Adobe Illustrator - loose illustration style

Author

loose illustration style

Donna

2005-10-19, 10:14 pm

Hello, I am working on an assignment for llustration class. My teacher likes
my project that I am working on in Illy CS2. However, he would really like
to see the illustration is a more loose style. I do not know Corel Painter,
but I do know Illustrator pretty well. Can anyone suggest a way to take my
current, very controlled, tight, illustration and do something else with it
in Illy to loosen it up or point me to a tutorial for something.

Thanks for any advice. PS It is a very detailed illustration now--lots and
lots of stuff going on in it.

iehsmith

2005-10-20, 3:14 am

On 10/19/05 7:49 PM, Donna uttered:

> Thanks for any advice. PS It is a very detailed illustration now--lots and
> lots of stuff going on in it.

You may have answered your own question. Simplify. If you're being very
accurate, maybe drawing with the Pen Tool to the nth degree; try freehanding
with a brush or the pencil. Translate you original concept into a
complimentary freehand style, or something with smooth, sleek lines or
shapes, less detail. Relax and play with it.

He may just be asking you to step outside your comfort zone of accuracy and
try a different perspective on the subject. I'm not there, didn't hear him
and can't see your work, so what is it your think he's really asking for?
What is your current illustration subject and style?

inez

Davémon

2005-10-20, 6:14 pm

Donna wrote:
> Hello, I am working on an assignment for llustration class. My teacher likes
> my project that I am working on in Illy CS2. However, he would really like
> to see the illustration is a more loose style.

illustration class or Illustrator CS2 class?

Former:
Take the computer out of the equation.
Try doing it really big and really quickly by hand with natual
materials. Concentrate on form not detail.

Latter:
As above, then:
Take a digital photo.
import into 'strator, vectorise elements, play.

HTH.

--

Davémon
http://www.nightsoil.co.uk

Donna

2005-10-20, 6:14 pm

I appreciate the advice, but pls understand that I have spent 5 hard days on
this illustration--yes drawing it to the nth degree with the pen tool. It is
a mariachi festival in the streets, thus all the details--buildings, people,
mariachis etc.

It is for an Illustration class--not Illustrator.

I guess what I was looking for was a way to take the current illustration
(in CS2) and loosen it up in Illustrator. I do not have time to start over
completely and freehand it, painting it by hand etc.

Thanks for any other advice.
"Davémon" <nospam@nowhere.no> wrote in message
news:a23b2$435782ca$504427df$31147@datanet.co.uk...
> Donna wrote:
>
> illustration class or Illustrator CS2 class?
>
> Former:
> Take the computer out of the equation.
> Try doing it really big and really quickly by hand with natual materials.
> Concentrate on form not detail.
>
> Latter:
> As above, then:
> Take a digital photo.
> import into 'strator, vectorise elements, play.
>
> HTH.
>
>
> --
>
> Davémon
> http://www.nightsoil.co.uk

Laura K

2005-10-20, 6:14 pm

"Donna" <mcmenamin4spamNO@msn.com> wrote in
news:_GO5f.440$VW.4464@news.uswest.net:

> I guess what I was looking for was a way to take the current illustration
> (in CS2) and loosen it up in Illustrator. I do not have time to start over
> completely and freehand it, painting it by hand etc.

Try applying different brushes to objects/lines in the drawing to give some
texture and make things less "tight."
I'd save the original and experiment on sections of a copy. Try pen, paint,
ink, calligraphy, etc. You can change the widths of the brushes as you need
to.

iehsmith

2005-10-20, 6:14 pm

On 10/20/05 10:26 AM, Donna uttered:

> I appreciate the advice, but pls understand that I have spent 5 hard days on
> this illustration--yes drawing it to the nth degree with the pen tool. It is
> a mariachi festival in the streets, thus all the details--buildings, people,
> mariachis etc.
>
> It is for an Illustration class--not Illustrator.
>
> I guess what I was looking for was a way to take the current illustration
> (in CS2) and loosen it up in Illustrator. I do not have time to start over
> completely and freehand it, painting it by hand etc.

