Ok, now that I have more time type, I'm gonna get a bit more detailed about the process I used to get up to the point I was at when I posted on the 27th. Here we go...After I made the enlarged photocopy, I set it on the floor and started laying out / pushing around tiles on it. This way I could figure out which colors would go where before I ever started nipping and tiling. Working in this manner, I can try out a color scheme and if I get the feeling it's not working out, I just pick up the paper slide off the tiles and voila! I can start over.
After I found a color scheme that I liked, I removed the tile from the photocopy making notes on the enlargement where each color was placed as I went. So in effect, I'd now created a color "map" for myself. The next step was to ready the table top. First, I took some extremely coarse sandpaper and scratched up the surface a bit to give it just a little extra tooth. I wasn't sanding the table, but I wasn't gouging it either. Light scratches, yes? Being a painter, I have gesso readily available in the studio so I put down two layers of that on the table top (no sanding between layers as you might on a canvas). I know that Mosaic Mercantile makes a 'mosaic primer' for surface preparation. Guess what's in it? Yep, the same thing as any acrylic based gesso; it's gesso in a smaller bottle with a higher price tag.
Now at this point I know where my tiles are going to go exactly, the table top has been prepared, and the drawing has been transferred onto the table top. It's time to cut some glass. I use a the "professional" model nipper by Mosaic Merc, which has a smaller cutter-head than the 'basic' style nipper. In my opinion, it's easier to make accurate cuts with it because it's smaller and slightly lighter. I occasionally use a glass cutter (wheel type) to score lines before I nip a piece of glass. That comes into play when I'm working with the random scrap glass pieces mentioned previously; but I won't need to do any of that for this project. Chips of shattering glass fly each time you nip = I've got my safety glasses on.
In this project I started by filling in the Blue Tapestry loops of Celtic design first. I made the width of the design one tile wide to minimize the amount of nipping that I'd have to do. I glue each tile as I go and in this case I started at the bottom of one of the blue loops (check the arrows in the pic on the right).
I use Aleene's Tacky glue, because well- it's pretty tacky. I apply a dab to the tile lay it into the design and move down the design, nipping and glueing as I go along. You can use any type of PVA (poly-vinyl acetate) type glue though. What's PVA glue? Elmer's and the like. Again you don't need to use a special type of mosaic glue per se; it's just their brand of PVA.
After the Blue Tapestry loops were finished, I moved onto the main pattern. I worked in four sections from the center to the outside of the design- although not the very center. The area masked in red was the last section that I did during the first tiling session. Now with all of the intricate parts of my design finished, I'll finish up the background / negative space of the design.
I'm going to try and do a short post tomorrow and then it's off for a mini-vacation!
This project is: Private Commission- K. Leja- Mosaic table top
After I found a color scheme that I liked, I removed the tile from the photocopy making notes on the enlargement where each color was placed as I went. So in effect, I'd now created a color "map" for myself. The next step was to ready the table top. First, I took some extremely coarse sandpaper and scratched up the surface a bit to give it just a little extra tooth. I wasn't sanding the table, but I wasn't gouging it either. Light scratches, yes? Being a painter, I have gesso readily available in the studio so I put down two layers of that on the table top (no sanding between layers as you might on a canvas). I know that Mosaic Mercantile makes a 'mosaic primer' for surface preparation. Guess what's in it? Yep, the same thing as any acrylic based gesso; it's gesso in a smaller bottle with a higher price tag.
Now at this point I know where my tiles are going to go exactly, the table top has been prepared, and the drawing has been transferred onto the table top. It's time to cut some glass. I use a the "professional" model nipper by Mosaic Merc, which has a smaller cutter-head than the 'basic' style nipper. In my opinion, it's easier to make accurate cuts with it because it's smaller and slightly lighter. I occasionally use a glass cutter (wheel type) to score lines before I nip a piece of glass. That comes into play when I'm working with the random scrap glass pieces mentioned previously; but I won't need to do any of that for this project. Chips of shattering glass fly each time you nip = I've got my safety glasses on.
