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Under Construction


Harry P.

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Some of you have asked me about my technique for "drawing" cars in Photoshop, so here's an example of how things start out. As you can see, I lay in solid areas of color first, then go back (always on a new layer) and add shadows, highlights and generally define the shapes. Here I've started on the front end, refining the shape of the hood.

Once I'm satisfied with how a particular area looks, I'll merge that layer down, and start a new area (on a new layer)... always merging layers as I "finish" an area, to keep the number of layers down to a manageable size.

I'll do the whole body, then add lights and grille, interior, wheels, etc. There's no real particular order... I'll work on whatever I feel like working on at the moment, and often I'll jump around, but basically I do the body first, then add the details like grilles, wheels, etc.

underconstruction.jpg

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:o Harry, I know its just to show us, but do you think you can finish it? It already looks like it'd be a nice lookin ride. Did it start as a 48 Chev like the ones from Galaxie? Either way, it does look pretty cool, and I'm sure whatever you do to it'll be BAD!!! I like it already!!! :lol:
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Thanks for a peak at how you do it. I assume you're using a drawing pad. Do you draw the basic shape freehand or base it on photographic sources (or both)?

No drawing pad. I've tried it and didn't like it. I use a mouse, and draw the basic shapes with a combination of the ellipse tool and the freehand "lasso" tool (in Photoshop, I'm talking about). I draw the basic shape, then sometimes I have to go back and refine the shapes and smooth the curves. In the picture I posted above, you can see that the front edge of the bumper is still pretty crude... I drew it by making the shape with the lasso tool and dumping color into the shape with the paint bucket tool. You can see that the edge is not a smooth shape yet. I'll go back and refine that edge until it's smooth, using the various shape-creating tools I mentioned, the paintbrush tool and/or the eraser tool.

Forgot to answer your second question. Yes, I use a photo reference if I'm creating an illustration from scratch. Other times, like when I do a "what if" illustration, I'll start with an existing photo and draw the customized part freehand. In this GTO, I started with a photo of a stock GTO and drew the front end without any photo references because there ARE NONE! ;) It's strictly a "what if" design that I just made up out of my head.

gto.jpg

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Thanx Harry. You sure are a wizard with a mouse, I must say! I've never been able to relate the grip on a mouse to holding a pen or pencil in my hand.

I'm old enough to have done things the "old way"...airbrush and markers on illustration board. The transition to computer was VERY tough for me. The biggest hangup was the disconnect between moving the mouse over here.... and seeing the result over there! (on the screen). Like you said, it's a very different feel than what you get when holding a pen or pencil in your hand. That "direct" connection between pen or pencil and drawing surface is gone when you "draw" electronically. It was very strange and took me some time to get used to. But eventually using the mouse became second nature to me, and by the time the more advanced pressure-sensitive electronic drawing tablets came out, I was so used to doing things with the mouse that the drawing pad felt weird to me! So I stuck with the mouse.

Now that I've been "drawing" electronically all these years, it would probably feel strange to me if I tried to do an "old fashioned" airbrush or marker illustration! That's progress, I guess... ;)

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  • 2 weeks later...
No drawing pad. I've tried it and didn't like it. I use a mouse, and draw the basic shapes with a combination of the ellipse tool and the freehand "lasso" tool (in Photoshop, I'm talking about). I draw the basic shape, then sometimes I have to go back and refine the shapes and smooth the curves. In the picture I posted above, you can see that the front edge of the bumper is still pretty crude... I drew it by making the shape with the lasso tool and dumping color into the shape with the paint bucket tool. You can see that the edge is not a smooth shape yet. I'll go back and refine that edge until it's smooth, using the various shape-creating tools I mentioned, the paintbrush tool and/or the eraser tool.

Forgot to answer your second question. Yes, I use a photo reference if I'm creating an illustration from scratch. Other times, like when I do a "what if" illustration, I'll start with an existing photo and draw the customized part freehand. In this GTO, I started with a photo of a stock GTO and drew the front end without any photo references because there ARE NONE! :blink: It's strictly a "what if" design that I just made up out of my head.

gto.jpg

nice tutorial Harry. hope you don't inspire anyone else to make GMs look like Mopars :lol:

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