Art & Illustration Techniques

A brief overview of digital painting and drawing techniques I employ for both commercial and personal illustration projects. Some examples of how, why and were I use these techniques is also included.

Vector Art

Vector art is the best technique for producing sharp, clean shapes and smooth gradients. It is also re-scalable to to any size with no loss of quality. These attributes make it ideal for artwork that is graphic in style or to be applied in a variety of applications and sizes.

Logos

As they are often used in a wide variety of applications vector art is an excellent way to produce logos. Artwork can be used on a letterhead or the side of a truck with no loss of quality.

Diagrams

Bold shapes, crisp lines and the ability to incorporate text easily makes vector art an excellent choice for diagrams, charts and infographics. Combined with a powerful vector art editing program such as Adobe Illustrator, diagrams can be made with precision accuracy to maximise the clarity of the information being conveyed.

Digital Painting

For a long time artwork produced on computers had a distinctly mechanical look. Technology and techniques are rapidly changing with digital painting tools and techniques advancing in leaps and bounds. With the use of a tablet and specialist software delicate textures and tonal variations of traditional painting can again be incorporated into digital creations. Using a tablet mimics the physical act of creating a traditional painting or drawing. Capturing the hand of the artist in this direct sense is the crucial ingredient to creating rich and subtle paintings.

Digital paintings and drawings can largely replace instances were traditional art is used. They are idea for applications where subtle imagery conveying complex or subtle emotion is required such as book covers and editorial art.

Concept Sketching / Storyboarding

Working directly into a computer the processes of developing concepts and working up storyboards can be much faster and more flexible. Working on new iterations, adding tone or colour can all be done (or equally useful, undone) with the click of a button and swish of a stylus. No photocopying, scanning, light-boxes or Pantone markers required.