In this project I started by filling in the Blue Tapestry loops of Celtic design first. I made the width of the design one tile wide to minimize the amount of nipping that I'd have to do. I glue each tile as I go and in this case I started at the bottom of one of the blue loops (check the arrows in the pic on the right).
I use Aleene's Tacky glue, because well- it's pretty tacky. I apply a dab to the tile lay it into the design and move down the design, nipping and glueing as I go along. You can use any type of PVA (poly-vinyl acetate) type glue though. What's PVA glue? Elmer's and the like. Again you don't need to use a special type of mosaic glue per se; it's just their brand of PVA.
After the Blue Tapestry loops were finished, I moved onto the main pattern. I worked in four sections from the center to the outside of the design- although not the very center. The area masked in red was the last section that I did during the first tiling session. Now with all of the intricate parts of my design finished, I'll finish up the background / negative space of the design.
I'm going to try and do a short post tomorrow and then it's off for a mini-vacation!
This project is: Private Commission- K. Leja- Mosaic table top
Posted at 7:47 PM on Wednesday, July 30, 2003
After the sketch was laid out the way I wanted, I printed it out and enlarged it on a photocopier. The table top measures 15inches square. I enlarged the design to fit the actual size of the table top, which turned out to be two 11x17 enlargements pieced together. Next, using a 6B pencil (so that it drops a lot of graphite) I 'scribbled' over all of the lines on the back of the enlarged photocopy. Then I placed the photocopy on the table top- copy side up, 'scribbled over' lines / graphite down against the table top.
I then traced over all the lines thereby transferring the image directly to the table top. If you followed the BoneRecords CD illustration this might sound somewhat familiar. And you're right it does have the same effect as when I used the graphite transfer paper in the last project, and yes I could've used the transfer paper to the same end. This method shouldn't be used if you don't want to drop a lot of graphite onto your drawing surface (such was the case with the CD cover). For this project it doesn't matter if the table top gets smudged with graphite because the surface of the table will eventually be covered with tile and grout anyway. So there you go, it's quick and I don't have to use up my graphite transfer paper.
After the lines were transferred to the table top, I decided to re-trace the graphite lines with a black Sharpie just to be sure that I wouldn't obliterate the sketched lines as I worked / laid out tile. You can see the sharpie lines around the edges of the tiles, but again these will also eventually be hidden under the grout. The first session of tiling is what you see on the right. I completed 2 sections of the design with Pale Mint Green glass and 2 with White Clouds (a very light blue). As the 4 quadrants converge in the center to form the spiral, I alternated the color of the tile pieces between the blue and green. The inner loops were done with a transparent blue textured glass called Blue Tapestry. The Blue tapestry can be seen in the lower right corner of the group. I'll get more specific about the cutting and tiling in the next post.
This project is: Private Commission- K. Leja- Mosaic table top
I then traced over all the lines thereby transferring the image directly to the table top. If you followed the BoneRecords CD illustration this might sound somewhat familiar. And you're right it does have the same effect as when I used the graphite transfer paper in the last project, and yes I could've used the transfer paper to the same end. This method shouldn't be used if you don't want to drop a lot of graphite onto your drawing surface (such was the case with the CD cover). For this project it doesn't matter if the table top gets smudged with graphite because the surface of the table will eventually be covered with tile and grout anyway. So there you go, it's quick and I don't have to use up my graphite transfer paper.
After the lines were transferred to the table top, I decided to re-trace the graphite lines with a black Sharpie just to be sure that I wouldn't obliterate the sketched lines as I worked / laid out tile. You can see the sharpie lines around the edges of the tiles, but again these will also eventually be hidden under the grout. The first session of tiling is what you see on the right. I completed 2 sections of the design with Pale Mint Green glass and 2 with White Clouds (a very light blue). As the 4 quadrants converge in the center to form the spiral, I alternated the color of the tile pieces between the blue and green. The inner loops were done with a transparent blue textured glass called Blue Tapestry. The Blue tapestry can be seen in the lower right corner of the group. I'll get more specific about the cutting and tiling in the next post.
