Luminous Life

8/10/2019 Luminous Life

1/52


2/52

My name is Asha Black. I am 24 years old. Ever since I wasa young child, I have created artwork.

In my free time I sketch. Most of the time I draw with pencilsand markers, but sometimes I use pastels and charcoal.

I read everydayblogs, novels, but mostly mythology,folklore, essays, historical texts and treatises. Recently, Ihave learned to build computers and have even built myown computer to use at home. Surprisingly, its easier than Ithought itd be and very fun too.

I am a gamer. The genres that interest me the most areinteractive novels, RPGs (roleplaying games, that tend tofocus on storyline and character development) genres.Video games appeal to me because theyre an interactiveart form that has reached people on a grand scale. To use

an analogy, a group of game developers may set the stage,the props, and the characters, but the player is the one whocontrols where the props go and how the characters interact.

This is my rst year at Saint Xavier, but this is not my rst

time attending a university. In fact, I am a transfer student. Iwished to go back to school and nish my bachelors degree.I chose to continue my education at Saint Xavier University.

I am a Graphic Design major. I chose to this major becauseI have always loved to create artwork, not only for myselfbut for others. made my own gifts for family and friendsIwould draw sketches, make cards, and try (emphasis on try)to paint. I hope I can use my skills to create artwork that isfunctional and aesthetically appealing.

Introduction:

the Author and the Artist


3/52

T ABLE OF CONTENTS

EARLY SKETCHES 4 - 7

LIL RED TEAPOT 8 - 15

THROUGH THE DRIPPING GLASS 16-21

HUE AND COLOR HARMONY 22-25

WILDFLOWERS 26-35

LIVELY MACAW 36-41

LINES, ALIVE!: T HE P EN T OOL 42-43

SUGARY SWEET: C REATING AN INFOGRAPHIC 44-49

FIRE INSIDE 50-51


4/524 Luminous Life


5/52Luminous Lif e 5

E ARLY S KETCHESOne of the rst exercises we learned was a warm upexercise, drawing the shape and contour of an object fromobservation using only 100 lines. Of course we could use

as many lines as necessary to draw the shape.

The purpose of this exercise was to accustom us to using astylus and tablet to draw in Adobe Illustrator. The process isdifferent than using traditional media such as a pencil andpaper. When I use a pencil and paper to draw, I not onlymove my hand and arm (as I do with a stylus), I can alsomove my body to see the angles of an object and measurethe proportions. I also usually draw axis lines to help me withscaling of an object.

Another difference I found using Adobe Illustrator insteadof traditional media, is that its harder to quickly change theweight of the lines as I am drawing. (By weight I refer to the

value, width, and boldness of a line). With a pencil or penor brush, I press harder and adjust my drawing angle whenI want change the weight of the lines. Its a bit more of anintuitive process.

At the time I hadnt experimented with Adobe Illustrator. Soto change the weight of the lines, I had to change the weightof the stroke as well as the type of brush being used whileworking. So I sketch slower than I would with traditionaltools, because I have to go back and forth to adjust thestroke size.


6/526 Luminous Life



This is a wine glass drawn with a stylus and tablet in AdobeIllustrator. In one layer, I drew the lines. I then added a

background and foreground using the lled ellipse tool. Iused grayscale colors as this was only a contour drawingand not a value drawing.

I later edited and added variations with the Brush tool.Under the strokes tool window, I selected the Brushestab and clicked the right hand menu option > Open BrushLibrary > Artistic > Artistic_Ink and Artistic_Chalk sets.

W INEGLASSES AND

B RUSHES


8/528 Luminous Life



Lil REd TEAPOTThis teapot was drawn in Adobe Illustrator with a stylusand tablet. For the teapot itself, I used the brush tool witha default 5 pt oval brush. The shadow of the teapot wasmade using the brush tool with a charcoal brush on a layerbeneath the foreground object. The background was madewith the lled rectangle tool, with neutral, desaturated greenhues to bring out the reds and magentas of the teapot in theforeground. The shadow is drawn in a dark red-purple hue,using a charcoal brush.

There were multiple steps to get to this nal product.


10/52

Step 1: Blocking in the shape

The rst thing I did was to block in the shape of the teapot,drawing the contour of the teapot using a series of strokes.

I used the brush tool, with a 5 pt round brush, 1 pt width, witha uniform stroke. I used black to draw the darkest values(shadows) and so I could add lighter values (midtones) andhighlights later.

10 Luminous Life

step-by-step process


11/52

Step 2: Re ning the shape

Using the same tools, I continued to re ne and block in theshape.

I lled in the darkest shadows (in the center of the teapot)and smoothed the edges of the shape. The handle, thespout, the bottom of the teapot was rounded.

Luminous Lif e 11


12/5212 Luminous Life

Step 3: Adding values

Using the brush tool, I continued to re ne and block in theshape.

I lled in the darkest shadows (in the center of the teapot)and smoothed the edges of the shape. The handle, thespout, the bottom of the teapot was rounded. I added gray-scales to add value to the shape, the midtones representedwith a medium gray. The highlights on the object were drawnin white.



