So, i'm new, and i'm driving myself mad!

B

Ben Green

New Member
Hey folks!

I'm a new(ish) illustrator and i'm wanting to get some of my work completed digitally.

Firstly, i haven't been to university yet, i am on a Foundation Degree in Art and Design. However i have a huge love for anything digital and i have loved doing some small scale stuff with my tablet. However, as i am starting to settle into my own 'style' i am struggling. Everything i plan to turn digital i draw and ink by hand. However i really struggle when it comes to turning it into my illustrations.

I will quickly link a few bad photos of some of my sketchbook.
Image 2013-05-24 at 12.34.47 AM.png
Image 2013-05-24 at 12.35.06 AM.png
Image 2013-05-24 at 12.35.43 AM.png
Image 2013-05-24 at 12.35.57 AM.png

I realize that these won't appeal to everyone's interest, however as you can see from most of them i use dots, which i believe to be called stippling in my work for shadows, as i have tried before digitally to colour my work. I'm struggling to get these dots into my work for some reason, everything digital just looks so flat and rubbish compared to in my book.

Heres a picture of one of my coloured digital works which i consider to be almost 'finished'
Image 2013-05-24 at 12.38.03 AM.png
http://img707.imageshack.us/img707/9643/aopsm.jpg


I'm really struggling, especially with the second, i find that colouring is the hardest thing possible, and i really struggle with it! Outlining i find i am not as bad, however i still struggle!

What i'm after, is some recommendations for things to try and practice that would suit my work, whether it be tutorials or the like it would be fantastic!

Thank you so much!
 
Thanks for the reply! I saw this wasn't nearly as active as the others so I expected a bit of a wait! However, I really appreciate your compliment, I think that my work is different which is what I think gives me that, also I think I am also extremely critical of all of my work, I strive to make it is good as possible!

Thanks for the advice with the colours, I'm definitely going to think about that! Which leads me to my to another question! I use the blob brush on illustrator and literally paint it in, this is a technique I have found to work, however when it comes to shadows and highlights I struggle, is there any tutorials you know of to try?

Again if anyone has any advice for doing stippling I would love the knowledge!
 
It all looks fine to me. At some point, though, you may need to try and reproduce and adapt your style for more commercial uses.

I'm surprised you are using Illustrator to colour in your linework, I would've thought Photoshop maybe easier and quicker for you. You will be able to retain
your original lines more and you may find it easier to colour, using different layers/textures etc. You could even make your own stipple texture or brush which would
make them quicker to colour and render - that stippling is a bit heavy and must take ages!. Head over to computerarts for some tutorials, or Google/YouTube etc.
 
Thanks for the advice Wardy! And i've tried a few different styles, i'm an artist at heart and my love is landscapes along with printmaking, however i am currently just wanting to get some of my illustrations on the web! :p

I've thought about using Photoshop for that however, i've given it a try but i havent really looking into it too much. However i am very interested in trying it with a stipple brush too!
Thanks!
 
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