This project is: Private Commission- K. Leja- Mosaic table top
Posted at 6:28 PM on Sunday, July 27, 2003
I actually didn't work in the studio today, rather I cleaned it, reorganized and tossed a lot stuff that I haven't used in a year or so. So let me get you up to speed on this project...Into the realm of mosaic we go.
I originally started doing mosaics for a change of pace- I was simply tired of painting and drawing and needed an entirely different medium. Doing work like this is a nice break from my more "serious" media which can become really focus-intensive and seem laborious at times.
For this project, I'm using stained glass rather than regular mosaic tile (tessarae). One of the many reasons I prefer using stained glass to normal mosaic tile because of the way it catches the light when it's finished; the piece appears to be luminescent when it's made with stained glass. Ebay is a good source for picking up glass for mosaic. A lot of sellers actually sell the glass already cut into ½" squares and then there are other sellers who auction off scraps by the pound; these 'bulk scrap boxes' usually come from shops that make windows and the like. When you buy bulk boxes you get all sorts of oddly shaped pieces that you have to score and nip into the shapes that you need. While that process may seem too time consuming (and frustrating) to some, it enables you to create designs containing a variety of shapes.
As for the design aspect of this piece, the person I'm creating the table for had two stipulations: that the design be abstract and involve a spiral based design. Most people that know me know that I've long been fascinated with Celtic designs and took this opportunity to create a design based off that style. Here is one of the early rough sketches. This drawing was scanned into Photoshop and tweaked until it had a spiral feel based on four quadrants. The finalized design is what you see on the right.
This project is: Private Commission- K. Leja- Mosaic table top
I originally started doing mosaics for a change of pace- I was simply tired of painting and drawing and needed an entirely different medium. Doing work like this is a nice break from my more "serious" media which can become really focus-intensive and seem laborious at times.
For this project, I'm using stained glass rather than regular mosaic tile (tessarae). One of the many reasons I prefer using stained glass to normal mosaic tile because of the way it catches the light when it's finished; the piece appears to be luminescent when it's made with stained glass. Ebay is a good source for picking up glass for mosaic. A lot of sellers actually sell the glass already cut into ½" squares and then there are other sellers who auction off scraps by the pound; these 'bulk scrap boxes' usually come from shops that make windows and the like. When you buy bulk boxes you get all sorts of oddly shaped pieces that you have to score and nip into the shapes that you need. While that process may seem too time consuming (and frustrating) to some, it enables you to create designs containing a variety of shapes.
As for the design aspect of this piece, the person I'm creating the table for had two stipulations: that the design be abstract and involve a spiral based design. Most people that know me know that I've long been fascinated with Celtic designs and took this opportunity to create a design based off that style. Here is one of the early rough sketches. This drawing was scanned into Photoshop and tweaked until it had a spiral feel based on four quadrants. The finalized design is what you see on the right.
This project is: Private Commission- K. Leja- Mosaic table top
Posted at 11:47 PM on Wednesday, July 23, 2003
And now....The FINAL painting. Yes, it's done (and on time, too). For those of you that were waiting to comment until it was finally done, go! For the fans of the green mohawk out there, I did give him some green highlights towards the tips of his hair- so he's got more of a blue-green, two color dye going on.
One of the many things that Photoshop makes very easy and convenient is checking your value scale. I felt that I painted a good range and here's what it looks like minus the hues. I figured I'd take a minute to point out some compositional devices that I used in this painting for the painters out there. I used a blast of high chroma red on the guitar behind the main action in order to draw the viewer's eye to that area, I kept line of sight between the two main characters locked to keep the viewer's eye in that area, and as a last little eye leading device, the meandering instrument cable in the foreground winds its way back and "points" over to the main action.
Next up, a foray into the "high craft" area. I will be finishing up a small mosaic on top of a side / end table. It's a project that I started awhile ago, so you're going to be jumping in at near the half way point.
