobe Firefly. Just the way in which
the characters start. Do you want to make it as
convincing as possible. like mentioned with
this illustration, it's the characters
facing a challenge. One thing that came
to mind is we could potentially have this
character walking up a hill. That could be another
thing that we could prompt the AI software with. Secondly, a character
holding about what posture or what body language will
that character have? Trying to sketch and
communicate that through the illustration
is important. That's the second thing
that I'm going to set a reference images for. Then finally, this could
just be an optional one, but a very specific wardrobe. Say if you want the
character to be wearing, say an apron with
paint stains or if you want a character dressed
in like lounge wear, this is something you can also prompt the AI software with. Let's head over to Adobe
Firefly and let's start checking in with prompts and
see what images we get back. I'm just going to
search as if I'm trying to ask for a very
specific image. I'm going to start off by saying a character
walking up a hill. In this case, because
it's representing me. I'm going to say a male
character walking up a hill. As you can see here, the
type of reference images given us isn't exactly
what I've sketched. One thing I need to
tell it is to give us a side view of this
character walk up a hill. I've got a side view of a male character walking up a hill. Let's click "Generate"
and see what comes up. This is perfect. We've got a few different
options in which we can see how the limbs or
the legs, the body, the head, how they're
all working together to communicate that the
character is walking up a hill. At this stage, what I like
to do is I'd like to take either a screenshot or a
picture of this use the iPad and then start
sketching a framework over these images just to build
mine out a bit further. One thing I do find helpful is on the side of this, you
can choose the style. We've got photo,
graphic, or art. Sometimes I find photo a lot easier as it does relate a lot more to the way in which
a character can walk, as I feel like the cartoon on the graphic ones can
communicate a bit of personality of their own
style already added to that, which is not what we want. Remember, we're just
using these as a tool. One thing I've realized
with this type of AI software is the more
that you describe it, the more accurate
the result will be. At the moment I've
got a side view of a male character
walk up a hill. But as you can see here, I want both legs in display because
I quite like this one here. Where you can see it's uphill and you can
see the character, but it's only giving me one leg. Let's refer and and let's add-in where both
legs are visible. Sometimes, the thing with AI, it's not always
going to give you what you're looking for. Remember, it's just a tool. It's not going to
do the job for you. What you'll find with
this is you will have to play around with it a little
bit, change the prompts, change the filters on
the side just to gain the images or generate the images that you're
looking for specifically. What I've done now is
I've changed the prompt, so I just showed it a side view of a male walking up a hill. Then I've changed some of
the filters on the sides, such infographic and then
ticked hyper-realistic. There is an image here
that I do like and I feel it will work perfectly
for this illustration. My normal process
is to go in and take a picture of
this and then start applying this over this
sketch or you could take a screenshot if that's
more helpful for you. What I like to do is
copy the sketch onto a new artboard, fill
the page with it, and then start applying
the references that were searching, onto
this illustration. I'm going to reduce the opacity. I'm going to go in and take a picture of the
reference I like. What I'm going to do is I'm going to reduce
the opacity on this one. I'm only using this
reference image as a frame for the character, almost like a skeleton. Let me show you how I do this. It's on a new
layer, I've dropped the opacity of the
reference image and on the layer above it, I'm going to start
sketching this. What I like to do is just go
in and sketch in the bones. See here, as you can
see the reference image hasn't generated a foot. But I'm just going to go in
and imagine where it'd be. Then the overall body language there's slight lean forwards. Then we've got the head, TF. With the arms, what I want it to feel is like this bag's heavy, you carrying all these
supplies with you. I'm going to head back into
Adobe Firefly and try to find a reference of
a character with their elbows bent just
to make sure that the character's body language is representing what I'm
trying to communicate. What I've searched
is a side view of a character with both arms
holding a heavy backpack. Because the character
that we're illustrating is the character from his side, only one arm is
going to be visible. For this reference,
I'm just going to be using how this arm is
placed on the backpack. Again, I'm going to
take a picture and then start adding get to
this illustration. As you can see, the
image is the wrong way. So I'm just going to
go in and flip this. Again reduce the opacity and
put it behind the sketch. I'm just going to scale it
on how I'm going use it. With this, you can see that the arm about this
top line angle. I'm just going to try to
recreate this on my frame. One thing to bear in mind is depending on the style
that you illustrate, incorporate this into the
skeleton that you're doing. With me, a lot of my characters are highly
out of proportion. They've got long legs, tiny torso, and then long
arms and a small head. What I'm going to do, I'm going to show you this
initial skeleton and then we're going to go in and change
it depending on my style. Now again, I'm going to be using this character as a reference
for the backpack too. In here it's coming, it's
landing base hip areas on here. It's going to be around here. But you'll see what I do. This is just the initial
reference and I'm to go in and then
further develop this. This looks very basic right now. You may be thinking,
how are you going to get from this to illustration? But the next thing I'd
like to do is just I call it adding the meat
back on the bones again. Making sure your
proportion's, alright, and then adding in the limbs, adding the muscles and
all that type of stuff. I'm just going to go in
now and start adding this. You'll see as I'm doing this, I'm going to be
changing the skeleton. This is just a base.