From what your instructor said, I doubt you can accoplish what he wants by
applying effects (on a dulpicate file). Certainly you could try that and
come up with interesting visuals, but I think he's asking you to use your
mind to create a new, expressive view and not to be so literal. A mariachi
festival is much more than buildings and people; it's emotions, it's ethnic,
it's celebration.

inez

steggy

2005-10-20, 6:14 pm

iehsmith wrote:
>
> On 10/20/05 10:26 AM, Donna uttered:
>
>
> From what your instructor said, I doubt you can accoplish what he wants by
> applying effects (on a dulpicate file). Certainly you could try that and
> come up with interesting visuals, but I think he's asking you to use your
> mind to create a new, expressive view and not to be so literal. A mariachi
> festival is much more than buildings and people; it's emotions, it's ethnic,
> it's celebration.
>
> inez

All true but if you really want to do it: go and see what
Illustrator CS2 can do with Live Trace and Live Paint (for
instance in
http://makeashorterlink.com/?V2764440C ). Maybe an odd
thought for Donna: scan the image. Place it in Illustrator
and Live Trace/Paint it.
--
steg

Gem

2005-10-20, 6:14 pm

"steggy"
> iehsmith wrote:
>
> All true but if you really want to do it: go and see what
> Illustrator CS2 can do with Live Trace and Live Paint (for
> instance in
> http://makeashorterlink.com/?V2764440C ). Maybe an odd
> thought for Donna: scan the image. Place it in Illustrator
> and Live Trace/Paint it.
> --
> steg

Excellent suggestion, steggy.

__Gem

Donna

2005-10-20, 6:14 pm

Thanks for all of the suggestions. It got me thinking, so I printed the Illy
illustration, scanned it in, saved as a tif, opened it in PS and tried the
artistic filters. The Rough Pastels made it look hand rendered and looks
really good. Yeah! Now I will play with Steggy's idea too.

Thanks everyone! I love this newsgroup!

"Gem" <arggie@mentive.gnat> wrote in message
news:vEQ5f.9728$gj1.8574@fed1read05...
>
> "steggy"
>
> Excellent suggestion, steggy.
>
> __Gem
>

steggy

2005-10-20, 6:14 pm

Donna wrote:
>
> Thanks for all of the suggestions. It got me thinking, so I printed the Illy
> illustration, scanned it in, saved as a tif, opened it in PS and tried the
> artistic filters. The Rough Pastels made it look hand rendered and looks
> really good. Yeah! Now I will play with Steggy's idea too.
>
> Thanks everyone! I love this newsgroup!

Photoshop is good.
But for a real "drawing" edge I love what I see you can do
in Illustrator. I only have been playing with it. My boss
just wants me to supervise and I hate supervising! Well,
that is just whining, not in our team I don't:)) But I would
love to get into it really and I do not have the Adobe CS2
at home of course.

--
steg

iehsmith

2005-10-20, 6:14 pm

On 10/20/05 11:59 AM, steggy uttered:

> All true but if you really want to do it: go and see what
> Illustrator CS2 can do with Live Trace and Live Paint (for
> instance in
> http://makeashorterlink.com/?V2764440C ). Maybe an odd
> thought for Donna: scan the image. Place it in Illustrator
> and Live Trace/Paint it.
> --

Couldn't she just export as TIFF?

steggy

2005-10-20, 6:14 pm

iehsmith wrote:
>
> On 10/20/05 11:59 AM, steggy uttered:
>
>
> Couldn't she just export as TIFF?

Yes of course. But somehow I have the idea she will get
closer to the whole thing when printing and
scanning........to be honest? No clue, but just a hunch:))
Might have a Photoshop thing..........

--
steg

iehsmith

2005-10-20, 6:14 pm

On 10/20/05 1:43 PM, steggy uttered:

> Donna wrote:
>
>
> Photoshop is good.
> But for a real "drawing" edge I love what I see you can do
> in Illustrator. I only have been playing with it. My boss
> just wants me to supervise and I hate supervising! Well,
> that is just whining, not in our team I don't:)) But I would
> love to get into it really and I do not have the Adobe CS2
> at home of course.
>
> --
> steg

If she could grab some main shapes from the original she could save them to
a new doc and give them black strokes/no fill, maybe with an ink/charcoal
type brush; then place the PSD behind the outlines. May not work, but there
are a lot of things she could do with the PSD image imported into AI.

inez

Donna

2005-10-21, 3:14 am

Oh boy, you guys are really giving me ideas. Obviously, since the original
file is Illy, Inez, I can of course grab some of the main shapes from it.

I also wondered Steggy why you suggested I print the Illy file and scan it
back in, but I assumed that the scanning part would do something else to
it--maybe soften the hard edges--instead of just exporting to PS.

This is quite an intriguing thread going here. I'm glad I posted the
question to this group-lots of talented people here!
"steggy" <steggy2001@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:43582F81.8CC38D54@hotmail.com...
> iehsmith wrote:
>
> Yes of course. But somehow I have the idea she will get
> closer to the whole thing when printing and
> scanning........to be honest? No clue, but just a hunch:))
> Might have a Photoshop thing..........
>
> --
> steg

Davémon

2005-10-21, 6:14 am

Donna wrote:
> I appreciate the advice, but pls understand that I have spent 5 hard days on
> this illustration--yes drawing it to the nth degree with the pen tool.