This project is: Commissioned- BoneRecords comp CD illustration.
Time this session: 1.75hrs. | Total time on this project: 18.50hrs.
And now....The FINAL painting. Yes, it's done (and on time, too). For those of you that were waiting to comment until it was finally done, go! For the fans of the green mohawk out there, I did give him some green highlights towards the tips of his hair- so he's got more of a blue-green, two color dye going on.
One of the many things that Photoshop makes very easy and convenient is checking your value scale. I felt that I painted a good range and here's what it looks like minus the hues. I figured I'd take a minute to point out some compositional devices that I used in this painting for the painters out there. I used a blast of high chroma red on the guitar behind the main action in order to draw the viewer's eye to that area, I kept line of sight between the two main characters locked to keep the viewer's eye in that area, and as a last little eye leading device, the meandering instrument cable in the foreground winds its way back and "points" over to the main action.
Next up, a foray into the "high craft" area. I will be finishing up a small mosaic on top of a side / end table. It's a project that I started awhile ago, so you're going to be jumping in at near the half way point.
This project is: Commissioned- BoneRecords comp CD illustration.
Time this session: 1.75hrs. | Total time on this project: 18.50hrs.
Posted at 5:03 PM on Sunday, July 20, 2003
Nearly done, one more session to go- half of the guy and some minor detail work left...
Lastly, more 'accidental art' (like the paint rag image from my previous post), I give you Exploded Grout- Black. This came out of a mosaic products shipment as you see it here. It was broken in transit and hardened in the box; it fossilized some packing peanuts with it. It looks like some sort of art object to me. Yeah, I could definitely see this sitting on a white pedestal-column in a gallery space with an "Art ala UPS" tag under it.
This project is: Commissioned- BoneRecords comp CD illustration.
Time this session: 3.75hrs. | Total time on this project: 16.75hrs.
Nearly done, one more session to go- half of the guy and some minor detail work left...
Lastly, more 'accidental art' (like the paint rag image from my previous post), I give you Exploded Grout- Black. This came out of a mosaic products shipment as you see it here. It was broken in transit and hardened in the box; it fossilized some packing peanuts with it. It looks like some sort of art object to me. Yeah, I could definitely see this sitting on a white pedestal-column in a gallery space with an "Art ala UPS" tag under it.
This project is: Commissioned- BoneRecords comp CD illustration.
Time this session: 3.75hrs. | Total time on this project: 16.75hrs.
Posted at 7:14 PM on Friday, July 18, 2003
Nearly done painting the room and objects within, so I'll be moving onto my three main characters shortly.
When I'm painting with acrylic, I dip the brush into the jar of water in order to keep it moist. I don't want the brush soaking / dripping wet when I load it with paint though, so immediately after I take it out of the jar and dab it against a rag. I never suggest mixing water into your paint-medium mixture because water is an acrylic solvent. So while you may be making your mixture more fluid, you are also breaking down the binding agents in the acrylic itself (the polymer emulsion). By breaking down the paint's binders you are effectively destroying it's archival quality. If you want a more fluid watercolor-like effect then you should be buying something like Liquitex Flo-medium. There's an acrylic medium out there for every 'painterly' type of effect that you could ever want.
It's a 'ritual' that takes place before every passage I paint: "hit" my brush with water, swipe it against the rag, and into the paint-medium mixture on the palette. (The only exception is when I'm using a drybrush technique. But that's not too often as I am more of a glaze oriented painter.) Anyway, after a few painting sessions, the paint rag begins to look like a piece of abstract art in and of itself.
There have been some suggestions out there for a green mohawk- but alas, it isn't to be this time around. I almost always lean towards limited color palettes in my paintings and green didn't make it onto the palette for this one. The dogs are modeled off a Rottweiler and a German Shepard which I've always thought were 'tough' dogs. Dalmatians= not tough.
This project is: Commissioned- BoneRecords comp CD illustration.
Time this session: 2.00hrs. | Total time on this project: 13.00hrs.
