Illustrator versus Photoshop
I’m still working on illustrations for another children’s book using Photoshop. In my spare time I’m trying to master Illustrator. After working with beautiful organic pixels in Photoshop for so long, that do anything I ask, easily adding illusions such lighting and 3-dimension with the Dodge and Burn Tools or the use of Blending Modes. Illustrator on the other hand has blending modes, but when vectors are blended there is not the same subtle realism, so a lot of extra time is spent adding fake shadows and highlights. I find this a bit cumbersome, especially when the file becomes large and Illustrator’s screen redraw begins to choke. Whereas Photoshop CS4’s instantaneous Open GL is beyond amazing, it is worth every penny of the upgrade.
At the moment I’m experimenting, trying to become comfortable with the tools and effects. I love the way you can reflect and rotate while copying which makes creating repetitive shapes a breeze, and selecting and coloring multiple objects at the same time. I was able to create this mandala in minutes using these techniques. I afterwards saved it as a Symbol so that I can use it over again. It can be recolored in seconds using Illustrator’s recolor feature.
It can be a full time job learning software, especially since there are so many that I want to conquer: Illustrator, InDesign, Flash, After Effects, and then there’s keeping up with multi-platforms, XP, Vista, Tiger, Leopard … oh for the days of my youth when I actually had weekends to relax and romp …
Learning to draw in Illustrator has taught me a lot about the way my brain functions. Although I have no trouble with the pen tool, I can use it with ease, but I’ve discovered that if I “carve” out the shape using a combo of the Blob Brush Tool and Eraser, I can draw with more accuracy … like a sculptor who thinks in terms of contours and the surface, rather than “outlines”. ie: in the image below I drew thick blobby lines for the head and limbs, then carved out the contours of the body using the Eraser tool. I then went back afterwards and removed unwanted points and tweaked the body shape using the white arrow tool and the Simplify Paths function. Surprisingly easy (blob brush is new to Illustrator CS4). This image is still a work in progress. I’m not finished adding shadows and highlights to the body. Gradient mesh will not work on complex shapes with too many vector points so I have to experiment with a work around.
If you look closely you’ll see that I’ve superimposed the mandala from the first image over the bodice of the dress in this image. I’ve masked away the exterior using a “Clipping Mask” and blended it into the dress using “Overlay Blending Mode” which works exactly the same as in Photoshop. The floor was created by drawing with Pen Tool over a checkerboard shape that I created in Photoshop … for me it was easier to use Photoshop’s perspective transform tool, then simply place the image into Illustrator and trace over it, then delete the original. The clouds and door background is an imported jpeg.
Here is some fruit I created using the pen tool and Gradient Mesh to color them, created from scratch in Illustrator:
When it comes down to paths or pixels, for me pixels and Photoshop win hands down. But I now find myself jumping over to Illustrator to create bits and pieces that I import back to Photoshop to create various effects. Together they are dynamite!
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Teaching Photoshop
Hex
New Media Web Development Program at BCIT
I’ve been extremely busy over the past few months, juggling a number of new projects, the highlight is teaching Photoshop at BCIT. Students are dedicated, full of enthusiasm, quickly absorbing the techniques, even advanced concepts. The culmination was their final poster project where several students had leapt forward in their skill level, eons ahead of where they had begun at the beginning of the course.
The art above is one that I created one evening when I was putting together a class lesson. I took a slight detour along the way. My only regret is that I didn’t create it in print resolution, the dimensions are for web. But I was just playing with ideas when suddenly a picture began to emerge. It’s far from my usual style. Perhaps I’ve been looking at too much Manga on Deviantart and that style crept into this piece, but it was refreshing doing something different.
I’m also working on another children’s book for Flattenme. It is a lot of fun, this time not only can children’s faces be inserted into the main character, but also there will be an adult man and woman version of the story. Very exciting !
Detail of Hex
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OpenGL A Total Joy
Just One Wish
Loving New Features in CS4
Now that I have sorted out my video card driver, the OpenGL is working wonderfully. I could never go back to CS3, after experiencing the ease and time saving features. The new features in CS4 aren’t merely bells and whistles. I am using them all the time. I love the new brush shortcut that allows me to simply press Alt (Opt on the Mac) and drag the mouse to resize brushes on the fly. I use brushes constantly in my digital art so saves me a lot of time and I can see a rubylith mask outline of the brush shape, including the amount of feathering. Because my NVIDIA Quadro NVS 285 is an older video card, there are still a few glitches with brush outlines displaying with larger size brushes. But I’m becoming used to it and it’s a fair trade off for all the other features.