Step 4: Adding space

In a new layer (located below the layer containing theartwork), I used the rectangle tool to add a foreground and

a background.

This was to add the illusion of space and to make it seem asthought it were an object positioned in space and not a free

oating teapot from another dimension.


15/52

After completing the grayscale value drawing in AdobeIllustrator, I saved a new version to experiment with colorand make the image more interesting. The nal result is ateapot of warm hues against a neutral green background.

First I opened the Color Guide window (Shift+F7). Then Iselected all lines of the teapot using select all (CMD+A).

Once highlighted, I then used the Edit or apply colorsoption on the Color Guide menu. (This option is on the righthand side of the color guide menu and looks like a miniaturecolor wheel.) This opens up a new popup window with a dropdown menu with two tabs edit and assign, representingtwo different options for applying color. The edit menu uses acolor wheel. The assign window lets you edit colors directly,based on the existing colors.

Atop the color guide window is a drop down menu forselecting different color schemes. For this teapot I usedhigh contrast scheme with a warm palette, but I also couldhave used an option like shades (assigns different light anddark values of one hue), complementary or analgous.

STEP 5: color ,

experimentation

Luminous Lif e 15



This jar was the nal result of a multi-step process, that be -gun with drawing a jar from observation. After successiveedits, the nal result is a dripping rainbow pastel jar.

t hrough t he dripping g l ass



Drawing from observationI drew a glass jar from observation, re ning the shape andadding value. I then added a foreground and background.Afterwards, experimentations!

First I edited and added variations with the Brush tool.Under the strokes tool window, I selected the Brushestab and clicked the right hand menu option > Open BrushLibrary > Artistic > Artistic_Ink and Artistic_Chalk sets. Iused the charcoal tool and while it was an interesting effect,I thought it was ordinary and not distinct enough from the

nalized value drawing.



The second to last step was applying a new brush to the jar. Selecting the lines of the artwork (using CMD+A), I thenopened the Strokes window. Under the strokes tool window,I selected the Brushes tab and clicked the right hand menuoption > Open Brush Library > Decorative > Elegant & Curl

brushes.

I liked the effect because it made the drawing look like it wasmade with wet, dripping paint that was allowed to dry andblend. It was still recognizable as a jar. The dripping look iswhy I applied a whimsical, rainbow like pastel color paletteto the nal drawing.

wet strokes


22/5222 Luminous Lif e


23/52Luminous Life 23

The Color Wheel and Color Harmony

The primary colors are blue, yellow, and red. By mixing twoof these, you get the secondary colorsgreen, orange, and

violet. And the tertiary colors are mixtures of primary andsecondary colors; ex, blue and green creates blue-green,yellow and orange to yellow-orange.

Colors opposite from one another on the color wheel arecomplementary. A pair of complementary colors can be veryclashing if two saturated values are used together. But withbalanced values, the hues can be very striking and eyecatching. Colors adjacent on the color wheel are analogous,such as red and orange or blue and green.

Cool colors are blues, greens, and violets (violets closer toblue / indigo). Cool colors are soothing and calming.

Warm colors are reds, oranges, and yellows. Warm colorsare exciting, arousing. Warm colors are more visible at adistance, especially at night. (This is why stop signs are redand street lights are orange-yellow.)

For these sets of illustrations, I began with a common colorof blue, and used it in analogous, complementary, and coolcolor schemes. I used a photograph as a reference for eachillustration.

Hue & Color Harmony



A ROUGH DRAFT , W ITH BASIC SHAPES AND OUTLINES


25/52

Working Process for Illustrations

For this illustration, I used Adobe Illustrator, a digital tabletand stylus.

The color in all of my color illustrations is blue (the speci cvalue is #00599B, RGB 0,89,155.) In each drawing, I usedthe brush tool on a uniform stroke, with a brush size of 0.25

pt (for small, ne details) up to 15 pt (for broad strokes).Whenever I painted the background, I used the size 5 roundbrush at 15 pt. For outlining foreground and backgroundobjects, I used the size 5 oval brush at 3 to 5 pt. For smallerdetails and strokes, I used a 0.25 to 1 pt size 3 oval brush.

I wanted to emphasize a sketchy, rough look. I began byusing a medium blue for the foreground objects. I thenoutlined the contours of the object. Finally would I createa new layer and lled in the background with a lighter ordarker color to set the overall tone of the drawing.

In each of the illustrations, I arranged the layers by

background, mid-ground, and foreground. My logic is thatthe background would contain a base splash color or simpleshapes. The simple foreground objects (in this image,the stems and grapes). The foreground would containvalues of foreground objects and the contours (outlines) offoreground objects.

Luminous Life 25

U SING LAYERS TO COMPOSE A DIGITAL ILLUSTRATION


26/52

Wildflowers

This is an illustration of a cluster of a bloom of wildviolets and foliage. After nishing the rst draft, I appliedvarious effects to enhance the composition.

26 Luminous Life


28/52

THE ORIGINAL DRAFT

28 Luminous Life


29/52

Creating the rst draft

The third in a series of color illustrations, this drawing isbased on a photograph of a bloom of wild violets, clusteredwith the leaves of other plant species. I had to abstract theimage--in the original photo, the background leaves wereout of focus and there was thick foliage.