Nearly done painting the room and objects within, so I'll be moving onto my three main characters shortly.
When I'm painting with acrylic, I dip the brush into the jar of water in order to keep it moist. I don't want the brush soaking / dripping wet when I load it with paint though, so immediately after I take it out of the jar and dab it against a rag. I never suggest mixing water into your paint-medium mixture because water is an acrylic solvent. So while you may be making your mixture more fluid, you are also breaking down the binding agents in the acrylic itself (the polymer emulsion). By breaking down the paint's binders you are effectively destroying it's archival quality. If you want a more fluid watercolor-like effect then you should be buying something like Liquitex Flo-medium. There's an acrylic medium out there for every 'painterly' type of effect that you could ever want.
It's a 'ritual' that takes place before every passage I paint: "hit" my brush with water, swipe it against the rag, and into the paint-medium mixture on the palette. (The only exception is when I'm using a drybrush technique. But that's not too often as I am more of a glaze oriented painter.) Anyway, after a few painting sessions, the paint rag begins to look like a piece of abstract art in and of itself.
There have been some suggestions out there for a green mohawk- but alas, it isn't to be this time around. I almost always lean towards limited color palettes in my paintings and green didn't make it onto the palette for this one. The dogs are modeled off a Rottweiler and a German Shepard which I've always thought were 'tough' dogs. Dalmatians= not tough.
This project is: Commissioned- BoneRecords comp CD illustration.
Time this session: 2.00hrs. | Total time on this project: 13.00hrs.
Posted at 11:42 PM on Wednesday, July 16, 2003
Painting update number two: the amps and drums are almost done. The same brushes were used and the same method as session one. I started outlining some of the objects that I've finished painting; the outlining is one of the most time consuming aspects of painting like this. It's done with the smallest of the 3 brushes I've been using.
Sure, I could use some sort of black graphic pen which would make the process a whole lot faster, but it would give the piece quite a different feel. If I were to use a pen, the outlines would be very tight and uniform ala Coop or Chris Applegren. I love both of those artists and obviously this style of painting borrows alot from them, but I prefer the slight inconsistencies of the hand painted line over the slickness of uniformity in this case- but that's entirely a preference sort of thing.
This project is: Commissioned- BoneRecords comp CD illustration.
Time this session: 3.00hrs. | Total time on this project: 11.00hrs.
Painting update number two: the amps and drums are almost done. The same brushes were used and the same method as session one. I started outlining some of the objects that I've finished painting; the outlining is one of the most time consuming aspects of painting like this. It's done with the smallest of the 3 brushes I've been using.
Sure, I could use some sort of black graphic pen which would make the process a whole lot faster, but it would give the piece quite a different feel. If I were to use a pen, the outlines would be very tight and uniform ala Coop or Chris Applegren. I love both of those artists and obviously this style of painting borrows alot from them, but I prefer the slight inconsistencies of the hand painted line over the slickness of uniformity in this case- but that's entirely a preference sort of thing.
This project is: Commissioned- BoneRecords comp CD illustration.
Time this session: 3.00hrs. | Total time on this project: 11.00hrs.
Posted at 4:22 PM on Sunday, July 13, 2003
The painting has begun. I started with the 'background': walls, the hallway, floor, etc...I stuck to a warm-neutral color scheme, used lots of shades and kept everything very low chroma. That way when I add splashes of color to objects in the foreground I can bump up the chroma and they'll really pop.
I used 3 brushes during this session. The paints were mixed with matte medium (Liquitex). Since this painting is going to eventually be scanned and converted into a CD cover, there's no need for a glossy look. Once it's printed as the CD booklet it will get its glossy look.