IMHO that was what your tutor was asking you not to do, you've probably
overworked it and got really precious over it. If you want to impress
him/her, really doing something radically different would help.

It is
> a mariachi festival in the streets, thus all the details--buildings, people,
> mariachis etc.
>
> It is for an Illustration class--not Illustrator.
>
> I guess what I was looking for was a way to take the current illustration
> (in CS2) and loosen it up in Illustrator. I do not have time to start over
> completely and freehand it, painting it by hand etc.

Eh? looser = quicker, rawer, less detailed. You could do it in under
half an hour, stop being so tight and loosen up!

At least the print/scan thing you're doing shows some idea of process,
but why not introduce some additional elements at the scanning stage?
found-objects, collage or drawing over.

Anyway, what did your tutor make of your photoshop filtered peice?

--

Davémon
http://www.nightsoil.co.uk

Donna

2005-10-21, 6:15 pm

He hasn't seen the filtered version yet, so I don't know what he will think
of it.

He likes the composition and all of the details--he just doesn't like the
"perfect" lines of the illustration.

"Davémon" <nospam@nowhere.no> wrote in message
news:8f75b$4358a5e3$504427df$8175@datanet.co.uk...
> Donna wrote:
>
> IMHO that was what your tutor was asking you not to do, you've probably
> overworked it and got really precious over it. If you want to impress
> him/her, really doing something radically different would help.
>
> It is
>
> Eh? looser = quicker, rawer, less detailed. You could do it in under half
> an hour, stop being so tight and loosen up!
>
> At least the print/scan thing you're doing shows some idea of process, but
> why not introduce some additional elements at the scanning stage?
> found-objects, collage or drawing over.
>
> Anyway, what did your tutor make of your photoshop filtered peice?
>
> --
>
> Davémon
> http://www.nightsoil.co.uk

Davémon

2005-10-21, 6:15 pm

Donna top-posted:
> He hasn't seen the filtered version yet, so I don't know what he will think
> of it.

be sure to post after your crit!

> He likes the composition and all of the details--he just doesn't like the
> "perfect" lines of the illustration.

If you're stuck with using the computer, one technique I can think of is
changing some of paths to caligraphy, and tweaking the stroke weight and
angle of the individual lines so it models the objects more effectively,
but that is really going to be time consuming! You could also try
defining some art brushes and using them.

Perhaps just working up (down?) a few foreground elements (render the
architecture/background in boring lines, and the people with nice
caligraphic curves)...

....but it might be quicker to hide some of the lines in illustrator,
print it and work over the print-out with ink and a brush (or crayons)
by hand...

> "Davémon" <nospam@nowhere.no> wrote in message
> news:8f75b$4358a5e3$504427df$8175@datanet.co.uk...
>
>
>
>

--

Davémon
http://www.nightsoil.co.uk

iehsmith

2005-10-21, 6:15 pm

On 10/20/05 10:08 PM, Donna uttered:

> Oh boy, you guys are really giving me ideas. Obviously, since the original
> file is Illy, Inez, I can of course grab some of the main shapes from it.
>
> I also wondered Steggy why you suggested I print the Illy file and scan it
> back in, but I assumed that the scanning part would do something else to
> it--maybe soften the hard edges--instead of just exporting to PS.

For my part, I would think that opening up the AI file in PS or exporting it
as PSD would give you maximum control of what happens to it from there, but
I'm a control freak with my work, so... I probably would have exported
different parts of it to use in different layers.

> This is quite an intriguing thread going here. I'm glad I posted the
> question to this group-lots of talented people here!

I wonder that we may be doing you a disservice though. If I were your
instructor I would have wanted you to use your mind to decide/imagine what a
looser version of the piece should convey (or, illustrate), and wanted you
to experiment and do the work to accomplish it.

Sometimes illustration isn't about making a precise, picture perfect copy of
the subject; sometimes you have to go beyond the lines (outside the box) to
convey the true essense of what you are illustrating. Less confined by
detail; open to expression.

That said, I'm sure we'd all love to see both results when you're done. I'm
certain it's good work since you obviously care:)

good luck,
inez

Davémon

2005-10-22, 6:14 am

iehsmith wrote:
> On 10/20/05 10:08 PM, Donna uttered:
>
>
>
>
> For my part, I would think that opening up the AI file in PS or exporting it
> as PSD would give you maximum control of what happens to it from there, but
> I'm a control freak with my work, so...

I see the print/scan process (I used to do that a lot!) allows you to
mess about with it physically, and it also introduces noise into the
process. The grain of paper, the dot-quality, it's building up layers of
physical evidence.

> I probably would have exported
> different parts of it to use in different layers.

....then I would print out the layers and then cut them out with a
scalpel and restructure them like a victorian paper-theater and then
light it and photograph it!