Now I'm going to change it to how the proportion of
my characters generally are. I'm going to go in,
make the legs a lot longer and then shorten
the upper body. This is what it looks
like once I've ordered the proportions according
to my illustration. Now let's go in and start
adding in the flesh. I'm going to reduce the
opacity on this layer. Then using the initial
sketch I did as reference and start
adding in more detail. What also, I like
to do is just keep these reference images at the side just so you
can refer back to them. The reason why I'm doing this is I want to see which
leg was in front. You can see the leg
that is closest to us is the one
that's at the back. Let add that into. What I'm doing here is
with this reference image, I'm just seeing
how the bottom of the strap interact with
the bottom of the sac. You can see it's coming here, then it's attaching down here. I'm going to do the
same with this. I'm using this reference image of the placement of the head. It's going to be
slightly forward compared to the shoulders. I'm going to turn off the
reference images and skeleton. We're slowly getting closer
to the final outcome. Here is second version. The
first one is the thumbnail. Then we have the skeleton, and then we build
upon the skeleton using reference
images that we found. Now that we got the base
sketch of the character, I'm going to go into
Adobe Firefly again and see what environments
and mountains or hills and stuff that it can
provide me just to give me some more inspiration of the environment that this
character can be walking in. Now that we've used
Adobe Firefly to gain references to help
us with this sketch. Let's go in and
refine this further.
7. Refining Your Sketch: Now that we pulled
references from Firefly, what we're going to do
is, I'm going to go in, and further refine the sketch. The way I like to do this
is, I like to choose, say, an outfit or the hairstyle, and even choose the lights
off that I'm going to be doing before I start adding
color to the illustration. What I'm going to do
is, I'm going to copy this layer onto
the new art board, and then start a fresh. I'm going to do,
drop the opacity, and then sketch on top of this, all the things that I mentioned. With this part, is key to make sure that your style
is consistent. Like I mentioned, a
lot of my characters have the long legs,
and the short body. I'm going to emphasize this more with baggy trousers,
and a tight top. What we're doing here is, we're adding the flesh to the bones that we created
in the previous one. It's personalizing it
to your own style. I've gone over the initial
skeleton that we built. I've added some clothes, and
a little bit more character personalized to my style. Now what I like to do is, go in and refine the other elements, only to have the backpack
full of art supplies. So I'm going to go in and make those a lot bigger than
they usually would be. Just adding a little side
pocket for a little ruler. I always find it helpful to personalize your
illustrations, especially if you're
going through it, you're trying to create the
character as if it is you. So this stage what
I like to do is, looking at the frame
that we created in the previous lesson, with all the foliage,
and the environment. After having the
character fully done, I like to decide, do I still want this
much or do I want less? The message of the
illustration that we're illustrating is
about breaking through. So I do feel the foliage, and the environment, I do
want it to be quite vast. One thing I do like to
do my illustrations is, create the depth for
how the foreground of the subject in the
center of the frame, and I have a background too. So I do this by
adding some bushes, some leaves, and some
foliage in the foreground. While it's doing this
part of the illustration, ideas do come in, and because we are trying to break through a creative block. Having the character
walking down a sunrise, feels like you're
trying like the data started crack it down you want
to get through this charm. I'm thinking another sun was
up on this side initially, but I'm thinking maybe can
have it like a sunrise. I would like to finish
my illustrations, especially the sketching
part with some clouds. So just so I know when it
comes to the colon part, this illustration, I know how to add the shadows,
and the highlights. Because we've got
a light source in the illustration, the sun. I'm going to have the
character lit from the front. So the easiest way I
like to remember is, the side of the character
or the thing that you're illustrating that's furthest
away from the light source, is where the shadow will be. Selecting the round brush,
and then like I mentioned, ending on the far side of the light source, should
be in the shadow. I'm just going to go through,
and add this in now. So now that we've
refined the sketch, and chose a light source, what I like to do next is
choose a color palette. The color palette
that I'll be using will be one that resonates
with me quite a lot, as a lot of my illustrations are quite surreal, and abstract. So the colors I'll
be using won't be matching the things that
you'll generally see. Using this color
palette, I'm going to go in, and color block, meaning just fill out the