Let's see what else? Here's some other bits...Yes, the stripes on the Chicago flag run horizontally, unless the flag is hung vertically on the wall (as it is here). That's why the stripes are vertical. The punk in the picture isn't meant to be any sort of self-portrait, but I don't doubt that there's a slight resemblance. Kerry Marshall (a teacher of mine that I learned quite a bit from and taught me a lot about persistence and mastery) once explained the reason for this to me. He said that even artist's that are very astute and meticulous when it comes to studying the model (or their reference images) will "cheat" a little at times. (In terms of percentage, the artist should generally be looking at who he is drawing more than the drawing.) But sometimes we lose focus. Take any of the features as an example. If I'm drawing the nose and upper lip and I'm not really studying the reference image, yet I'm still drawing...whose features am I drawing? Whose face/features am I most familiar with? Yep, my own. We all look at our own face many times a day and we have been for X amount of years. So when the artist breaks from concentrating on the model and let's his 'stored knowledge' of the human features seep into the drawing, you'll get flashes of his portrait.
Thanks to everyone who emailed to tell me they like the idea behind this site and to those of you who have commented! I almost drank the paint-water jar only once this session- not bad.
This project is: Commissioned- BoneRecords comp CD illustration.
Time this session: 2.50hrs. | Total time on this project: 8.00hrs.
The painting has begun. I started with the 'background': walls, the hallway, floor, etc...I stuck to a warm-neutral color scheme, used lots of shades and kept everything very low chroma. That way when I add splashes of color to objects in the foreground I can bump up the chroma and they'll really pop.
I used 3 brushes during this session. The paints were mixed with matte medium (Liquitex). Since this painting is going to eventually be scanned and converted into a CD cover, there's no need for a glossy look. Once it's printed as the CD booklet it will get its glossy look.
Let's see what else? Here's some other bits...Yes, the stripes on the Chicago flag run horizontally, unless the flag is hung vertically on the wall (as it is here). That's why the stripes are vertical. The punk in the picture isn't meant to be any sort of self-portrait, but I don't doubt that there's a slight resemblance. Kerry Marshall (a teacher of mine that I learned quite a bit from and taught me a lot about persistence and mastery) once explained the reason for this to me. He said that even artist's that are very astute and meticulous when it comes to studying the model (or their reference images) will "cheat" a little at times. (In terms of percentage, the artist should generally be looking at who he is drawing more than the drawing.) But sometimes we lose focus. Take any of the features as an example. If I'm drawing the nose and upper lip and I'm not really studying the reference image, yet I'm still drawing...whose features am I drawing? Whose face/features am I most familiar with? Yep, my own. We all look at our own face many times a day and we have been for X amount of years. So when the artist breaks from concentrating on the model and let's his 'stored knowledge' of the human features seep into the drawing, you'll get flashes of his portrait.
Thanks to everyone who emailed to tell me they like the idea behind this site and to those of you who have commented! I almost drank the paint-water jar only once this session- not bad.
This project is: Commissioned- BoneRecords comp CD illustration.
Time this session: 2.50hrs. | Total time on this project: 8.00hrs.
Posted at 11:03 PM on Wednesday, July 09, 2003
So here is the finished outline. I'd say the main adjustment was made to the laying dog's head. I decided to give him a little bit of a drunken tilt. For accent, I added some 'bubbles and stars' near his head which anyone who's ever watched cartoons knows indicates inebriation.
Other than that, I'll let you play the comparison game to find other changes.
So next I cut a piece Crescent illustration board (number 99 cold press). The actual size of the painting is 8.5"x8.5". After that I cut a piece of graphite transfer paper that's only slightly larger than my illustration board and tape the graphite paper over the illustration board and the final version of the outline over the graphite paper.
The purpose? When I trace the lines of the final outline they will be transferred by the graphite paper onto the illustration board. (Those of you who remember using now obsolete carbon paper probably have a clear idea of this.) Some people use a burnisher when re-tracing the lines and transferring, but I prefer to use a blue colored pencil for this step. As long as you keep the point sharpened it works just as well; as for sharpeners, I recommend a little German engineering. Remember that I mentioned that I used a 2H pencil when finalizing the outline? That's because it leaves a fairly faint and thin line which makes it very easy to differentiate from the colored pencil line.
