Over the past few weeks I have tried using grayscale filters and have been curious about the result and what they can do. Plus, much to my surprise, I discovered the Width Tool in Illustrator CS5. With these two tools in hand, I decided to use them and create an illustration in the style of Roy Lichtenstein.

There are quite a few tutorials on how to create such an image, but I decided to go through this one myself. I was not interested in other lessons as my occupation was only entertainment. Therefore, if I suddenly copied someone's technique, then I really didn't know. In addition, it would be quite nice to post on this site a tutorial on how to create illustrations in a similar style.

Roy Fox Lichtenstein (October 27, 1923 - September 29, 1997) - American artist, representative of pop art. The artist's success was brought about by his work on comics and magazine graphics. Wikipedia

Step 1

Let's start by working in Illustrator.
Open the photo in Illustrator that you will be working with. I found this one on Shutterstock, but you can choose any other.

Step 2

Select the Pencil Tool (N) and start painting over the photo using it as a background. I started with the eyes. I used an Ellipse for the pupils (L).

Step 3

Continue drawing with the Pencil Tool (N) and the Pen Tool (P) for more precision, but don't get carried away as ideality is not required here.

Step 4

Use the Pencil Tool (N) to outline the outline of the girl's hair:

Step 5

Then, with the same tools, add some details for the hair:

Step 6

As a result, we have vector elements for creating a girl. You can add more elements as you like, it depends on the photo used.

Step 7

Remove the background photo to work with vector elements only:

Step 8

One of my favorite tools in Illustrator is the Width Tool (Shift + W). It allows you to change the stroke width of a portion of our stroke. Look, this is fantastic!

Step 9

Using the same tool, change the width of some of the strokes something like this:

Step 10

It's time to add some color. I used beige for the skin, yellow for the hair, white for the eyes, and black for the details. Let the blouse be green:

Step 11

Now let's go to Photoshop. Open the paper texture in Photoshop. I found the texture in the same place as the girl, on Shutterstock.

Step 12

On top of the paper texture, create a layer and overlay the photo of the girl with the Multiply Blending Options. In this case, it will come in handy for importing a vector from Illustrator and for creating halftones.

Step 13

Trim off excess parts of the photo that extend beyond the edges of the paper texture. The best way to do this is to use a layer mask:

Step 14

Create a new layer under the girl's photo, but inside the same folder with our mask. Change the blending mode of the new layer to Multiply and fill it with light blue:

Step 15

Copy the vector image in Illustrator and paste into Photoshop. When inserting, I used the "Smart Objects" option, because this allows you to edit the vector at any time right in Photoshop.
As you may have noticed, I set the transparency of the new layer to 70%, thanks to which you can set the desired position of the layer:

Step 16

Once you find the location you want, make the layer 100% opaque:

Step 17

Change the order of the layers so that the girl's photo is on top of the vector layer. After that desaturate the photo (Image> Adjustments> Desaturate). You will get a black and white photo, similar to mine.
Then go to editing levels (Image> Adjustments> Levels).
Change the black channel to 60 and white to 195.
Set our layer's blending mode to Multiply:

Step 18

Choose Filter> Pixelate> Color Halftone. In the window that opens, specify the maximum radius 15 and the value 199 for all channels.
Note: Depending on the size of the illustration, adjust the maximum radius proportionally.

Step 19

As a result, we get this image. The illustration is almost ready, it remains to give it an old, shabby look. We also need to clean the teeth and eyes from the halftones:

Step 20

Place the paper texture on top of all the layers in our illustration and set the Blending Mode to Linear Burn:

Conclusion

The illustration is ready. Here teeth and eyes have already been cleaned from halftones.
In the same way, you can use halftones to create Roy Lichtenstein-style illustrations, as in our experiment.
Thank you for the attention.

This topic is a translation

Hey! My name is Hatice Bayramoglu and I am a 3D artist and illustrator from Turkey. In this tutorial, I will show you how to draw and color a character, an illustration for a children's book. In the course of the lesson, I will explain my choice of certain tools and my thoughts on the illustration. My tutorial shows how I create an illustration from an initial sketch to a complete drawing. I believe that after reading this tutorial, you will find something useful for yourself. I will use Photoshop and a Wacom tablet to create the artwork.