The new tabbed interface is a real time saver because I usually have many files open simultaneously. It’s a snap to switch between the old window set up and the new tabbed one, with just a click of a button.
Dodge and burn have been completely revamped. I loved them before and use them constantly to create , shadows and highlights in my art, but the newer method preserves color tones and is far less destructive. But what’s even better is that by clicking a checkbox dodge and burn will revert to the previous algorithym, which is great because for some uses, the older method seems to do the trick. It’s so nice to have a wider range of choices. There is now a new Masking Panel that makes it possible to refine the mask’s edges after creating it. Edges can be feathered, even shape layers. The upgrade is so worth it.
Just One Wish
The art above is an old one that I made a few years ago, but last night I was working on a new version of my website and was sizing images for the gallery. I came across this piece and at first thought that I’d leave it out because I hadn’t really mastered digital art techniques back then. But I still liked the mood so I thought I’d try reworking it. Usually I never go back to old art to fix them, even if I find problems with them. I usually just resolve to better in the new art I create. But I broke my own rule and decided to revise this one. Still not perfect because I’d have to start again from scratch to get it right, but I think it was worth salvaging.
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Lucille – A Modern Day FairyTale
Lucille
Enjoying Photoshop CS4
This art piece began as an experiment, just playing around in newly installed CS4. I wasn’t sure if it would shape into anything substantial, so when it got late, around 3 a.m., I saved the file and abandoned it for several days, thinking that it was probably just junk.
A week or two later, I was cleaning my desktop and saw this PSB file that I had completely forgotten about. I opened it up to decide whether or not to delete it. It was still very much in the rough phase and looked quite terrible. I wasn’t sure if it could be salvaged, but I luckily happened to be in ‘the zone’ for working, so I began playing with it.
Originally I had shaped the girl into a sort of ‘elf’, with pointed ears and was going to take it into a more extreme fantasy direction. But I wasn’t satisfied with the ears, kept adding new ones, from exotic monkeys and other animals. I was going to give her a half-human, half-animal appearance. But none seemed believable (or as believable as pointed ears can be, ha ha! … actually, this brings up an important point. Even within fantasy, a measure of believability has to be maintained, otherwise the effect just looks tacky).
I began adding a halo of hair instead, until the girl took on a very soft ethereal quality which changed the entire direction of the piece.
Allow The Art To Shape Itself
When I’m creating art for myself, unlike when I’m working for a client, I allow the art to morph into any direction it wants. This is the most enjoyable part. I love the suspense of not knowing how it will turn out, what story it will tell. For example, when the elf ears weren’t working and the halo of soft hair added a different personality to the girl, I abandoned the elf idea and began adding elements that enhanced the soft, intense features. Every new element has to match the aspects that are working.
Be Prepared to Abandon Elements That Aren’t Working
Even if I spend an hour or more extracting an element or animal, color matching it, adding lights and shadows, if the element isn’t working within the scene I don’t hesitate for a moment to delete it. I never get attached to something just because I’ve spent hours working on it. I chalk it up to ‘practice time’. For example, I tried many different backgrounds and tree trunks beneath the owl. I spent hours, tweaking, recoloring, dodging, burning, distorting, but afterwards deleted many of them … until I found one that seemed to enhance the main character’s mood and personality.
Tip – Beware of CS4’s New Layer Delete
Beware, if you have a layer selected in the Layer Palette (now renamed Panel by Adobe), if you click Delete, you won’t get a message “Are you sure you want to delete this layer?” … it will automatically delete without asking you. Advanced users of Photoshop will like this time-saving feature, but Newbies have to be careful. Several times when I was working on this piece, I accidentally hit “delete” when I was actually reaching for another shortcut key. Luckily I noticed and hit “Ctrl / Z ” (Cmd / Z on the Mac) to bring back the layer.
