Niki's Illustrations #7

As you can tell, I'm revisiting alot of my old work lately ('m not counting the 7 month gap between now and my last post). Also, now that I'm starting a Digital Animation program in the fall, I plan to do plenty more character illustrations/designs in hopes that I'll be able to pick one up and start working with it for an assignment. When I start from scratch, I end up dancing far too close to the deadline. I also hope to do some experimentation with fantasy styles (and I'll make my New Year's resolution right now. I plan to sketch, refine and model at least one elf).

The original was sketched entirely in Flash when I first got my tablet. I think I'd always intended to refine it one day, but I wasn't sure what kind of style treatment to apply (and I kind of liked how adding colour made each drawing appear more 'finished' even if it was still very rough). When you're still experimenting with styles overall, picking just one can be difficult. I also have he bed habit of starting with one goal in mind and ending up with something totally different.

I still haven't decided if (and where) I want to add any shadows to her shirt. I also don't want to add too many, else I risk drawing attention away from her face. Kind of like what happened in the original.


I also want to revisit the images seen in Niki's Illustrations #5, one of the two ended up becoming a permanent character design for an upcoming project of mine, but as for the other I'm not quite sure what to do with her yet.

Niki's Illustrations #6

Either I've been playing far too many anime dressup games lately (quite possible), or  just felt like drawing this character again (also quite possible). I think the ultimate decision came when a friend introduced me to Cafe Rouge, a 7 part visual novel/cooking game. I played up to about part 5 before I really got stuck on one of the cooking levels.

Now here's what I've done with that character. The name 'Sapphira' has been sticking in my mind lately when I look at her so I suppose that's what it shall be! I don't do vectors like this very often but lately I've been having some degree of success with gradients for soft shading and makeup.

First attempt at an interactive flash

I'm not all that familiar with actionscript, so I couldn't make it much fancier without going back and hunting down tutorials about using variables (that's a lesson for another day). In the meantime, I finally got some use out of Garageband, making the sound effects. I've also uploaded it to Deviantart (for some of my friends to drive themselves crazy figuring out how to play scales). If the flash doesn't display on this page, you should be able to view it here.

Assignment #2: Book Cover Redesign (Presentable Roughs)

Due to the design relying on colour variation between the titles, I experimented with different colour schemes to create the right level of contrast. The background is still somewhat plain, although I plan to use a similar background approach as in a previous project.

Sketch Dump Special! Global Communication Time Capsule

I'm not sure exactly as to when this was done, though if I had to guess I'd say it's at least 2-3 years old. The theme of the project was Global Communication, as represented by the use of technology and... well... globes. Two of them rely more on maplike grids (thinking longitude and latitude) and the 3rd uses an actual attempt at geography.

This first concept was the one that I ultimately went with, the final vector (which I'll be recreating at some point this summer) had a clipart esque feel to it, probably because of the cel shading and typical (tapered) illustrator outlines.

I'm not surprised I was dropping subtle (yet obvious to the fans) video game references even back then...

 

I'm pretty sure the USB as a design element is a staple for illustrating technology by now.

Sketch Dump Special! Behind the Whimsical Lamp

I think I've probably mentioned that lamp once or twice before... although it's come to my attention that there was never any process work posted (and now I know why). In the meantime, if you're curious (or just have some time to kill) think of this as a cheap and lazy production sketch featurette without the DVD menu. And for an added challenge, see if you can't guess which lamp is giving a salute to Phoenix Wright.

Assignment #2: Book Cover Redesign (Premiminaries)

If the title of this entry seems familiar, that's probably because it is. I'll be attempting to redesign book covers for yet another trilogy (The Mars Trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson). Those of you who've seen my Journal Cover in the Gallery might notice that I made use of the same semimodular idea for the type and illustration.

Niki's Illustrations #5

I figured it'd be better to show something more recent. Out of about 500 sketches I make, I'd estimate between 5 and 10 get set aside to ink. Maybe 2 of those even get finished, and only one will make it into Photoshop. It's a slow process picking which one to work on (and working up the motivation to actually do it) which is why having two fully inked sketches (and one of them isn't even all that new) is such a rarity!

Skydancer CD Cover

I'll admit I can buy things on impulse (like the 10 dollar key 'ring', or the heart shaped watch/keychain with pink gemstones), though I do occasionally buy things that turn out to be very useful later on. In the case of printable CD labels, maybe that's more of a cosmetic thing, though the Jewel cases will help me with my next task. I've converted the 'Skydancer' magazine advertisement into a printable CD insert for a slim jewel case.

