Another Tutorial, Another Blog ...Geometric Vector Shapes

So it seems that I do like doing online tutorials.  Who'd of thunk?  This one is a geometric shape tutorial that I did last week.  I tried to base it on a face that is somewhat symmetrical to make it a little easier for myself.  Can you guess who it's supposed to be?

As an aside, I post a number of tutorials and links to graphic finds on my twitter feed (@linatirilis).  If you get a chance to follow, there is a bunch of cool stuff you can check out.

Did you guess Obama? (Haha, I tried)

A Pop of Art

I am fascinated by the pop art style that Roy Lichtenstein does.  For those who are unfamiliar with Lichtenstein's work, he was heavily influenced by comic book styles and popular advertising, and uses retro halftone effects in his works.  I wanted to get that pop art style too, so I did a tutorial that I found online.  The first two images below are a result of the tutorial, while the last image is a result of playing with a drawing tablet, masking, and the colour halftone effect (which can be found under the Filter > Pixelate tab in Photoshop).

Greta Garbo

Elizabeth Taylor

Inspired by an image I saw on Pinterest

Gradient Mesh Tool

This week I learned how to use the gradient mesh tool in Illustrator (Thanks Kai ...and online tutorials). In simple terms, a gradient is a blend of colours and a mesh is a grid that lets you construct a particular 3D shape. The photo on the right shows a simple circular object with gradient mesh points which make the object actually look like a sphere.

Below I applied the mesh tool to a few pictures I collected (one photo I found from the Internet and the other photo I took of my sister).  To do this technique I used the mesh tool and a plugin called the "mesh tormentor" (which can be found online).  Then I broke apart the image using the selection tool which produced a cool effect (at least what I think looks good).  Hope you enjoy!

Experimenting with Watercolour Tutorials

There are a number of photoshop tutorials out there (some of which require a multitude of steps, making it difficult to remember how to replicate them); however, three easy steps and I had a faux watercolour collage.  For the tutorial click here.
Here are my results (Jill, the elephant is for you):

 

Wonders of Tablet Drawing

My Inspiration

A photo I took when I was visiting New York this summer.

I recently got a drawing tablet. No, that's a lie.  I've had a tablet (Wacom Intuos 4) for awhile, I just recently started using it.  When I first began, I started tracing circles.  For those who haven't used a graphics tablet before, I must say this: drawing by hand on paper is one thing, but having the control with a tablet is another.

For starters, I could not directly look at my hand while drawing.  I had to focus on what was on my screen.  So that was tricky.  Secondly, depending on the brush I was using, the pen was quite sensitive, so sometimes thickness of the brush varied in areas where I did not want it to.  Lastly, I have a shaky hand naturally.  Getting over that was just something I had to work on.

Needless to say, I was not tracing circles like a boss.  But then, after a lot of practice (and boredom of drawing the same thing over and over) I moved on to tracing images that I found online.  This was fun!  Not portfolio worthy just yet, but I was starting to get the hang of it.

My Illustration

A work that I'm proud of (finally!) based on the photo I took.
Drawn in Photoshop CS5.

However, now that it has been a month or so, I've somewhat got a grasp on the tablet thing (as well as my steady hand).  It has taken me much practice, time and patience, as well as additional coaching from a friend (at work we have nicknamed him the "Wizard of Photoshop") but I am able to draw pictures on my own.  That's a definite bonus!

"Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working."

— Pablo Picasso