I also still have to sort out the issue of the OpenGL features not working, whether it’s my video card, or my operating system. Also in Photoshop’s 3D, the 3D axis is not displaying, even when I’ve selected it from the view menu. The 3D axis control is faster and simpler than using the indivual 3D tools from the Toolbox. I’m not sure if this issue is connected to the Open GL issue or whether it is a separate problem. If anybody knows the answer, please let me know. My operating system is Window XP Professional and my video card on this computer is NVIDIA Quadro NVS 285, 128 MB, version 5.44.02.63.04
Postscript — Happy Update
Miraculously, The OpenGL features have begun working, along with the 3D Axis tool. I’m not certain what caused this because I did a number of different things while trying to troubleshoot the problem. I went to the NVIDIA website to update my Video card driver. You can choose an option to have the website automatically detect your video card and download the appropriate driver. However, after I installed the new driver, I noticed that the version number was lower than my prior version. This worried me, so I then went to my PC’s Windows Update by right clicking my Desktop, choosing Properties / Settings / Advanced / Adaptor / Properties / Driver / Update Driver. Although I had done this before and received a message that my driver was up to date, this time it actually updated the driver. I think this is what corrected the problem.
I can now do neat functions like Rotate Canvas which comes in handy for painting with a Wacom tablet. And Image Toss, which might sound like some mere gimmick, but believe me, when you have an enormuos document and are zoomed in to some detail and you need to pan to another area of the image, the pan glides as effortlessly as an Olympic skater and there is no blocky redraw lag time, Yipeeeeee !!!
There is also a new handy shortcut in CS4, if you Hold down your mouse while pressing the “H” Key while you are on any other tool. While still holding down both, you can slide around to any area of the image, then when you release the mouse it zooms into that area of the image. Very quick and wonderful way to get around a large, zoomed in image.
I also finally see the 3D Axis Tool, which is the most efficient way to manipulate the X, Y, and Z movements and rotations. I was so happy and relieved when these features began working that I felt tears come to my eyes. I never realized how important they were to me until I saw my reaction when they magically appeared. I am one very happy Photoshopper today !!!
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Christening Photoshop CS4
The Wizard
First Art Made With Photoshop CS4
This art took me about 5 days (and nights) to complete. The monkey is pieced together with about 10 digital images, the snake is several pieces, her dress and body are comprised of too many bits and pieces to remember. The flower vase is comprised of more than 30 pieces and was so much fun to make.
Actually this image was a delight to make, everything went smoothly and it is the very first art piece that I’ve made using CS4. I had bought CS4 (the Master Edition) several months ago but wanted to wait until I finished the card project before installing. For some reason the new OpenGL features aren’t working on Windows XP Professional. I have to find out if it’s due to XP or due to the kind of graphics card I have. I also have Vista installed on the same computer, but it’s acting up at the moment, keeps restarting after intalling an auto update.
But the fantastic news is that Photoshop CS4 seems to be far more stable than CS3 !!! Yipee !! To test CS4’s stability, I purposely tried doing some distortions that used to be a guaranteed way to crash Photoshop on my prior version (ie: I have a layer with a Mask that is grouped to another layer and I Transform / distort it). In a large file that is more than 2 gigs unflattened, CS3 used to crash … but the operation went as smooth as butter. A complete delight ! The image you see here (viewed at large size) is just 9 percent of the original image size, which is 22 x 30 @ 300 dpi.
Where’s The Extract Filter In CS4 ?!!
I spent about 15 minutes looking all over the CS4 interface, trying to find where the Extract Filter is hidden. Turns out that it doesn’t automatically install with the program. Several plug-ins are tucked away on the “Goodies” dvd (separate from the installation dvd) … not certain what the reason is for this, possibly due to the user having the choice of 32 bit or 64 bit, depending on their computer and graphic card’s capabilities. These plug-ins can also be downloaded on Adobe’s website: Photoshop CS4 plug-ins
Here is a link to Ivy’s face image
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The Dove
The Dove
I just finished this digital art. It took about 4 days. I really enjoyed piecing together the character, who is comprised of so many bits and pieces of digital photos that in the end she becomes a purely fictional character. I really enjoy the challenge of creating someone who is entirely different from all of the components that go into making it. The eyes alone are comprised of 4 images, the hair from 3, the nose from 2 images (the bridge is from one photo and the bottom portion with nostrils from another). The mouth is from 2 separate images, then further changed wtih the Liquify Filter. The forehead is made from 2 images, the ears from another 2, the chin from another. The neck, shoulders and arms are from more than 8 separate images. The dress is made in Photoshop from tiny bits and pieces then molded into a new shape.