>
>
>
> I wonder that we may be doing you a disservice though. If I were your
> instructor I would have wanted you to use your mind to decide/imagine what a
> looser version of the piece should convey (or, illustrate), and wanted you
> to experiment and do the work to accomplish it.

<wild applause>

> Sometimes illustration isn't about making a precise, picture perfect copy of
> the subject; sometimes you have to go beyond the lines (outside the box) to
> convey the true essense of what you are illustrating. Less confined by
> detail; open to expression.

Agree totally. There is a way of thinking about image-making which is
purely about mark-making and process, and has little to do with surface
appearance and 'detail'. That's where I thought the tutor was trying
to point to...

> That said, I'm sure we'd all love to see both results when you're done. I'm
> certain it's good work since you obviously care:)

Oh definately, I'd really like to see the original. I expect that I'd
really love the attention to detail.

--

Davémon
http://www.nightsoil.co.uk

steggy

2005-10-22, 6:15 pm

Davémon wrote:
>
> iehsmith wrote:
>
> I see the print/scan process (I used to do that a lot!) allows you to
> mess about with it physically, and it also introduces noise into the
> process. The grain of paper, the dot-quality, it's building up layers of
> physical evidence.
>
>
> ...then I would print out the layers and then cut them out with a
> scalpel and restructure them like a victorian paper-theater and then
> light it and photograph it!
>
>
> --
>
> Davémon
> http://www.nightsoil.co.uk

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA you are my man Davémon......great!!
Print it!
Scan it!
Illy it!
Cut it!

And then photograph it............woooooowieeeeeee talking
about an unending circle of creativity. LOVE IT!
--
steg

Donna

2005-10-22, 6:15 pm

Ok everyone, I will post it after it is finished, but that won't be for a
while yet. I will post the original "tight" version and the changed "looser"
approach. I will label the thread "Loose Illustration Style", (in a New
thread) the same as here so you can watch for it.

All of you have been really great, thanks again.

"Davémon" <nospam@nowhere.no> wrote in message
news:27105$4358f126$504427df$25801@datanet.co.uk...
> Donna top-posted:
>
> be sure to post after your crit!
>
>
> If you're stuck with using the computer, one technique I can think of is
> changing some of paths to caligraphy, and tweaking the stroke weight and
> angle of the individual lines so it models the objects more effectively,
> but that is really going to be time consuming! You could also try defining
> some art brushes and using them.
>
> Perhaps just working up (down?) a few foreground elements (render the
> architecture/background in boring lines, and the people with nice
> caligraphic curves)...
>
> ...but it might be quicker to hide some of the lines in illustrator, print
> it and work over the print-out with ink and a brush (or crayons) by
> hand...
>
>
>
>
>
> --
>
> Davémon
> http://www.nightsoil.co.uk

iehsmith

2005-10-22, 6:15 pm

On 10/22/05 4:19 AM, Davémon uttered:

> I see the print/scan process (I used to do that a lot!) allows you to
> mess about with it physically, and it also introduces noise into the
> process. The grain of paper, the dot-quality, it's building up layers of
> physical evidence.

Ah, I was thinking about my printer... don't like what this ancient inkjet
'adds' to anything. I may experiment myself though (when I have decent
paper) with brush stroking some water on a print.

Laser dot patterns can be cool as well as cracking the print, and I wonder
what tricks a dye-sub could produce with some toying around.

>
> ...then I would print out the layers and then cut them out with a
> scalpel and restructure them like a victorian paper-theater and then
> light it and photograph it!

Like the photo idea to, just never think about it since it's not an option
for me. (I've spent a lot of time faking things in PS that I can't do real
world; it's just not the same though.) Thank goodness I have a half decent
scanner though;)

>
>
> Oh definately, I'd really like to see the original. I expect that I'd
> really love the attention to detail.
>

Ditto! I love attention to detail. With the production clients I've had
lately it's something sorely missing in my work. I miss it.

OK, back to work;)
inez

iehsmith

2005-10-22, 6:15 pm

On 10/22/05 8:07 AM, Donna uttered:

> I will label the thread "Loose Illustration Style", (in a New
> thread) the same as here so you can watch for it.

Highly anticipated! :)

inez

Paul Asente

2005-10-26, 6:14 pm

In article <BF7D7D0B.3E7BA%inezhsmithspammenot@earthlink.net>,
iehsmith <inezhsmithspammenot@earthlink.net> wrote:

> If she could grab some main shapes from the original she could save them to
> a new doc and give them black strokes/no fill, maybe with an ink/charcoal
> type brush; then place the PSD behind the outlines. May not work, but there
> are a lot of things she could do with the PSD image imported into AI.

Another thing to try is using the Scribble effect in Illustrator on some
or all of the shapes.

-- paul asente
To reply, make the host be the same as my last name