This drawing will be created entirely in Photoshop CS2.

Step 1: sketch
Start by creating a new document in Photoshop. Its dimensions should be about 800x778 pixels. I started by creating a quick sketch that reflects my main idea. Here's a sketch of the main environment around the protagonist.

So, as you can see, this sketch depicts the main character - a little girl standing next to an apple tree with an apple in her hands. She smiles because she is happy, and perhaps a little sad.

Step 2: set up brushes in Photoshop
Here is one single brush that I use to paint my character. I will use standard brushes for painting.

Before you start painting, you need to set up your brush. Start by choosing a tool Brush(Brush), then use the standard brush below.

(click on image to enlarge)

Step 3: color palette
You must decide on the colors you will use before you start painting. Here are my colors used in the work:

Step 4: layers (Layers)
Create New layer(New Layer) and name it Sketch. You can create this sketch in Photoshop or on paper. After you have created the sketch layer, change it. Blending mode(Blending Mode) on Multiplication(Multiply) and always keep it on top of all layers to see what you are painting.
Now take a look at my layers palette. There are separate layers for each sketch object. Painting every detail on a new layer makes it easy to make adjustments as you paint. It is much easier to fix mistakes if the main elements of your illustration are on separate layers. This step is really very important!

Step 5: working on the background color
Here let me show you how I color the background. Choosing a tool Fill(Paint Bucket) (G). After you fill the background, it should look like this. Make sure the layers are positioned as shown in the image below.

Step 6: painting the basic shapes
Before starting to paint, let me show you the order of the layers again. I changed it because the sketch layer needs to be above all layers and also set to Multiplication(Multiply). At this point, we can start coloring in the sketch and can define the basic shapes. Using the tool Brush(Brush) (B), start painting the main character and the tree on separate layers. Make sure that Rigidity The (Hardness) of the brush is set to 100%. A brush with soft edges can produce a slightly blurry result.

In this step, I would like to resize my file as I want to add finer details. So I open Image(Image) - Image size(Image Size) and increase the file size to 1500x1495.

Step 7: adding details
Now I can start adding details. In this step, I started by painting the face of the main character. Make sure you are working on the correct layer before painting.

And here I made a copy of the tree layer and added some details to it. I also hid the first layer of wood.

And here is a screenshot for details. I started to add even more details to my drawing, such as grass and small flowers. At this stage I have created a layer called Flowers.

I add even more colors and fine detailed lines to the tree.

Now take a look at the details I just created. I continue to add details and, if necessary, create new layers.

Step 8: special attention to the main character
Now that I am happy with the detailing of the scenery and wood, I will add details to the girl's outfit. At this stage, I noticed that my character looks very simple and not very attractive, so I thought that I should take the time to make some changes. I tried to give the character a slightly different look and continued to add more details. Pay attention to the order of the layers again. As you can see, in this step I have a few more new layers. All layers have their own names.

Now I start to add small details to the heroine, adding more yellow and green colors. By the way, don't forget that you don't have to detail everything in this step. At this stage, I work on the main details and light until I get a nice contrast. Sometimes I change some colors. I have almost finished painting her clothes and body. I also moved the sketch layer a little to one side so that you can see what the heroine looks like without the sketch base.

Step 9: adding highlights and contrast
I used the tool Clarifier(Dodge) (O) to lighten areas. This is how the work looks after all the adjustments made by the tools. Clarifier(Dodge) (O) and Dimmer(Burn). I continue to add even more detail to the wood using brushes of various sizes and colors. Once enough details were added, I began to smooth them out using a soft-edged brush. I also use tools Clarifier(Dodge) (O) and Dimmer(Burn) to give shadows to branches.

I also add some strokes with the tool Finger(Smudge). I use it because I want to add soft blurred areas to the clouds and background. At this stage, I noticed that my clouds are not very detailed. Therefore, I created a new layer to paint details to the cloud using two tools: Finger(Smudge) and Brush(Brush).

Step 10: add more details
At this stage, I noticed that more flowers need to be added to my drawing. So I create a new layer and, as you can see, draw some pretty and simple flowers. I keep adding more details. I add some strokes with the tool Clarifier(Dodge) (O) I'm doing this because I want to add some lightly lit areas of the grass.

