ILLUSTRATI

ON
I
ll
ust
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ngaFantas
ySc
ene

Whatyouwi l
lle
a r
n:Thiscour
sewi l
lte
achyo usomeo ft
hebackgroun
da n
dt echn
iquestha
tgointopai
nti
n g
ani
llus
tra
ti
onforcardart.Youwillbewalkedthrougheachphas
eo ft
heil
lust
rat
ionp r
ocesst
hatIus
e.Sta r
ti
ng
wit
hrecei
vingtheassi
gnmental
lthewa ythr
ou ghth
ef i
nalpa
int
ing.Wewi llal
sotalkaboutc
ommo nwa ysto
goaboutget
ti
ngy ourf
irs
tjobandsomeo fthebestwaystoinc
reaseyourc
ha n
ceso fget
ti
ngwo r
kintheever
i
ncre
asingl
ycomp et
ati
vejobma r
ket.

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Su
g g
est
edRe
adi
ng:
•HowIMa kePictur
es
NormanRo c
kwe l
l
•I
ma gi
nati
veReali
sm:Howt
oPa
intWhatDoe
sn'
tEx
ist
Ja
me sGurne
y
•Creat
iv
eIll
ustr
ati
on
AndrewLoomis
(
Fur
the
rre
fer
enc
esi
ntr
odu
cedi
nthevi
deol
ect
ure
)

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ene

Thumbnai
l
s Ti
ps

-
Reme mbert
othi
nkl
argegr
aphi
c
de
signfi
rs
t.
-
Do n’
tst
opatone
,doatle
asta
doz
enb e
for
edeci
dingononet
o
t
aketofi
nis
h.
-
Tryt
omi
nimi
zet
hede
tai
lyoua
dd.
-
Thinkinter
mso ffor
eground,
middl
eground,a
ndbackground.Th
is
wil
lgiveyoumo rede
pthinyour
t
humb nai
ls
.
-
Wh enaddi
ngv al
ues,de
signinli
ght
,
middl
e,da
rk.Th i
swillgiveyoua
waytogr
oupy ourdet
ail
slate
rand
or
gani
zeyourinfor
mationintoa
gr
aphi
cdesign.

Ext
raReadi
ng:
Pi
ct
ureThi
s:HowPi
ct
ure
sWor
k
Moll
yBang
Compos
it
ionofOut
doorPai
nti
ng
Edga
rPayne
Fr
amedInk
:Dr awi
ngandCompos
it
ionf
orVis
ualSt
ory
tel
le
rs
Marc
osMateu-
Me s
trea
ndJe
ffe
ryKat
zenbe
rg

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RoughSk etch
-On ceyou’ved oneathumb nai
lthatiswo r
k i
ngg ood, enla
rgethethumb nai
lusi
ng
Pho t
oshopo raco pi
er.En l
arget
h eima getoac omfo r
tablesiz
eth a
tiseasytogetdetail
s
i
n t
o .Ma kes ur
etod roptheopacit
ysot hethumb nailsk e
tchbarel
ys howsup.
Alternat
ively,youcand ra
wo nap ieceoftraci
n gp a
p eroveryourthumb nai
l.
-Shoo t
ingrefer
enceco ul
dh el
patthisp oi
nt,butItrya ndtakethesketchasfarasIca n
withmi nimalton oref
erence.
-Ther oughsketchcanb easdetai
leda syoulikeo ryou rdeadl
inewillall
ow.Ima i
nlyget
i
ttoap oi
n twheretheartdir
ecto
rc ane a
sil
ys eewh atish appeni
nga ndhasav i
sualfor
t
h atIint
e ndtopaint.
-Ther oughsketchcanb edoneona nys urf
acey oua r
ec omf or
tabl
eu si
ngthatwil
lg etyou
cle
a rres
u l
ts.Mo reoftentha
nn ot,myr oughsk et
chesa redoneo n81 /
2”x1 1”co py
paper.
-Iwi l
lalsosendinc ol
orroughske t
cheswh ichg r
o upstogthe
rthec ol
orcomp sandro ug
h
sketchintoone.Ar tdir
ector
slikethi
s .Itgivesthemamo r
esolidpict
ureofwh atyou’re
planning.

