Expediting the Results

Let’s say you want to make a drawing of a place that you’ve never been. Sure, you could play it easy and browse similar looking images on the web, download them, print them off, slip-sheet them and get cracking. Or...you could go the traditional route and actually seek out and photograph similar looking places, print off the pics and run them through an Artograph.

The problem with sticking to the internet is that it’s common. Everybody has seen and downloaded those same images. It’s called playing it safe, and playing it safe sucks, and if you’re a college student, you really should know better.

Illustration is an expensive hobby. Having a few French curves, a T-square, a drafting table, some pencils and some tracing paper is a good place to start, but before you know it, you realize that what you really need...is a camera. A real camera. One capable of taking iconic photos. In other words photos that are not of someone standing in front of a mirror.

And there’s a lot of leg work involved in this game called commercial art. It’s not just a matter of making a drawing and turning it into a painting. If your Leonardo DaVinci, you can do that, but the rest of us have a much finer line to walk. And sometimes you don’t have the time to do it the traditional way. Sometimes you need to produce results and produce them fast!

Mouse Guard illustrator and author David Petersen is a classic example here. Petersen makes a small mock-up of what he wants to draw, photographs it, prints it off and turns it into an environment fit for the project. Using foamcore board, Styrofoam, cardboard, found items and polystyrene model parts, Petersen can create the backdrop for any scene he needs. All he needs to start is a quick sketch or two.

Here I have designed a floor plan of sorts for something I want to build myself. I have no idea how to do things to scale in Adobe Photoshop, so I just sort of used my imagination. This is mostly Custom Shape Tool and Rectangular Marquee. The textures are courtesy of Gettyimages. 

I think I did okay here. I mean, the tiled floor is sort of busy, and the textures for all the tables and chairs, etc. could be a little lighter. There’s always room for improvement, I suppose, but at least I can say I have a blueprint for something i want to build. Yes it’s a tavern. Thanks.

SLiM

All Images are Copyright © Stephen L. Morris 2020 All Rights Reserved.