sections fairly roughly, just to get an idea of how the colors are
going to work together. Again on a new layer, just
underneath all of it. I'm going to go through it,
and start choosing colors. A lot of my characters
generally have yellow skin. I'm not sure why, but it's just something
that I gravitate towards. One tip that I like to use
is if you are creating the layers at the foreground and center, and then
the background. Always have the
foreground look darker, and the background
a little lighter to give it that depth. These bushes in the front there
going to be a lot darker. Just to help the character
stand out a little bit too. While it's drawing or
adding the colors, I do feel like there needs
to be a lot more contract. As you can see her, the
hills and the back, and the skin tone,
they're the exact same. So what I'm going
to do, I'm going to add a little bit of
orange or green, just behind the ankles, and the legs just to make
sure that they pop out. I was just saying, I am not following the sketch that I did. This is because I
want to make sure the overall illustration feels balanced with the color too. Those make sure, [inaudible]
was doing with the oranges, I was changed in
green, and the orange, just to see what I
feel works best. Then once I've done
this moment ago, and then just update the
sketch that we did initially. So I'm pretty happy with
the way this is looking. You saw the process
I went through. An issue with the sketch
aside, adding the clothes, and the hairstyle, and
refining some elements, and then when I went in,
and added the color, further refine the
sketch even more, just to make it feel
personalized to me. Balls or to make you feel
the colors are balanced. Now that we've worked
through some details, Let's move forward, and
finish this illustration.
8. Finding Your Flow: If you've been following along
whilst taking this class, this is where we'll
go through and finish our illustration. What I'm going to do is
take the first two layers, so the sketch and
the shadows layer. I'm just going to swap
them both to the left. I'm going to drag them and
then create a new artboard. This drop are three arranged
layers in the right order again and merge
them by pinching, and then I'm going to
reduce the opacity. This part of my process is creating this illustration
that we've done, but a lot more neater. Adding in little
details here and there, which will make the
illustration just pop. I've opened for reference of the color blocking and
the sketch that we did. Now I'm going to use this as reference for nasty
illustration. With this, I find it
helpful to start off with the layers that are
closest to you, and then work your
way backwards. One aspect to my style is that the lines are quite
smooth and flowy. This is a great time to refine that depending on
what your style is. I'll have to create each
element on a different layer, as you'll see when
we come to it. When I'm adding in
texture and shading, it's easier to add that if each element on
a different layer. Now let's make a start
on the character. As you can see in
this reference, the leg is in-between
both these layers. Make sure I'm selected
below the foreground. But in front of
the previous ones, just saw the light pops out. For this, I'm going
to drag the sketch to the top just so
I can see it again. I do find it handy just turn the Canvas depending on the way that I'm
drawing the line. What am going to do,
I'm going to copy this sketch layer just on its own just so I can see
a little clearer. There we go. I guess
one thing I'm thinking hair whilst doing this section
of the illustration is, I know the arms is going
to be on top of the body, but I'm just deciding whether they should be on a new layer, or I do it altogether that
when I come to the shading, play around with it then. I think what I'm going
to do is keep the arm on a separate layer and then have the body on the layer below it. Even whilst doing this section
of the creative process, you will find
yourself still making changes and it's okay to that. Bicoid like when that
happens because for me, this is what it feels
like when I'm back in my flow and I'm not experienced
in the creative block. It's good if you're still
changing things at this point. Panda Pop, my style is, I'll just talk to
our hands and feet. That always just blobs all
just big chunks of themselves. Now for the backpack, because
I've drawn the arm on the backpack to lay
behind the arm. Let me find the arm layer
and then create a new layer below that to create
the backpack. As I'm doing this,
I'm referring back to the reference that we
did just for the colors. Because the backpack, I want
it to be behind the arm. I just selected the arm layer and then to create a
new layer below it. For bigger objects, I do
find it helpful increasing the brush size just
to get smoother line. I remember it's important to keep this tree to your style. As we mentioned earlier, when you're experiencing
craved block you feels like you forgot to draw the way that
you normally draw. Really embracing your own style does help in this stage too, and is going to the strap
coming over his shoulder, a man into hands, and then coming back crowned. I need the strap
actually in front of both the arms and the body. Then off to here, I'll erase the
