I’ve received a few hits on the site for people searching how to illustrate a brain so I figured I’d put together a fairly simple tutorial on one technique that you can use even if you don’t have very strong drawing skills. I’ll be using the Blob Brush Tool (Shift+B) and Eraser Tool (Shift+E) exclusively [...]
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This tutorial demonstrates Andy’s approach to producing quick and effective concept art and book cover illustrations from the initial pencil sketch to the final digital illustration. Pencil Sketch The initial pencil sketch was drawn with a propelling pencil on printer paper. I usually doodle on whatever is handy if I am going to make a [...]
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Something that I’ve longed for has finally been integrated into Adobe’s latest evolution of Photoshop, a Heads Up Display Color Picker. This is a nice option to clicking on the color swatches to bring up the Color Picker Dialog Window, not a huge time saver, but a very welcome addition – especially if you work [...]
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When it comes to getting that perfect brush or pencil stroke down, there are a couple of settings you should be aware of, Fidelity and Smoothness. Whether you’re using a graphics tablet or a mouse, understanding how to set these values will help you to achieve the results you’re after in your illustrations. Knowing what [...]
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So you got a Cintiq and have hooked it all up, but there’s nothing in the manual about how to use it with your two favorite graphics applications. Fortunately, when it comes to configuring Illustrator and Photoshop to use with the Cintiq it’s relatively easy to do using Workspaces and the Application Frame. With a [...]
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While recently working on a web design geared towards kids, I decided that I needed some nice green grass to finish the background of the page. I didn’t want anything too detailed or realistic as the overall tone of the design was supposed to be playful, so I came up with a quick and easy [...]
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This tutorial finds its roots in one of those errant thoughts I have that reminded me of the part in Kurt Vonnegut’s “Slaughterhouse-Five” where Billy Pilgrim finds himself on an alien world observed by beings that hold their eyes in their hands. So, stemming from that image I had in my head one fine morning [...]
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The purpose of this tutorial is to demonstrate one way to create an Erlenmeyer flask in Photoshop. Once you’ve completed this tutorial, the same techniques can be applied to a variety laboratory glassware. Tutorial Details Application(s): Adobe Photoshop Version: CS4 Difficulty: Intermediate Time: 1.5 hours The Final Image Step 1 Create a new document with [...]
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A simple, straight-forward tutorial on how to create brushes in Photoshop. The focus of this tutorial will be to create a Bubble Brush that can be used for a multitude of projects. Tutorial Details Application(s): Adobe Photoshop Version: CS4 Other Equipment: Pressure sensitive tablet (Wacom) Difficulty: Beginner Time: 0.5 hours The Final Brush Preview Step [...]
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Ever wondered if there was an easier way to pick shading colors once you’ve developed a palette of principle colors for your illustration? I did, so I took a page from my 3D artist days (prior to the dot com bubble) and created a “Shading Model” to use as a guide while coloring my illustrations [...]
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