Clearsite Multimedia

#1 Check the quality of your tap water at home. You can get water testing kits from the hardware store. If the drinking water in your area does not meet with your standards (that means odor, too, because if it doesn’t smell good either you won’t drink it) use water filters. Water filters can be mounted right onto the faucet, under the sink, or to a pitcher (such as Brita®). Initially the cost can run from $20 to over a $150, plus your time for installation but you’ll make up for the expense and the cost to our environment in no time.

Beans, beans, a healthy meal; the more you eat, the faster earth heals. Besides having more fiber and no cholesterol, beans are more versatile and keep much longer and safer than beef. Working parents can make a 15 bean stoup Sunday night for dinner and have a few lunches and plenty of left over for hectic nights.

In a really large pot, saute one chopped yellow onion, 3 chopped carrots, 2 chopped stalks of celery, a few crushed cloves of garlic in olive oil; add a large can of stewed tomatoes including juice, pour entire bag of rinsed 15 beans into pot and add enough water to cover all the beans by one index finger. Add a teaspoon each of salt, dried parsley and 3 tablespoons of vegetable bouillon. Simmer for about 2 hours. Stir and check periodically to make sure there’s enough water. You can add small pasta the last 15 minutes. Serve with fresh ground pepper, tobasco sauce, veggie bacon bits, parmesan cheese and green onions.

Gone are the days of the bluish grey flourescent light bulbs that flicker and buzz. Today’s flourescent lights are not only cheaper (lasting 5 to 10 times longer than incandescent lights) but are a more efficient use of energy. They are brighter and no longer cast that grey depressing light. Compact fluorescent bulbs need to be recycled so just remember to read the instructions on how and where.

Use cloth napkins and linens at mealtime. It saves thousands of sheets of paper per family each year. After a few meals throw them in the regular wash and you’ll never feel the difference doing the laundry and you won’t detect it in your water bill.

OUT OF CONTROL

Dare I say, “Water color is magical”? As a child you start with crayons, then pencils and then paint. Mommy puts a plastic pail of water next to your tempura set and you douse the brush, the paper and the apron with water. Colors run unevenly all over and you smear it and mix it until the paper is a muddy greyish-brown. Didn’t it make you feel like you were creating? Nothing was more instantly gratifying for a budding artist.

Then you grow up: You demand control. So you start using less water and eventually you are introduced to acrylic, guache and oil. There never seems to be enough Watercolor 101 classes in college and it’s no longer taken seriously. The only time you see watercolor lessons are on some obscure cable show at two in the morning. Along with your opinion of water, there goes the freedom, the unpredictability and the magic.

There is a place for watercolor in the illustration industry and Photoshop is the perfect place to create it. You never run out of water, the water is always clean, and you have every size of brush conceivable—but the best part of all is that your paper never gets over-saturated.

WHAT MAKES A WATERCOLOR LOOK LIKE, WELL, WATERCOLOR?

Uh… water? The more the painting takes on the look of wateryness the more it distinguishes itself from an oil or acrylic painting. Allowing the paper to show through makes the painting look airy and using the white of the paper keeps the colors pure. A confident and light touch creates transparency and an ethereal quality that only watercolor can achieve. A distinct characteristic of paint on water is the way pigment gets wicked to the edge of a saturated area, bleeds and—once dried—create lines and feathers.

Hey, I thought this was about Photoshop—In order to create an illusion of Watercolor, you have to know what characteristics make that style—what elements are essential. Pardoxically, you’ll be trying to deliberately create something that in it’s own essence can and should be unpredictable. That’s the beauty of watercolor.

SAMPLE PROCESS: WATERCOLOR—WET

Getting Started—In SAMPLE PROCESS: PENCIL SKETCH I spoke about the importance of creating the Photoshop illustration at 100% with enough dpi. For a Watercolor illustration it’s even more vital. Since watercolor has gradations, eliminating too much of the color variation can cause banding. When saving for the Web go to FILE > SAVE FOR WEB & DEVICES then choose a high Colors number (I used 50 to 100 for many of the sample illustrations shown) and if using the Transparency option keep in mind that the color of your Background will effect the Colors in your art.

Document Setup—Let’s illustrate a flower for a spa logo. Using Photoshop CS3 for Mac, set Document Size to 8 x 6 inches; 300pixels/inch; CMYK Color Mode with a White Background. I prefer CMYK Mode because creating colors this way makes more sense. Later, if using Curves and Color Adjusters, CMYK Mode can work more logically than RGB.

Tools Setup—I recommend that you never use the Path tool for watercolor technique. Stick with the Lasso. This freehand, imperfect way of selecting comes closer to using frisket. Frisket is a water-repellent liquid that is painted onto the paper and when it dries keeps watercolor paint from adhering. In Photoshop you can create as many frisket-like selections, as intricate in detail as possible and recall them at any time. More on that later. It’s best to keep the Lasso Feather at 0—you want clean hard edges.

