Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Illustrator's Workshop: Trouble Timelapse


I tried to experiment in this drawing with an approach I've used for minor flourishes (faucets and knobs in kitchens and bathrooms), where instead of drawing an outline and then filling it in, I draw first what I imagine would eventually go inside the outline without bothering with the first step

Three quick reasons why I wanted to use this technique and try it out with this drawing:

1. If I'm ever going to move past coloring-book style artwork, it seems like a good place to start might be to imagine the objects in the image without having to outline them first

2. For whatever reason, it's easier for me to imagine a white object against a black background and then outline it than it is to put down solid colors over a white background, so the idea I had for this image sounded like a good place to start

3. In the past, the results in using this method for faucets and knobs etc. have been fairly satisfying in terms of the lighting feel, and I wanted to see if that would apply to a fairly simple, flat object like a spacesuit.  

I think it worked out okay, it definitely gives a sense of the glare of direct sunlight, although the colors are of course super super primitive, and the shadows should be a lot darker wherever there isn't earth-glow.

In a version of this drawing where I had more time, I would obviously want to render the background with a lot more attention and care.  I would also want to use different colors to offset the highlights and lowlights in the suit texture to give it a more solid feel.  

Mr. Brain would be rendered exactly as-is, because if I made him photorealistic I'm sure he would horrify me.

Music in the video is by Kohei Tanaka; no copyright infringement is intended.

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