Illustrationdan - Helping graphic designers grow

Lil Wayne photoshop speedpainting portrait

       

Did this speedpainting of lil wayne out of the blue a couple of weeks back. Love his new single "Lollipop" and bought the new album The Carter III and I love it. He is definitely changing his game and seems to have a new rock themed inspiration. Im not a critic or anything so check it out for yourself.

This speedpainting was done in Photoshop in about 3 hours with the airbrush tool and varying brush sizes. I keep a flow of 22% and have a varying opacity, anywhere from 5% to 30%. Having your opacity set really low keeps your mistakes to a minimum. It allows you to slowly see the tones come in and back track if its not looking right. If my busy schedule slows down Ill try and post a step by step tutorial on how to do a speed painting, more so how to paint a portrait in Photoshop.

RIP - Heath Ledger tribute

       

As you may have known by now, actor Heath Ledger died last week from what appears to have been caused by an accidental overdose of sleeping pills.

Normally I wouldn't post anything on celebrity news but Heath Ledger's death really struck a chord with me. It's sometimes hard to believe someone so young and talented could be gone in an instant.

Events such as this make me remember how important life is and that it shouldn't be taken for granted.

Adobe Illustrator tutorial - The Zoom tool

               

Part 8: The zoom tool The zoom tool is a really important tool in illustrator. Since Illustrator is vector it can become very precise and sometimes the normal 100% view just wont cut it. So you'll find yourself using the zoom tool every other second. Zooming in can be a scary thing as it shows you just how off your drawing is. Its important, especially if youre using Illustrator for print jobs, to zoom in and make sure things are aligned properly. Paper has a much higher resolution than your screen so what you see on your screen isnt as precise as what will be printed on paper. So zoom in and see what you can find!

Adobe Illustrator tutorial - The Gradient tool

               

Part 7: The gradient tool. So as you may have learned by now, Adobe Illustrator is a vector based drawing program so you're somewhat limited to solid colors. That is unless you are using the gradient tool! Gradients provide smooth transitions of color and I think they add much needed dimension and softness to flat vector drawings. It's the closest your going to get to airbrush-like shading. The only downside is that you're limited to linear and radial transitions, that is unless you are using the gradient mesh tool (Not important for a beginner but can be utilized more once you become familiar with all the tools.) A great link here that explains the gradient tool.

Adobe Illustrator tutorial- The Rectangle tool

               

Part 6: The rectangle tool. The rectangle tool is another one of the easiest tools in illustrator that you'll learn. The other options that are next to the rectangle tool is the rounded rectangle tool, the ellipse tool, the polygon tool, the star tool, and the solar flare tool. Since im trying to to teach the tools youll be using the most i left out the polygon, star tool, and solar flare tool since I never really use them. Now if you're thinking about using Illustrator for your web designs, which I would encourage, you should should definitely become familiar with the rectangle tool. A great link here that explains the rectangle tool, rounded rectangle tool, ellipse tool, polygon tool, star tool, and flare tool.

Free artwork - Veterans Day tribute

       

Today is Veterans Day so I thought the free artwork should pay tribute to our brave service men and women. We must thank them for their service and remember those who have courageously died defending our freedom.

       

I used a scene from the movie Patton as a reference for the soldier The study sketch: Send me an email and I'll send you the .eps source file of this illustration

Adobe Illustrator tutorial - The Line tool

               

Part 5: The line tool The line tool is one of the easiest tools to learn. You probably wont be using the line tool in many illustrations but it definitely has it's place in web layouts or any kind of layouts where there is text. A couple of the other options like the arc tool and polar grid tool come in handy as well but not as much as the line tool. Some great links here that explain the line tool options in greater detail. - Adobe Help resource Center : Draw Arcs - Layers Magazine explains Spiral tool mysteries solved - Adobe Help resource Center : Draw Spirals - Northlite Designs explains the Rectangular grid tool - This site explains the Polar Grid tool in detail

More Tutorials to come! - For now, let's see some artwork!

I will post two more by this Sunday, the focus will be on the line tool and rectangle tool. I know these are slow coming but I'm doing about two tools a weekend so I'm almost there. In the meantime I thought I'd post a portrait I did of my fiance thats been sitting on my comp for sometime now un-finished. I like how it came out, prob could have made the teeth a little nicer, but hey, I'm satisfied. Done in both Illustrator and Photoshop, extensive utilization of the pen tool in this piece. After I get through some of the basics of Illustrator and Photoshop I will start showcasing tutorials on specific projects like the portrait below.        My goal of this blog is to teach beginners and maybe even some pros different ways to illustrate. To show my commitment to teaching, anytime I post artowrk I will also provide the source files for those who want them.  I think for now I will send the source files to those who email me and request them, and if I get a good response I will start providing a link where you can download them. Send me an email and I will send you the Photoshop source file of this portrait

Adobe Illustrator tutorial - The Type tool

               

Part 4: The type tool The type tool is pretty easy to use, and if you are using Illustrator for web design, which I recommend using over using Photoshop. You will need to become familiar with all the type tool options. Make sure you learn the type tool and type on path option. The others are usefull but these are the most important. Some great links here that explain the type tool in greater detail. - Working with type in Adobe Illustrator - Adobe Design Center Tutorial - Putting type on a path - This site explains all different options of the type tool - Brief explanation and picture gallery of the type tool options- Adobe type tool gallery

Adobe Illustrator tutorial - The Pen Tool

               

Part 3: The pen tool is a strange tool and its pretty confusing at first but once you get to know what its all about it becomes pretty easy to use. Become very familiar with this tool because without it you cant draw anything but squares or circles. The best way to practice is to trace photos or even cartoons. Practice practice practice. Some great links here that explain the pen tool in greater detail. - school.tatoland.com does a very good job in explaining the pen tool - Pretty nifty pen tool cheat sheet by Creative Techs - Adobe's help resource center drawing with the pen tool - Basic Drawing with Adobe Illustrator's Paths & Pen tool