I can be sure that I've traced over every line because the blue colored pencils lines stand out from the faint 2H lines. It's not as easy to tell if you missed tracing over lines if you go the way of the burnisher. Now that it's all traced, it's time to start painting...
This project is: Commissioned- BoneRecords comp CD illustration.
Time this session: 2.25hrs. | Total time on this project: 5.50hrs.
So here is the finished outline. I'd say the main adjustment was made to the laying dog's head. I decided to give him a little bit of a drunken tilt. For accent, I added some 'bubbles and stars' near his head which anyone who's ever watched cartoons knows indicates inebriation. 
Other than that, I'll let you play the comparison game to find other changes.
So next I cut a piece Crescent illustration board (number 99 cold press). The actual size of the painting is 8.5"x8.5". After that I cut a piece of graphite transfer paper that's only slightly larger than my illustration board and tape the graphite paper over the illustration board and the final version of the outline over the graphite paper.
The purpose? When I trace the lines of the final outline they will be transferred by the graphite paper onto the illustration board. (Those of you who remember using now obsolete carbon paper probably have a clear idea of this.) Some people use a burnisher when re-tracing the lines and transferring, but I prefer to use a blue colored pencil for this step. As long as you keep the point sharpened it works just as well; as for sharpeners, I recommend a little German engineering. Remember that I mentioned that I used a 2H pencil when finalizing the outline? That's because it leaves a fairly faint and thin line which makes it very easy to differentiate from the colored pencil line.
I can be sure that I've traced over every line because the blue colored pencils lines stand out from the faint 2H lines. It's not as easy to tell if you missed tracing over lines if you go the way of the burnisher. Now that it's all traced, it's time to start painting...
This project is: Commissioned- BoneRecords comp CD illustration.
Time this session: 2.25hrs. | Total time on this project: 5.50hrs.
Posted at 3:55 PM on Sunday, July 06, 2003
Ok, so after I have a composition that I like all sketched out, it's time to refine that sketch. To do this, I take a second piece of vellum and place it over the rough outline. Two small pieces of tape are used to hold the top piece of vellum in place over the rough sketch so that it doesn't shift. I use a pretty hard pencil (2H) in this step- there doesn't need to be a lot of graphite on the paper. We don't want to get the paper 'smudge-y', plus the light lines will help out in the next step, too.
In this stage, I really take the time to look at my source pictures carefully and to start to get each of the disparate images to look 'right'. In this case, I'm bringing together the practice room, the laying dog, the punk guy, the sitting dog and then all of the created elements within the room. Some of the details are added in this drawing, but not everything.
It's kind of just a judgment call for me- I won't put in every single little thing that might appear in the final sketch, but I do put a lot of it in. I guess I need enough of the details in this step "to convince myself" that I'm going to like the final version. (As I sat here adjusting the size of the scan in Photoshop, I already see many adjustments that'll get done in the next phase.)
Other than refining the line work, some of the details added in version 2 are the beer bottles, the Chicago flag, the guy's Mohawk, and his tattoo.
This project is: Commissioned- BoneRecords comp CD illustration.
Time this session: 2.50hrs. | Total time on this project: 3.25hrs.
In this stage, I really take the time to look at my source pictures carefully and to start to get each of the disparate images to look 'right'. In this case, I'm bringing together the practice room, the laying dog, the punk guy, the sitting dog and then all of the created elements within the room. Some of the details are added in this drawing, but not everything.
It's kind of just a judgment call for me- I won't put in every single little thing that might appear in the final sketch, but I do put a lot of it in. I guess I need enough of the details in this step "to convince myself" that I'm going to like the final version. (As I sat here adjusting the size of the scan in Photoshop, I already see many adjustments that'll get done in the next phase.)
Other than refining the line work, some of the details added in version 2 are the beer bottles, the Chicago flag, the guy's Mohawk, and his tattoo.
This project is: Commissioned- BoneRecords comp CD illustration.
Time this session: 2.50hrs. | Total time on this project: 3.25hrs.