Original Design

2012 Revision

The setup has also been updated, I remember when I made this that I didn't want to use a lens flare all that much when I first made the ad. I was afraid it'd be a little too much detail (in this particular draft it looked alright until it was printed). I think the deeper, richer shade of blue really helped that, along with helping the text to stand out more.

Finished Slim Case Insert

Niki's Illustrations #4

You might have seen these images in my gallery, but in any case, I decided to de-construct the Photoshop files on the first one to show the layering process. The 2nd is still in progress in terms of building the base, shadow and highlight layers (I don't know if I'll be using accents this time, probably not).

Uncoloured Lineart

Base Colours

Shadows Added

Highlights Added

I've also started working with this image (until now I'd only had the lineart to show). Both images are drawn in a similar way (focusing on thick & thin line variations), so I may decide to add more characters to this series later on.

Uncoloured Lineart

Base Colours

Cubism Comic - Style within a Style

As a collaborative effort, I created a comic with Tamara Donaldson. The aim of the project was to use any style and create a piece of work within that style. My idea was to make a comic about comics, and Tamara wanted to put an artistic spin on it, so we tried as best we could to emulate cubism by using fairly basic shapes and trying to capture the best angles at the same time.

Artwork by Niki Gerrier & Tamara Donaldson

Also notice that a subdialog was added to poke fun at the frequent changes in appearance between the two characters.

Revisitation: Character Illustration - (2006-2007)

Phase 01: Base Colours

Phase 2: Background

Phase 3: Highlights & Shadows

Interview with Mei Yu

This week I had the pleasure of interviewing Ms. Mei Yu, an award winning Artist from Vancouver! Ms. Yu has written and illustrated her own series of art instruction books, and teaches classes in schools and libraries!

Q: What was your most rewarding experience as an illustrator?

A: I would say, the most rewarding experience as an illustrator and artist is the ability to use my art to connect with, inspire and encourage other people, no matter if they themselves are artists or not. I think art has an incredible ability to shorten distances between people, and art does not have boundaries or language barriers. The other most rewarding thing is when others tell me my art has inspired them or made them think in a different way, or most importantly, made them believe in themselves more. When someone comes up to me and tells me they found inspiration in my art, that totally makes my day!!!

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: I can draw in many styles (see my 1 Minute Artist show intro - I drew myself in 100 different cartoon and anime styles :) This can also depend on my mood or project. Sometimes I'm drawing cute cartoon animals (like the ones in my first how to draw book) and other times, I'm working in a more mature, edgy illustrative style. However, there is a basic core in all my artwork: I draw with my passion and dedication. I want to make every piece the best it can be. I think art, like many other things, are best when they are done right, and to the maximum skill level of the creator.

Q: What's in a typical work day for you?

A: That depends. Sometimes I'm working all day at the computer, drawing with my tablet, other times, I'm creating more Youtube shows to showcase and share my art. I'm also writing comics and graphic novels for kids and preteens, and I've just finished shooting my very first TV role (as a police sketch artist) so the whole artist / writer / business person / actor thing can get busy! 

Ms. Yu also has her own Youtube show 1 Minute Artist, in which she creates a drawing in 60 seconds or less!





You can see more of Mei's work on her website, http://www.meiyuart.com

Illustration Research Assignment

It was tough to find an appropriate Magazine for this assignment, but I was lucky enough to find a rather likable example of illustration in PC World. The following is a scan of an article from the February 2011 issue of PCWorld Magazine, with Illustration by John Cuneo. Facebook is both one of the most popular social media projects (for the moment), and a giant magnet for controversy. But this was fun to read as I've talked to folks who seem to think that privacy isn't an issue (provided that you know how to use Facebook's Privacy settings, which, some don't).

Scan of page 33, PCWorld Magazine. Feb. 2011 Issue.

And now for some further analysis (using the supplied topical questions).

Why were you attracted to the illustration?

As I've already pointed out, I'm not a huge Facebook fan. I'm rather annoyed at the number of people who continue to ask me if I have an account, and having to explain again and again why I'm not getting one.

What is the article about?

Facebook's privacy issues and how to make do.

Did the illustrator effectively illustrate the story?

I'd say placing a rather burly looking security guard next to a generic user communicates the message of beefed up security quite well. And I'd hate to mess with the guy...