parts I don't need. Rotating the Canvas,
just something nice smooth line following the
arc, the arc of my hand. Now for the parts I don't need, I'm just going to go
in and erase those. As you can see it slowly
coming together now. I just find my watch cranial
illustrations like fun and new ways of creating
the shapes as you saw them creating a semicircle. Just creating a circle and
we're erasing half face just makes it a lot simpler. Now that we've got most
of the character done, let's go in and fill in some
of the leaves at the side. Remember each element
on a separate layer. When we do come to add
shading and some texture, there'll be a lot
easier to that. What else? I think I want to keep these as three
just to match this. Like I mentioned
at the beginning, anything in the background, I want it to be light,
and anything in the foreground a lot darker, and then the background color is going to change this to this off-white I quite like using, and I want find the
backpack layer and then draw below that for
the pencil and the brush. Fill out for me, this is one of the most exciting parts
of the whole process. As all the research and all
the breakthroughs that you've had to get to see
all come together. What I'm going to do
is, I want to create on a color the top
of this triangle. I'm going to click on this
layer. Click "Select". Now only this part
is highlighted, and then on a new layer with that selection
just color in, and then keeps it
within that lines. You don't have to
worry about keeping it within the initial
line that you created. I'm going to finished by
adding the sun and the clouds, and then I'm going to go
through and add in the shadows.
9. Finishing Your Illustration: So this is what
we've got without any highlights or shadows. Now, let's go in and add these. And because we created each
element on different layers, adding this is going
to be quite simple. Let's start with the shadows. So I'm going to go
through and selecting each different element and adding a shadow according
to the reference. So I'm going to use one of my
brushes that I've created. And one thing I like to do is select the color and then just go a little bit darker
like we mentioned. Any clothing that's
falling on something else, you can add a little shadow
underneath that too. Because we got this
strap as well, there's going to
be a slight shadow from that strap as well. So little details
like this that makes the illustration a
lot more convincing. With this one, when I'm
adding the shadows, I like to build up
slowly just so I know, is it too dark or
is it just right? One thing fun about this section is trying to find the layers
can be quite difficult. you can find yourself scrolling
through and you're like, where's this layer,
where is that layer? But all I say when choosing these colors is to
have a bit of fun. As long as the colors
a little bit darker, using it for the
shadows works well. As you see, I did the base like a dark yellow and then I
added an orange on top. This was something that
came to me whilst I was experiencing a block previously. I was like, let me try
this, let me try that and then just go with
something I like. I remember because we've got the cap is going to be a slight shadow from
the top of the cap. Now, for the top of the sleeve. So I've isolated the
arm and let's begin the bottom section and
then I'm going to select the body itself and then add some shadow there too and then on
the inside of the arm. Now, I'm going to
select a dark orange and then just add a little bit more just underneath there
just so this stands out. Now for the shadow here, where the arm crease is, what I'm going to
do is I'm going to use the selection tool, put a new layer and
draw where that crease would be like so. Then with the dark orange, just start coloring in
there a little bit to show that there's
a crease like that to help separate
this section here. It's called a rim
light, all I have to do is have a little
highlight on the edge. The way to do this is
by actually removing the shadow rather than
adding in a highlight. So I'll use the same brush
just on the erase tool. I just tease it
just a little fit. It just helps us stand
out just a little more. Now moving onto backpack,
so find new layer, new layer above it and
then clipping mask and then select a darker color. Like we did before
for the shadow, for whether the pocket
would be for the ruler. Screen a line. I can
try on a new layer. I'm going to add a slight shadow just on the bottom of
both the brush and the pencils just to further communicate that they're
behind or inside the bag. Now that we've added majority of the shadows to the character, let's go ahead and start
adding some shadows to the foliage around
the character too. So because these are
behind the orange one, there will be a slight
shadow, just that two. With these, all I
have to do is add a little detail and to make
it a little different. That is create a new layer above it, make it a clipping mask, and then using the
pencil brush and a lighter color,
add some details. Then same for the other one too. Then just erasing
a little bit of detail at the bottom where
the shadows would be. Around this leg as you can see, it is blending altogether, so I'm going to