To cover large areas, a high Feather Airbrush or Brush can be used. For the painting and finer detail go to WINDOW > BRUSHES. Check Shape Dynamics and Wet Edges. Choose Pen Pressure where shown and match your settings. It’s not an exact science so adjust the Minimum, Diameter, and Roundness Settings to whatever pleases you. Experiment!

Selections—However you create your selection remember to save them by going to SELECT > SAVE SELECTION. Check New Channel and Name it something logical. You’ll be able to recall any selection, combine, subtract and intersect with other selections without having to recreate.

FOUNDATION

Simple Broad Areas—Start with 100 Y in the Color Picker. Create New Layer and name it Petal Left. With the Lasso draw the shape of a petal. Save Selection as Petal Left. Go to EDIT > FILL; choose Foreground Color; Normal Blending Mode; 20% Opacity. Why this way? If you have 20 Y in the Color Picker and FILL you will not have a Transparent Layer. It’s a watercolor so keep it transparent.

Change the Color Picker to 3 M 70 Y; Brush Opacity 20% Flow 100%. If you haven’t already, change your Brush settings according to Tools Setup. Hide the selection (COMMAND H) so the marching ants are not a distraction. Paint some detail where shown. In this blog, scroll ahead to see what the final looks like so you have an idea of where to add color and detail.

Create another Layer and name it Petal Right; Repeat the process from Petal Left. Add a deeper color (10 C 30 M 100 Y) toward the center of the flower.

Paint a Petal Left TOP and Petal Right TOP.

To add a curl on Petal Left, Lasso the selection; Erase away paint so that the White Background shows through. Remember that you’ve painted several levels in this area so you’ll have to Erase each layer until you see the desired result.

BUILDING on the FOUNDATION

Adding More Color and Contrast—To add, eliminate and change color use the Saved Selections by going to SELECTION > LOAD SELECTION and choose the Channel you need.

If you need a more selective area, go to SELECTION > LOAD SELECTION and Subtract or Intersect. Don’t forget that you can reach some of the pull down menus by CONTROL Clicking. In this example, you can Airbrush or Brush color or…

INVERSE Selection and Erase some paint.

Adding Detail—Create a new Layer and name it Pistil & Stamen; Lasso some pistils and paint from white to a strong orange. Then Lasso some stamen. I often use the Color Picker with the current color showing so that I can pick a new color that has the same intensity and quality.

Remember to brush with low Opacity and apply color randomly.

Utilizing Layer Masks—Create a new Layer and name it Leaf; Lasso the shape of a leaf; Color Picker to 65 C 20 M 100 Y 5 K; Fill first with 40% Foreground Color then paint in more detail and color with the Brush.

Go to WINDOWS > LAYERS and choose Add Layer Mask.

Lasso the area of the leaf you want to Mask out and fill that selection with 100 K. That part of the leaf is still there only it’s hidden behind a Mask. If you need to move or enlarge the leaf later, it still exists wholly.

FINAL TOUCHES

Adding Depth—By using the Selections you’ve created and saved, continue to add more color with the Brush or Burn some of the existing color. Pull off some color with the Eraser. The contrast will add depth. Again, remember to pay attention and care to all the Layers you’ve created.

Intentionals—Transparent overlays, bleeding, smudges and wicking are all such lovely details that make a watercolor distinct. Add just enough of these lovely organic details to make your digital painting look traditional. A quick selection tool is the Wand. Set the Tolerance to a high number such as 32 to be able to select a larger color variation area and lower to be more selective.

Finally, duplicate and flatten all the Layers. Hide all other Layers except the White Background. My favorite painting tool is the Smudge. Set the brush size to 50; Hardness to 50 and the Srength to 30%. Smudge out some areas.

In the magenta marquis, see how it’s been smudged? Lastly, take a highly feathered Eraser and tap some areas to remove large amounts of paint. Be brave— remember you not only have whole layers but also Undo and History.

WHAT’S IN A SKETCH?

There are some clients that still require “pencil sketches”. It must be a comfort thing to see that graphite sketchy grey drawing that really doesn’t give you much information—similar to coffee before committing to a date. I’ve been doing digital drawings for so long that picking up a pencil and making a mess on my desk with eraser shavings really annoys me. However, I do see the appeal of showing a client a pencil looking sketch. It makes them feel like they’ve really hired an artist or an illustrator. Plus, most people don’t really understand digital illustration anyway. They think the computer does the drawing. Be aware that drawing is drawing, and a sketch takes time especially if you are also coming up with the concept and/or composition. It doesn’t matter what tools are used—pencil & paper or Photoshop & stylus—so don’t forget to factor that time and cost into your illustration budget.

I never touched paper or pencil with this piece. I’m an illustrator to make money and the romance of paper and pencil needs to stay at home or in my free time when I want to be “artsy”. As much as I miss having the underside of my palm turn grey with graphite dust, nothing beats the control and versatility of Photoshop and a stylus.

