| Step 2: Nothing Wrong With Tracing |
| |
After
the sketch is scanned, placed into illustrator, and locked into place. It is time
to start tracing the sketch by using the pen tool and creating vector lines and
shapes. This is where my little introduction comes in. If you have not read the
introduction by now, please do so. |
|
| 1. |
Before
I start tracing the sketch, I create a new layer above the Sketch layer and call
it Line Art. At the same time, I create a new layer above the Line Art and call
it Border. I like to have a border around my illustration, so I put it in this
layer. Since the Border layer will only contain the border line, I lock the layer. |
2. |
 | I'm
on the Line Art layer now... | I
make sure I zoom in very close to the sketch before I start tracing. When I start
tracing the sketch lines, I start with the black areas. What I mean by that is,
anything that will be a soild black color, I will do first. For example, I start
tracing Spider-man's eyes with just a stroke. | |
 | After
I trace around the whole eye, I switch the stroke line to fill with no stroke.
Now If you find your shape looking a bit off or weird, you can you the Direct
Selection Tool (A) and move the indivdual points until it looks right. After I
go around and fill in all the solid black shapes, I start tracing the rest of
the sketch with strokes. Remeber you can create strokes that changes in thickness
by creating thin fills. Look back in the introduction if you don't know what I
mean. | |
3. |
 | Yes
I left out Spider-Man's costume webdesign on purpose. I'm planning to use a dark
red instead of black for those lines. | |
| |
Now
that I have a clean line art of my sketch, it is time for some coloring. I could
take the line art into Photoshop and color it, but then it would be more of a
painting than an illustration. |
|
1. |
 | Everytime
I add something completely new to any artwork, either in Photoshop or in Illustrator,
I create a new layer. Layers are what makes any artwork look good. |
| Now
I have a line art on one layer, I create a layer under the line art and call it
Base Color. | | IMPORANT:
I make sure I lock my other layers so they don't get distrubed. |
|
2. |
 |
Now
I have a layer to hold my base colors, I decide where to start and what color
to use. The way I drew Spider-Man was pretty simple so I decided to start with
him. Since Spider-Man is mostly red, I started to color all the red ares on his
costume. | How
do I color in Illustrator? | |
| Simple,
I take the pen tool and start creating vector shapes with no stroke but with a
red fill. |
|
3DTotal
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|
| The
base color is all set, but there is a problem. The illustration looks completely
flat. I need to make it look more of a 3d illustration. One way to do that is
by adding shadows to the characters. If you ever went to your art class, you learned
how light and shadow works on an object. The way I work with shadows/shades, I
pick a light source. The light source for this artwork would be at the upper-right
hand corner. Picture a flashlight at that corner aiming right at Spider-Man and
Mary Jane. |
| |
1. |
 |
Since
the shadow is new to the artwork, I create a new layer above the base color, but
under the line art. I always like to work with couple of shadows, so I call this
layer First Shadow. | |
2. |
 |
Creating
shadows is simple. It is just the same way when creating the base color. I pick
a color and start creating vector shapes with no stroke but with a fill. For example,
when I create the shadow on Spider-Man's costume, I pick his base color and then
change that red into a darker red. The same goes for Mary Jane's pink-purple shirt.
I pick the base color and make it a little darker. | |
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