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Gat
her
ingRef
erence

-
Ma gaz
ines
,Books
,an
dtheInt
ern
etwi
ll
beagrea
tsour
cef
orgat
her
ing
r
efer
ence.
-
Bes ur
eton otst
icktooc l
osel
yto
i
magesfoundo nli
ne.Ch ancesar
e,
ot
herar
tist
sma yh a
v ealr
eadyusedthe
e
xactsamereferencey o
ua r
eu s
ing.
Makesuretoc ha
ngei tupsomewa yso
i
t’
syou’reown .
-Whenit
’saf
forda
ble,hi
reamo de
l.
You’
llgetacha
ncetocontr
olthesce
ne
younee
dmu chb e
tt
erthanj
ustfi
ndinga
ra
ndomp hot
oandb e
ndingyourvis
iont
o
t
hefoundphoto.

Ti
p
-Ifyouh i
reag oodmo de
l,i
t’
soft
enag ood
i
d eatogivethems omeart
is
ti
cfre
edom.
Ifyoud i
rectthe
mal it
tl
emo r
eloosel
y,t
hey
willoft
entimesu s
ethei
rowne xp
erie
nceto
giveyouso methi
ngb e
tt
erthanwhatyou
ori
g i
nal
lyh adinmind.
Don’
tove
rdi
rec
t!

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ene

Fi
nalDr
awi
ng
Onceyoursket
chisappr
ovedbytheclie
n t
,andonceyou’
veg a
ther
edyo urref
erence
,you
ca
nmo veo nt
othefi
naldr
awing.Th i
sisthephas
eIusetotogetasmuc hd e
taila
sIh a
ve
t
imetog e
tint
othedrawing.It
’sachanceformoetogoinchbyinchacrosstheimage
andprob
lems ol
veth
ed et
ai
ls.Iwillde
viate
dfromtheroughsket
ch,butonlyu ptoa
poi
nt.It
’sst
il
limport
antt
oma int
ai
nthatgenera
lcomposi
ti
o nt
hatworkedwe llduri
ngthe
ea
rli
erphase
s.
Thi
sisusua
ll
ydoneonanicerpape
r.Iusedgraphi
tepenc
ilonBrist
ol,SmoothVel
lum.
Ift
hedra
wingcomesoutni
ceenough,youwillof
tent
imesbeab l
etoselli
t,maxi
mizi
ng
youre
arni
ngsonajob
.Co l
lect
orswil
lwa ntt
oknowitwa sdoneonsome t
hingar
chi
val.

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Col
orComps

Ti
ps
Wh
- eni
tcomestoc
olo
rcomps
,ju
stl
iket
humbna
il
s,you’
llwa
ntt
oexpl
orema
nydi
ff
ere
nt
c
olorva
ria
ti
ons
.
-
You r’
renotgoi
ngt
oreinve
ntthewheelwhenitcomestocolor
,it
’sallbeendone.It
’l
lbe
yourjobt
op i
ckwhatcol
orharmoni
esbestemotethefe
eli
ngyouwa ntyourvi
ewerst
oh ave
.
Col
o rshoul
dbeasuppor
ti
ngelementt
oy ouri
ma ge.Forexa
mp l
ei fyouwa nts
ome t
hin
gto
f
eel“cold”
,usi
ng“c
o o
ler
”c ol
orswi
llhel
pe nha
n c
ethemo od.
-
Valueismor
eimp or
tan
ttha
nc ol
orwhenitcomestoget
ti
ngyourvol
ume st
orea
d.Co l
or
ha
sva l
uesomakesureasyou’
remakin
gy ourcol
orcho
icest
hatt
hev a
lueoft
hecol
orsyou
us
e,ref
elc
ttheva
luesyouneedtoac
hievet
hev ol
umeinyouri
ma ge
.
-
Thi
spar
toft
hepr
oces
sc a
nb eco
mbine
dwitht
heroughs
ket
chpha
se.Thi
sisbe
comi
nga
mor
eco
mmo nwa
yt ogetappr
ova
lsf
romar
tdir
ect
ors
.

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Whatt
hisdoe
s,i
sgive
syouanimpre
ssi
onofwh att
hefi
nalwi
lll
ookli
ket
hroughbl
urr
ed
vi
si
on.Thi
sma ke
sitali
tt
lee
asi
erwhenappl
yingtheopa
quel
ayers
.