What strategy did the illustrator use to communicate the message?

Blunt humour.



On an unrelated note, I also came across an old article on the PC World site that takes a poke at Google. Complete with humorous illustration.

Niki's Illustrations #3

So I assume you're wondering how far I actually got on this image... Well, for the past couple of days I was able to tweak and finish up the shadows for the most part, then start on highlights and accents.

For the sake of experimentation, I'll try adding lowlights, but I don't think I'll be bothering much more with highlights on this image.

To the left is a sample of shadowing that was done early his week, even though I hadn't totally finished... As you can see, I hadn't yet touched upon the hair, or all of the skin shadowing. I still looks pretty flat at this stage.

I'm actually running out of things to say about it, so I'll shut up and move on to the next image.


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This next version was when I'd already started the highlights, so I just hid the highlight layer before exporting. The accents on the beads and jewelry are still there though...

I think I may still have some work to do though, because the light sources seem to conflict between her upper and lower halves.

Her hair is now shadowed, but I may still need to do more work on it. Also, I'm considering darkening the shadows on her skin, because there isn't quite enough contrast, especially in her face.

You may also notice, that she now has lipstick and nail polish.


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 Finally, the highlighted version. Again, may need some work... My hand was a bit shaky holding the tablet pen, evidently....

As for her bag, I hadn't noticed until I tried shading it that her drawstring bag looks strange, especially in whee the fabric bunches. I wasn't sure where I could shade to add depth.

Her lips and nails now have shadows (and highlights, in the case of her lips) too. If someone dares me I'll probably add sparkles or some body glitter.

I've debated adding highlights to her dress, because initially I thought I shouldn't. It's soft fabric, not leather or vinyl. Meanwhile I forgot and shaded her socks.

I guess I could just say they're high white boots. I'll flip a coin on the dress.

Niki's Illustrations #2

So I'm assuming you've had the chance to see the lineart for this already, if not, SCROLL DOWN!!!

Anyways I'm still playing around with the base colors, what you see here may not necessarily be seen in the final image. Matter of fact, I may be recoloring it completely. I was looking for an excuse to do a speed-paint video anyway, but I need a better screen-capture program...

So far I've used both Camstudio and the aTube Catcher utility, but I'm not impressed with the frame-rate. Thinking of trying Xfire video... (I already had the program since MSN lags when I'm playing Lunia or Ragnarok)

My next potential problem would be whether to put the video on Youtube, my Website, Newgrounds, Deviantart, or wherever...

Niki's Illustrations #1

Crazy thought, but I think at some point we'll all have to work with exceedingly large Photoshop files (that's assuming some of you haven't already). The largest I can generate working on simple lineart like this would be about 50Mb. But that's only AFTER I've started laying out the base colors, shadows, and highlights.


That still pails in comparison to the one a classmate of mine generated in high school. Or so he claims... you tell me if you'd believe it (or would think there's some problem with Photoshop) if the estimated filesize sits at 1 Terabyte. Ironically, 1Tb was the allotted space provided for the entire network.

So today, I've prepared a piece of lineart that I'll be working on in Photoshop as I find the time (and the motivation, maybe if I finish it'll go on my website). Sketched today while I was at bingo. Explanation: My Mom is involved with the York-South chapter of the MS Society, which sells the cards every Sunday. Easy 40 community service hours in high school, and I still enjoy working there anyway.

So this is how it works when I prepare these kinds of doodles. First I sketch it out with a 0.5 mechanical pencil, then I ink it with either a Stadtler or a Sakura Micron Pigma (both 0.05 thickness, the absolute minimum you can buy I believe) and erase the pencil guides. When I get home to my scanner, or gain access to one, I always scan at 600 resolution (for serious projects, other times I'll go as low as 200/300)

These are fun to color actually, setting the lines on their own layer (Multiply), and tweaking the levels makes the image crisp and helps get rid of some of the leftover pencil lines. Every layer underneath is then dedicated into coloring, shading, and highlighting. When starting out, it's easier to use a new layer for each new color, and divide them into groups until the base is complete. Then they can be merged together. I tried that today, and my file dropped from 50Mb to around 25Mb on the next save.

Next time I'll post the base-colored version, so until then.... Oh, and by the way... this 'preview' is only about 25% the canvass size of the original file. i kind of laugh because last time I made an image that big it was actually too big for my Desktop unless it was set to 'stretch'.