Close Up Details
Another Crash? — You Think I’d Learn By Now
I had worked on the dress for hours and lost track of the time. I was distorting (Edit / Transform / Distort) and rotating layers wtih Masks attached. Suddenly I got the dreaded message that there was insufficient RAM and Photoshop went down like the Titanic. I felt numb and exhausted. I couldn’t remember what stage I had last saved the PSB document, so I had to wait in suspense until the file reopened, to discover that the entire dress was lost and I had to rebuild it all over again. It was already late, so I decided to go to bed and redo it the next day. I’m not sure whether I prefer the earlier version or this final version … the first version had some very intricate details of lace. But I try to see the bright side, each time I redo something I get more practice in Photoshop.
I’m still using CS3. I bought CS4 but in order to install it, I have to do some major hard drive housekeeping and clear out a bunch of files because I’ve used almost the entire hard drive. I purchased the Creative Suite, Master Edition that has all Adobe programs including the video and sound applications. These will take up a lot of hard drive space to install.
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Art Inspired By Sadness
The Guardian
This piece took me about a 100 hours to create. The impetus (the word ‘inspiration’ doesn’t really fit in this context) … but the incentive was reading a sad story on the internet, written by Raghunatha dasa about abuse he and fellow students suffered as children, growing up in experimental Gurukula schools. Some of the teachers who were entrusted with protecting them, abused their authority. It was difficult to read the student’s accounts, written many years later when they were in their 30’s. They won a lawsuit against their perpetrators. I was moved by their sad stories. Similar stories are repeated again and again throughout the world, whereever their is an atmosphere of religious authority.
Afterwards I read several studies that had been conducted on abuse in religious communities of all faiths. The conclusion was that whenever there is an environment of unquestioned authority, where blind faith and submissiveness are expected, even rewarded, this creates fertile ground for abusers. It attracts those who are inclined to abuse because they find the perfect conditions for their crimes to go undetected in an atmosphere of secrecy and submission. This is a systemic problem with organized religion of every kind.
The tiger in this art piece is symbolic. It represents a noble and loyal guardian who protects the innocent and vulnerable. I wish there had been such a guardian to protect the children of Gurukula, and all others who had similar experiences in residential schools and elsewhere throughout the world.
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Photoshop Crashed Again
This one took 4 days to create
Photoshop Crashed Again
I took a breather durng the card project to work on one for myself. It is so relaxing to begin working without any idea of what the theme would be. I start by just playing with background, piecing bits and pieces, then blending, manipulating until a mood and idea begins to emerge. I had no idea in the beginning that I would make a woman with a bird. Whereas, when I’m working for a client, with a specific theme, it’s much different. When I do art for myself, I just let my hand lead me, instead of forcing the art to comply with a specific idea. It is very relaxing … until …
At 3 a.m. after working for about 6 hours without saving, Photoshop crashed when I tried to distort an object that had a Mask applied plus was linked to several other layers with Masks on them. The Photoshop file was already more than 6 gigs! with about 70 layers, so the calculations for this distortion exceeded the available RAM, so down she went. I remember emitting a loud “NO !” (I hope I didn’t wake my neighbors) 
There was nothing to do but to redo all that work. I had to redo most of the dress that I had painstakingly worked on for hours, had to redo the bird, the flowers and the woman’s chest and collarbone, which you might think is easy, but the small portion just below her neck alone had taken me more than an hour to complete.
You think I would have learned my lesson by now. Once I lost an entire day’s work when Photoshop crashed and since then I’ve gotten into the habit of saving more frequently. But when the files are 6 gigs unflattened, (169 MB as a flattened Tif), it actually takes 17 minutes for the file to save (I timed it). That’s the reason why when I’m in the ‘zone’, I hate to have to sit and twiddle my thumbs while the file saves. But I sure paid for it, I had to redo 6 hours of work. I was up until 9 a.m. finishing it up (and had worked day and night for 3 days before). This image took me 4 days and nights to complete.
The woman is made from too many pieces to count, ie: the eyelashes from one, irises from another, eyebrows from another, nose from another, hair from several, shoulders from another, and so on. I love this kind of challenge, creating things from bits and pieces. I made the dress in Photoshop, using tiny bits and pieces. I tried so many hand poses, and different birds, eventually settling on this little sparrow, comprised of 3 different images.
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