KNOW YOUR TOOLS

Choosing between cold- and hot-press boards, soft and dense graphite, and even types of erasers made all the differences in the quality of a pencil drawing. It’s the same with Photoshop. The more knowledge you have about Photoshop, its interface, tools and possibilities, the more you can concentrate on the actual art. Start with a drawing pen (stylus) and tablet. These will allow you to use the pressure and tilt sensitivity settings, as well as work in proportion. The mouse was created to get around a desktop and move the curser—not to draw with. Use the brush selection palette, layers, brush flow and some filters. There’s many ways to skin this cat so the more you know about the software, the more you can create processes of your own.

It’s important to utilize Photoshop for all its precise measurements and exact drawing and selection tools. This will save you time; revisions will be easier. The following techniques will allow you to produce traditional looking drawings but it’s your talent that creates the artistry.

SAMPLE PROCESS: PENCIL SKETCH

Getting Started—You need to know what size to build your illustration, not only width and height but also in dpi (dots per inch). Do the illustration at 100%. If you make it too large or too small, the art will have to be reduced or enlarged when placing into a layout. That might be okay up to 20% but any more than that will degrade the quality of the art. Enlarging makes the pixels look rasterized and hard; while decreasing makes the pixels close up and this causes the loss of detail which defines a “pencil sketch”.

Document Setup—Using Photoshop CS3 for Mac: My example is 6 x 4 inches; 300pixels/inch; Greyscale Color Mode; with a White Background.

Tools Setup—Use the Brush tool; 9 Pixel Diameter; 100% Hardness; Mode on Dissolve; Opacity at 50%. In the Color Picker, use 70 K. Nothing in Brushes palette should be checked.

Precise Drawing—At this point you can either start drawing your object freehand or use the Pen tool to plot an outline. Since this will be a vehicle, I’m using the Pen tool to create smooth lines that I can adjust. Unlike a tree, the drawing needs to be more precise.

With Brush tool selected, choose the Outline Path icon from the Path palette.

It’s not beautiful yet but here’s what you get.

Continue adding to the drawing using the tools you feel most comfortable with: freehand with a Brush, plot with a Path, or select with a Marquis. If you use the round Selection Marquis go to SELECT > MODIFY > BORDER then choose the pixel width (I used 4). Then fill the border you just created with a fat Brush. It’s more work than just outlining a Path but you can control the density of your line and even miss some areas to make it look imperfect.

Adding Detail—In the Brush palette, check the Shape Dynamics option and decrease the size of the Brush. Add finer detail. Once the main lines are drawn, I freehand most everything else. If there’s an area that needs a straight line, press SHIFT in conjunction with most tools to utilize the Rubberband.

Adding Depth—Change the color from 70 K to 90 but not to 100 (solid black) and brush over the areas you wish to darken and make dense. Change the color to 40 K and decrease the size of the Brush for finer detail and shading. If there is an area that gets too dense and you don’t want to lose some of the work you’ve done by reverting in the History palette, change the Color Picker to White (QuickKey D > X) and sketch over. (You can use the Eraser just make sure you set Mode to Dissolve and use the right size Brush—it’s just more work.)

Completing the Drawing—Add a Layer: name it Background. A quick way to control greyness and detail for the background art is to adjust the Opacity in that Layer only.

Final Touches—I use a small Diameter White Brush and scribble out some lines and mess up the drawing so that overall it has that hand drawn look. Use Burn and/or Dodge to darken or lighten areas without adding muddiness or deleting necessary detail.

Copy the two drawn Layers and Flatten. Go to FILTER > BLUR > GUASSIAN BLUR and choose or whatever you prefer (I used .4). Uncheck Preview so you can see the effect and the original at the same time. If your client needs to change something, the original drawing is still available for you to adjust.

And of course, art always looks better in a frame.

There are good times to be gluttonous… well, actually never. On birthdays and Fourth of July BBQs we can gorge ourselves on ribs and egg salad and cheeseburgers—but did you know that eating animal products creates more waste and consumes more resources than driving your car everyday? So something as simple as cutting animal products (meat, eggs, dairy) just one day a week can effect your conservation by 16%. How easy is that? Have oatmeal with bananas for breakfast; veggie sandwich with avocado and fries for lunch; and a heaping mound of pasta (dry has no egg) and grilled vegetables with olive oil for dinner. If it’s really that hard for you, know that you’ll be able to have the egg, bacon and cheese breakfast sandwhich just 12 hours away.

Walk that 20 feet to your recycle bin to trash your milk cartons and egg crates so that you don’t have to go through so many paper or plastic bags each week.

Use your widgets. In addition to your dictionary and telephone book, use your digital desktop calculator instead of buying that attractive black and grey calculator to decorate your desk.

If you belong to Corporation Whatever and you are required to have your name and position imprinted on 1000 business cards housed in a double lid cardboard box to collect dust atop your desk along with 499 of your fellow employees (that’s 499,000 3×2.5 inch pieces of paper and 998 foot-long boxes) you probably can’t do this. Rather, use your e-mail and the internet to keep in touch and exchange business information.