Now that I have finished working on the grass and background, I can start adding more detail to the girl's hair and face. I choose the mode for the brush Lightening Basics(Color Dodge) and add some strokes on her face.

Now pay attention to the details that I added using only the brush in mode Lightening Basics(Color Dodge).

Step 11: color correction
The drawing is almost complete except for the color correction. To start Drain(Merge) all layers. Now in Image(Image) - Corrections(Adjustments) - Brightness / Contrast(Brightness / Contrast) change the color a little. I want to give the illustration a more sunny effect.

Set the parameters that I have set. This is what the illustration looks like - more sunny and joyful.

Completed illustration
And here is the finished illustration, I hope you found this tutorial interesting. Thanks for reading.

Igor Volkov

29.01.2018 12:00

visibility 2023

Figured out how and how to illustrate the text

Illustrations help draw attention to the article and highlight important thoughts of the author. If you pay enough attention to the illustrations and choose them correctly, the quality of the text will be much higher.

In this guide, we'll take a look at:

What are illustrations, their functions and role in the text

Types of illustrations, where to find them and how to use them correctly

Illustrating principles: how to and how not

The instruction will be useful to everyone who works with texts - journalists, copywriters, editors.

Why do you need illustrations

An illustration is an informational object that complements and reveals the thoughts of the text. In one of seminars Maxim Ilyakhov says that they are not always represented by images. A little further we will analyze what other types of illustrations are, in addition to pictures.

Illustrations serve four important purposes.

Increase reader engagement. Illustrations make text visually structured and easy to read. An article with pictures looks solid and attracts attention, while a bare sheet of text scares and alarms.

Blog.hubspot has detailed statistics showing the benefits of visual content. One metric reports that people are 328% more engaged in content with pictures than in the same texts, but without pictures.

Compare yourself:

328% this increases the engagement of the reader in the article with pictures

For many texts, this is the main type of illustration. If we write about a product, talk about current events, or describe specific objects in the real world, photographs are indispensable.

Try not to use boring photos from search results, they have been taken millions of times already. It is better to take the time and prepare the photographic material yourself. Well, or at least, look for a picture on the Internet more carefully. Photo stocks are not always a bad thing; sometimes you can find good illustrations in them.

Photo from one of the free photo stocks. Can be a great illustration for an article on street art.

Where to get. Photography is ideal. Illustrating an article with your own photographs or requesting them from a client is much better than looking for suitable images on the Internet.

Free photo stocks. Sometimes you can find something decent.

INFOGRAPHICS

Example infographic: how much water is spent on the production of various products

When to use. Infographics make complex information easier to read and remember. Use it if you need to make it as accessible and simple as possible to explain hard-to-imagine facts, to illustrate the principle of operation or the structure of something.

When to use. Ideal for data visualization if the text contains statistics, measurements and other numerical indicators. They clearly illustrate numerical information and show the relationship between values.

Where to get. The main tool for creating graphs and charts is Excel. You can also use other free services:

When to use. Suitable when you need to show something in motion. Or present the product more clearly and with sound, show the process of work. In a word, videos, like photographs, will fit almost any text.

Where to get. The best option is to record the video yourself or ask the client to do it. You can also search on video hosting sites. In addition to YouTube, check out the following resources:

Avoid overly glossy illustrations. In an article on how to write a blog for habr, Sergey Abdulmanov says that people trust artisanal and realistic illustrations more:

“The best picture possible is of you and the installer kicking a box with a server in a semi-dark basement. Or how a rat gets stuck in a fan. Or shooting a specific chip (connector, cable or other part related to the post) with a signature what it is. In general, the picture should be either technically and visually beautiful, or be as sharp-eyed as possible. Because the vyvvyaznosti shows that all this is real. "

Do not overload

If illustrations are more important in the material than text, then a lot of pictures is justified. For example, in a recipe for a dish. When illustrations play a supporting role, it is better to maintain a balance, otherwise the text will be uncomfortable to read.

Signs of a good illustration:

Truthfulness. The illustration should be lifelike. People instantly recognize fake when they see smiling people in suits or pictures with the MacBook turned off. An English-language blog post, contentmarketinginstitute.com, explores how photos of people from photo stocks instead of real employees undermine the credibility of the text and the company.

