Digital Illustration Class- Artist copy #1.

Original

My version

• Artist: Maud & Miska Petersham
• Year: 1929
• Source: "The Magic Doll of Roumania." Go look at the other inspiring illustrations form the book at: http://www.tkinter.smig.net/ChildrenBookIllusrations/MagicDoll/index.htm
• Process (all done in photoshop):
  

1. Create Layer 1. Fill with black
2. Create Layer 2. Put at 15% opacity. Sketch basic shapes with white.
3. Create Layer 3. Begin to carve away with white. Go back and forth with eraser and white.
4. Create Layer 4. Reestablish lines and correct proportions.
5. Finish Layer 3.
6. Create Layber 6. Put it under multiply. Sloop colors in utilizing the HSB slider (not the color picker) make sure to constantly compare and change as needed.
   
7. Tighten up colors on Layer 5. Fit them in their boundary lines.
8. Add layer 6, put it on Multiply. Add a cheap paper texture*
9. Done.

*http://www.flickr.com/photos/schmod/419640051/sizes/l/

• My Thoughts/intents: Obviously the original picture was made using BlockPrint methods, but I decided to achieve the basic result in photoshop. I was not trying to attempt a perfect replication, I was focusing on the overall aesthetics of the picture (how it pulls itself together) and how the artist used black.
• The technique: Initially the simple, vibrant colored shapes caught my eyes, but in the end it was the incredible/dynamic use of black which caused me to focus on this picture. What I wished to understand was how the artists utilized the carved away technique, leaving some lines intentionally as noise, others as solid shapes, others as value, and others as line.

I will be posting my Illustration based on this master-study later this week.

P.S. Thanks Mr. Babcock for telling about the “Tip Feel” “FIRM” option for the wacom. Geez, I've been giving myself hand-cramps and headaches trying to force those 'blobby' lines to behave.