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ThePai
nti
ng:P
ART2-TheFoc
us

Ti
ps
-
Start
ingwitht
hefocusea
rlyonwhil
e
youratt
ent
ionandene
rgyarefr
eshi
s
agreatwayofset
ti
ngastanda
rdfor
t
her e
stofthepa
int
ing.
-
Ma kesur
etohaveyourphot
o
r
efe
rence
,drawi
ng,a
ndc ol
orcomps
c
loseatha
nd.
-
Attachingyourrefer
enceand
dr
awi ngstoaco r
kboardorhavi
ng
yourfi
lesona nIpadma ket
hem
e
asilyaccess
ibleduri
ngthepai
nitng
pr
oce s
s.

St
art
ingwitha ddi
ngdarksIworkmywa yuptothehighl
ight
s.Icreat
e“ t
il
es”ofc ol
ors
andval
uesan dthenbl
endtheedge
s.I’
mt hi
nkingaboutval
uesfi
rst
,the
nt hecol
ora nd
t
empratur
eo fthecol
or.Ili
ketorol
lthet
emp r
atur
esofthecol
orstogetmo reva
riet
yin
t
heimage.Ex amp l
e:Igofromcool
ershadowstowarmerlight
s.Thiscanb edoneona
macr
olevelforav er
yc o
mp e
lli
ngrang
eo fc
o l
ors.
Youwilloft
entime sspendmo s
tofyou rat
tent
ionande ner
gyinthefocus
.Yo uwantthi
s
ar
eatob et
hefirstplacepeopl
elook.Itcanbed if
fi
cultt
of i
gureouthowmu chti
meto
spe
ndine ac
ha r
eao ft
hep a
int
ingwh enyou’r
eu nderatimec ons
tra
int
.Itryt
oa l
low
mysel
fp l
ent
yo fe xt
ratimefortho
seu nfor
seencomp l
ica
tionstha
tWI LLari
se.Fact
ori
ng
t
hosecomp l
ica
tionsi n
toyourproces
sg ive
syo uali
ttl
eb r
eathi
ngroom.

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ThePai
nti
ng:PART3-Fi
l
li
ngi
ntheBackgr
ound
-We’vewo r
kedupmo r
eo fthefi
gureb ythi
sp oi
nt.It
’snowtimetostratbra
nchi
ngo ut
andfil
li
ngintheimmediat
eb ac
k gr
oun daro
u n
dh er.Fini
shi
ngthebackg r
oundarea
aroundherwil
lal
lowy o
ut oplaywiththeoutsi
dec ount
ouredge
so fthefi
gure.Idea
ll
y,
whena ddi
ngtheopaq
uel a
yers,i
t’
sag oodi
deatoma kesurewhatever
yy oupaint
edthe
daybefor
eiseit
herst
il
lsome whatweto rbl
endo utsothe
rearenoh a
rdr i
dgeare
as.So,
Ist
opa nyuseofli
qui
na tt
hispoint
.I fIneedtothinthepai
ntIusestr
aightli
nse
edo i
l.
-
Thepi
ct
urebel
owonth
elef
t,s
howsthes
tar
tofs
omeoft
hed ar
kers
hape
s.Thei
mage
ont
her
ighti
sshowi
ngt
hemorefi
nis
hedl
ookoft
hepa
int
ing.

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ThePai
nti
ng:PART4-Text
ures

-
Pa i
nti
ngtexutr
escanb ealot
offunifyouh a
veap roces
sfor
e
a chtypeoftext
ure.
Th ebest
pl
acetolearnthi
sisinas t
il
l
l
ifecla
ss.Th i
stypeofclass
a
llowsy outheti
metotrialand
e
rrorwithma nydif
fer
en tt
ypes
oftexut
res.

-
Go odtexut
rep ai
nti
ngisallintheedges
a
ndc ont
rastofv al
ues.Highc o
ntras
tis
us
uall
ye vi
d e
nc eofatext
urethatisver
y
r
efl
ecti
ve.So ftedgesof
tentimes
r
epre
s e
ntat e
xtu r
ethati
ssoftinnatur
e:
f
ur,f
eather
s,ha i
r,et
c.

Te
xture
scanbeag r
eatchancet
ob eali
tt
lemo r
eabst
ractwit
hyourpa i
ntappl
icat
ion.Try
di
ff
erentt
ool
sandapproa
c he
stoseewh a
tkindofvari
etyyoucanget.Asky our
sel
f,“what
phys
ica
lqual
it
ie
sd oe
sthispart
ic
ulart
ext
urehave”,ha
rd,sof
t,l
ight
,dark,s
mo ot
h,etc.
Thentr
yandrepl
ic
ateth
os equal
it
iesa
nde ve
ne xa
ggerat
ethem.