Concreteness. If the text talks about how to make a cherry pie, then the illustrations should show the process of making a cherry pie. You shouldn't draw comics on abstract topics.

Clarity. The reader should clearly understand what the illustration is telling him. It should be extremely accessible and understandable.

Briefly about the main

The four functions of illustration are to increase engagement in the text, reveal important thoughts, influence emotions and communicate the topic and nature of the article.

Illustrations reveal and complement the thoughts of the author.

Illustrate only the most important.

Types of illustrations: photographs, drawings, text, diagrams and graphics, video, gif animation, schemes, interactive.

Be careful when borrowing someone else's illustrations - you can violate copyright.

Sign illustrations.

Avoid cheap and low-quality illustrations. Don't forget about layout.

The illustration must be specific, truthful and understandable. If the topic is abstract, use metaphors.

Where do you usually get illustrations for texts? What resources and services do you use? Write your thoughts, ask illustration questions. We will definitely add the most interesting ideas to the article.

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I keep receiving letters with the same constancy: "I want to become an illustrator, where to start?", "How can I learn to draw?", "What if I can't draw, do I have a chance to become an illustrator?"

At first glance, the questions are rather strange. You don’t know how to draw, you don’t want to start and try, you don’t even want to learn to draw - which illustrator are you? Why do you need this? But everything is not as simple as it seems at first glance.

Recently, I stumbled upon a private higher school in Hamburg, which prepares narrowly focused only illustrators. On the very first pages of "About Me" they inform that an illustrator is a designer who can draw.

I found it funny, because I am a graphic designer and received, without false modesty, a good education. Over the years, we have been tirelessly told that any designer should be able to draw, handle a camera, understand typography, and understand art.

Along with such subjects as typography, we were taught drawing and photography - things that were reflected in my ideas about illustration. I devoted several sections to the influence of photography on illustration in my book "Profession - an illustrator. Learning to think creatively".

The saying that an illustrator is a designer who can draw struck me as very strange. At first, I decided that people were simply not aware of what modern designers were teaching. But then I seemed to understand what they were talking about. Namely, that an illustrator is a professional who possesses a variety of skills and image techniques, which can often already be called rather design ones.

Indeed, the modern illustrator is no longer tied to traditional visual techniques: he does not have to work only with paints or pencils on paper. He doesn't even need to be very good at drawing. It is enough to be able to handle paper and scissors, wood and chisel, fabrics and a sewing machine, to be able to draw only at the level of outlines and sketches and at the same time be no less successful and salable illustrator than colleagues working in traditional techniques.

Today I would like to draw your attention to the techniques for the execution of modern illustrations.

To questions like "Where should a future illustrator start?" I have already answered, and below you can follow the link to my answer. And when asked whether someone will succeed as an illustrator, if he has not learned to draw traditionally, academically, I will affirmatively say yes. Because if paper and chiaroscuro is not given, you should try yourself in some unconventional technique, if in spite of everything you want to do illustration professionally.

For inspiration, I will show you a beautiful book - a collection of works by illustrators and artists working in non-traditional illustrative techniques.

Book on American Amazon:
Book on German Amazon: Illustration Play: Craving for the Extraordinary

The cover is made on very beautiful textured paper with real stickers.

And this is what the content looks like - a list of presented illustrators.

Illustrations made with a burner. Author: Genevieve Dionne

Installation illustrations from various materials. Author: Stephanie Dotson

Illustrations-installations made of paper and wood. Author: Aj Fosik

Illustrations on old packages, envelopes and more. By Melvin Galapon

French artist Xavier Collette explains how to make painting more efficient through his work with a dark fairy surrounded by forest.

I think the following drawing rules can help you develop your skills, but sometimes it might seem like they are trying to limit you. Trying to satisfy a wide range of artistic criteria such as character design, thoughtful compositions and effective color schemes - you can slow down, but fast work is not always good, keep this in mind.

I believe that the best way to the top is to learn to feel, to do things instinctively. With practice, to see the things that are in the image, and to identify those elements that still need improvement - it becomes second nature, filling the subconscious while working.

With practice it becomes second nature to see things that need work.

The only thing I did before starting to paint was to move away from everyone and the photographs in my head so that my subconscious mind began to generate ideas. After that, I completely immersed myself in the drawing process.

