Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Butterfly & Hand {illustration process}



In general, this is the way execute most of my illustrations. I start with a pencil sketch. When I'm happy, or my art director is happy, I scan it in and trace it in Illustrator. This gives me the second image shown - a clean, vector image that has the basic color scheme of the final. Then I bring the illustration into Photoshop and give it the texture I love. It always feels a little like playing at this point. I add and subtract the texture until I feel it is isn't overdone or underdone. I'll tweak the colors and make some proofs until I'm satisfied or I run out of time. There is nothing like a deadline to help you along! Hope you enjoyed a peak into my process.

(This illo was for a story in the San Diego Union-Tribune about aging peacefully and gracefully)

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