increase the darkness of the orange just to create some contrast around the leg to help it stand
out a little more. By the way, I'd like to add
interest to these bushes and plants is just to
add a scribble. So the squiggle, I
always find just like scribbling all just like
making long fluid lines, for me, firstly is like
a funny quiet side, so I'm going to entertain it. Then it just adds a bit of texture and interest
just to make it stand out a little bit from the foreground on the
character itself. Now, for the hills
what I'm going to do is add a little bit of mist at the bottom of the
hills just to show the depth. I'm just selecting
a lighter color and then I'm going to go
in with a soft brush, which can be found
under the airbrushes, making a slight gradient and then same for
the hill in front. What we could do, we
could make it look. Now, what I'd like to do is
just add a slight gradient to the sky just to help the
clouds stand out a little bit. So now that we've got a good base and mostly
illustration is done, what I like to do
next is go in and find it and add some lighter little details
here and there. One thing I know I'm going
to do is add a little bit of highlights and close to the
items that are near the sun. So I'm going to select
the brush that I'm using, I'm going to start off
with the trousers. Just to same again
for the t-shirt, enough to make it just a
little bit more personalized. I'm just going to go in and start adding little
details here and there. Some going to start of with the trousers adding
a slight roll up and because this is
in front of the leg, we need to go and add a
shadow just behind it. Then the same for
those legs too. Now using the pencil brush, I'm just going to go in and
add some further detail. Like I mentioned before, with the squiggles added on these dark bush at the front, I don't want to add them to
some of the other ones too. The way I wanted to do
it is just to create a layer just above
everything and then just let your hands flow like a quiet free flow and get a
feel of which one you like. For me, like I've
mentioned, I do feel when I get to this
stage where it's adding in little details and especially the squiggles
and the free-flowing lines, I just feel like myself
when it comes to creating. As you can see, a lot of my art and illustrations do involve like
free-flowing lines, so definitely helps when I
get to that stage of it. So the last thing
I like to do is just to go and have look at every separate element as is and see if there's
anything I can do to it. I'd say here, I'm just going
to go and clean these lines up and then add a little detail to the
brush and the pencil, and add some more details
on the bag just over here. What I'm doing now is
I can see that there's no shadow underneath the ground that the character
has stood above, so I'm going to just try
and see if it works. The last thing I'm
looking for now is just the highlight on shadows. So one last look to see if there's
anything else I want to add to help each element pop on their own but
obviously work together. I think I'm going to add
a bit more shadow to this area here just to
help separate these two. But the difference
is quite subtle, but it does help the
overall illustration. Then finally like what I did previously with the rim light, I'm just going to remove
some of this on his elbow. Here you can see it's quite
a bit of empty space, I'm going to go in
and add another hill. Then like we did
previously, just add a slight light section
just at the bottom, just to represent mist. I'd say it's roughly about there where I feel like the
illustration has come together. I've added in the detail,
the shadows, the highlights, and the final little
details here and there like you saw with the cuffs and
the detailing on the shirt. This is where I like to finish an illustration and
end it where I feel like I've done everything
that I would normally do with my creative process. I've looked at it
enough and analyzed each section and for me, this is a finished illustration.
10. Final Thoughts: Congratulations on making
it to the end of the class. I know we have covered a
lot with regards to AI and implementing it within
your creative process. But like I mentioned, it will take some time
to get used to using it, and how to tailor it towards your style and towards the prompts that you
want to generate. It did take me a while to
get to grips with using it. But I feel once you started
using it for awhile, you'll definitely
be incorporating it into your credit process, whether you are having
creative block or not. As for me, it's sped up my workflow a lot especially
in the brainstorming phase. I'm super excited to see what you've created based
on the prompt that ChatGPT gave you and the
illustration that you created. It'll be great if you can
share both the prompts and the illustration
down below on the project's panel or I
can provide feedback on how you can further tailor
your prompts with ChatGPT, or any improvements
that you could do to your illustration too. If you found this class helpful, feel free to head over
to my channel where you can find a lot
more like this. That's all. Thanks for watching. I'll catch you in the next one.
Smitesh Mistry, Illustrator & Designer