Initial sketches

I don't know how far I'll go with this illustration. But I do know that I want the main character to be a kind of queen - someone who will make you afraid, feel anxiety, looking into her eyes.

So I'll start with a rough sketch to get a feel for the composition. She walks in the woods and watches you. Well, well, let's start drawing someone who will make you feel real fear and bewitching horror.

Fifty Shades of Grey

It is important to take into account the depth of the image and decide on the planes: a background with two or three levels of depth; your hero's main plane and foreground.

I start in mono - it's faster and easier to change things. I chose a palette of many shades of gray and by adding horns and a full-length dress to the character, I began to define her character.

The starting point

We all have our little weaknesses. Mine is that in the early stages I can't resist drawing the character's face. It is often said that detailing elements in isolation is not a good practice because, in the end, you cannot see the big picture.

Useful advice, I admit it, but I can't stand the fact that there will be only a few details on my face, my hands itch terribly to complement them. So I took a little time to paint the face, crown, horns and hair.

Sometimes it is very difficult to determine what colors the illustration will be in. So here's a little advice. Take an old drawing or even a photograph, it doesn't matter. Duplicate the image layer and apply a Gaussian Blur effect to the duplicate. Then change the Blending Options - Blending Mode - Overlay. And see if this color scheme inspires you for your work illustration.

Search for a color theme

After that I adjusted the Hue / Saturation and paint with the brush in color mode. Another tip is to apply Auto Levels or Auto Contrast and then play around with the layer's blend modes. Sometimes happy accidents will inspire you and help you overcome the wall of “non-creativity”.

Add details

I start by drawing the details of the character, starting with the head and bust, before moving on to designing the clothes.

I don’t embody any ideas for the dress, as I said, I just scroll through a large selection of various images so that my creative is filled with fresh juices and I can come up with an unusual design for the dress.

Contrast

It's good if there is contrast in the drawing. More specifically: the opposition of form, brightness and color. My choice for this illustration is a bluish light, which will indicate magical power and control over all living things in this drawing.

More details

Now that I am satisfied with the color choices, I can complete the design of her costume by adding details such as embellishments and depicting a number of materials such as fur, leather, metal, glitter, which all together make the design more interesting.

Plastic is your friend

Remember the benefits of digital graphics programs. Photoshop's Plastic filter is a powerful editorial option. Here in my illustration, I am using it to touch up the fairy face as I thought it was too long.

We finish with her

Time to finish painting the final details of the character. I added the final touches to her corset, drew a skull on her staff, added a blue glow to the suit, etc.

Now it's time to bring the background to life with some light rays and some noise. Spotted brushes set to Color Dodge work perfectly for me.

Create pets

I want my dark fairy to have ... pets. The lower part of the composition is a bit loose, so this is the perfect place to draw creatures that come to life with her dark magic.

I don’t have a definite idea of ​​what I’m going to do, so I sketch with a dark brush and then use the Color Dodge brush to add details like the eyes and mouths from which the beams of magic are coming out.

Menagerie of monsters

So far, I'm working instinctively and I'm quite happy with the design of my creature. Now I can add others. I follow the same workflow: I create a small sketch and then add details using a brush in Color Dodge mode.

Blurry elements

I have almost finished this illustration and will now apply some of the tricks that I have learned over the years of my work. I want my fairy to look at an observer - a spectator who is hiding in the forest.

So I paint the branches with hard brush strokes. There is no need to paint them in detail. Then I added a Gaussian Blur effect to them and that's it - they're done!

Grain adds texture

I love adding texture to my drawings. Sometimes it's just a paper texture, created with a Layer Overlay. But for now, I'm going to be doing something completely different.

I added a neutral gray layer (Saturation - 0, Brightness - 50) and applied Filter> Noise> Add Noise twice (set to maximum) and Filter> Blur> Blur three times. Then I set this layer to Overlay (Overlay) and click on the Opacity of the layer, setting the settings to 5-6%

More magical life

I decided the painting needed more life. My solution is to quickly finish painting the butterflies in the foreground, again giving the drawing more depth.

The last trick

One last tip. An easy way to add a little more variety to your art is to create a new layer and fill it with a soft cloud brush.

Set the foreground color to a light gray and use a soft cloudy brush to create contrast. Then set this layer to Blending mode.

I followed my advice and finished the drawing!