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ThePai
nti
ng:
PART5-JustKeepPai
nti
ng

Ti
ps

Sowe’vefil
le
di nalotmoreo fthebackgr
oundan dst
art
edworkons omeofthesecond
ary
el
ements.I
t’
se a
sytostar
tsh i
ft
ingthefocusawayfromthefoc
alpoi
n tatt
hisst
age.Ili
ke
t
oma kesuretotakebre
akse ver
yh ourorso.Thiswil
lall
owmet oco mebacktomy
pai
nti
ngwithaf r
esheyean dIcangivemys elfhone
stfee
dback.Getti
ngback,awayfrom
yourpai
nti
ngletsyouseeitasawh ole.Thisi
simp or
tan
ttohel
py ousti
cktoyourint
ial
comp.
MostofwhatI’
vep a
inte
datth
ispoi
nti
sopaque
.Therea
rear
eas
,wh e
reImaydec
idet
o
pa
intali
tt
lethi
nnert
ol e
tsomeoft
heunder
pai
nti
ngshowthr
ough.Thi
scancr
eat
esome
i
nte
rest
ingte
xtur
esthatIdi
dn’
tnec
cess
ari
lycont
rol
.
Ithi
nkther
eshoul
db eapr
oces
stofoll
owf orwhenweneedspeci
fi
cres
ult
s,butIal
so
bel
ievet
herea
reti
me swher
epaint
ingcanbeab i
tmoreorga
nic
.Th i
srequi
resahighleve
l
ofski
llbe
cuas
eyouwi l
loft
ent
imesn e
edtob eabl
etore
inintheor
gani
cnatureoft
h e
pai
nti
ngandhavetheknowhowo nwhattod ot
ofixi
t.

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ThePainti
ng:Part6-Fi nalPass
-
Go i
nginchbyincha l
on gthepa
int
ingandfini
shi
ngt heunt
ouchedareasi
sa bouta
llit
t
akesatt
hispoi
nt.Ma k esuret
hateac
hsma l
lsect
iono ft
hepaint
ingisrender
edh owyou
wanti
t.Atthi
sstageit’
sv er
yimp o
rta
nttoste
pb a
cka wayfromy ourpaint
ingasoft
ena s
pos
sibl
e.You’l
lwa nttoma kesur
ethewh ol
eimageiswo rki
ngands t
il
lrefl
ect
sy our
i
nti
alfi
naldr
awinga ndc ol
orcomps.
-
Glazi
ngc ol
orsa
ndv alu
esisu s
ual
lydonedur
ingthi
sp ha
seaswe l
l.Anycolor
sorval
ues
t
hatnee
dt obechangedcanbeg l
azed
,int
st
readofrepa
int
ingthewholear
ea.Therea
re
acoupl
ewa ysIl
iketoglaze
.Yo ucanusea“gla
zingme di
um”a ndorsc
umble/
drybr
ush
t
hepaintacr
osst
healreadydryare
astha
tneedadjus
ti
ng.Th i
stechni
quewil
ltake
pr
act
ice.

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ThePai
nti
ng:Par
t7-Fi
nish
-
On c
eI ’
mf i
nis
hedwi t
hthepai
nti
ng,Igiveitt
imet odr
ythenusearework
abl
e,spra
y
va
rni
shtob r
ingbackanyval
uesandcolor
st ha
tma yhavedri
eddull
.Ithenshoott
he
pa
int
ingwithadigi
talSLRandg e
tashighaq ual
ityanimageaspos
sibl
e.Withalit
tl
e
a
djust
me nt
sinPhotos
hop,Isa
vethefil
ean demailitt
othecl
ient
.Everycompnayhas
t
hei
ro wnpart
icul
arwaytheywanttorec
eivefini
shedwo r
k.

-
Some t
imesther
earerevisi
onstha
twillnee
dtobema debas
edo nthecli
ent’
s
pr
efe
rence
s.Mo stofthet
ime ,
Iwillhandl
ethe
sechanges
,digi
tal
ly
.I t
’sfas
terandea
sie
r
t
oma keadj
ustment
si nthecomputer
.Ho weve
r,i
fit
’sareques
tthatIfee
lwillmakethe
or
igi
nalpai
nti
ngalo tst
ronger
,the
nIwi l
lgobackandrepai
ntthos
ec hange
s.

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TheFi
nishedPai
nti
ng

ThePai
nti
ng:Par
t6-Fi
nis
h

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Fi
nal
Thought
s

19