I recreated the image by using four layers: a backgroundlayer containing a canvas color (a dark green), a layerfor foliage (darker and desaturated greens), a layer forforeground foliage (bright and saturated greens), and alayer for the owers.

I began with the same value of blue. I used the Cool,Saturated, and Foliage color swatches.

Although the nal image was interesting, it did not feelcomplete. This is when I began experimenting with brushesand the color edit tool.

Luminous Lif e 29



THE bACkGROUND FOLIAGE , DUPLICATED



Editing layers & Applying texture

First, I duplicated the background foliage layer (named fo-liage dark in the le) and shifted its position to make it looklike a new cluster of foliage.

I then applied two different charcoal brushes to each layer.One layer used charcoal brush, the other foliage layer Iapplied the charcoal (smooth) brush. (Both brushes arefound under the Artistic -> Artistic_ChalkCharcoalPen in thebrushes library.)

For the foreground foliage, I selected the existing art. ThenI applied the Dry Ink 1 brush (Artistic-> Artistic_Ink).

Finally, I selected the lineart on the owers later. I used theCalligraphy brush (from Artistic_Ink library) for a smoothertexture.

THE F OREGROUND FOLIAGE


33/52

Testing colors

After changing the texture of the image, I used the coloredit tool to test new color schemes. For this image, Iused a bright magenta (found under the Nature -> Flow-ers palette) and paired it with cool violets and blues. Iused the High Contrast color scheme.

Though the nished product is very striking, I actuallyliked the previous draft more with the original color pal-ette and cool color scheme.

Luminous Lif e 33



T HE BEGINNING STAGE



Lively Macaw In this illustration, I used a complementary color scheme.Initially, I was going to limit the colors to blue and orange.Eventually, I added shades of blue-violet and yellow tocreate visual interest. The background is a brownish-orange. The branches the macaw is perched on arevariations on orange and brown. The leaves are yellowand orange.

Once again, I used multiple layers to divide the composition.

The background, foliage, branches are on individuallayers. The macaw itself is on divided on multiple layers:the feet, beak, body & wing, the orange feathers and claw,and its eye.



Applying Texture

I applied different brushes for each layer tochange the texture of the drawing. Before, thedifferent objects in the illustrating were verysmooth and uniform. If it werent for the differentvalues and brush sizes used, the objects wouldnot pop out. After applying new brushes tothe existing strokes, there was clear variationbetween objects with texture as well as color.

The macaws feathers are two differentbrushes: fountain pen and chalk-blunt. I usedfountain pen, an ink-based brush (found underBrushes -> Library -> Artistic -> Artistic Ink) tocreate a light, feathery texture on the dark bluefeathers. For the bright blue feathers, I used

Chalk-Blunt (Brushes -> Library -> Artistic ->Artistic_ChalkCharcoalPencil). For the twigsI used Chalk-Round and the leaves I usedCalligraphy-1 (an ink brush).

I was able to get an amazing variation of texturesand create the illusion of using traditional mediawith the default brushes in Adobe Illustrator.



The nal draft

On the nal draft, I created contrast using the

Color Edit tool. I was satis ed with the color ofthe macaw, but I thought the twigs and leavescould use more contrast. I used the Foliageswatch (Window -> Swatches -> Swatch Library-> Nature -> Foliage) as the base. The foliageswatch had not only many shades of green, butvibrant reds, yellows, oranges. The nal drafthas a lot more contrast than the rst.



Fonts are a form of vector art: they must be easily reproducedand resized for multiple mediums.

Logos (symbols representing an idea or brand) are also atype of vector. A logo may be placed on anything: documents,products, ads. It must be reproducible for multiple media.

Vector art is also used in infographics to create images andillustrations.

Lines, Alive!The pen tool (P) is another method for drawing in AdobeIllustrator. It takes practice to use and is not as intuitive asthe brush tool. Whereas the brush tool is used for freehanddrawing, the pen tool is designed to draw lines and geometricshapes. By clicking one point of the canvas when activated,then dragging the stylus and nishing that point. Curvesare drawn by dragging the mouse or stylus on the canvasbefore nishing the point.

The pen tool is used to create a vector drawing. Unlike pixelart, a vector drawing can easily be resized without distortingthe image or losing image quality.


43/52

What is an infographic?

Luminous Lif e 43

An infographic is a visual tool to present concise informationabout a speci c topic by using text and images. It is neither aposter or pamphlet or magazine article, but its own medium.

When a graphic artist makes an infographic, they want tocontrol the ow of data with images, charts, color, fonts.Images enhance and visualize accompanying text.

Large fonts are used to pinpoint titles, subtopics and facts.

Of course color scheme and fonts and images you usedepends on the topic, the visuals, and the audience. ( Who will be reading your infographic?)



S UGAR : SWEET AND ADDICTIVE



Sugary sweetThe infographic I created was about sugar consumption inthe United States. I divided my infographic into four parts:the amount of sugar Americans eat, the source of thesugars, the sugars in natural/healthy foods (fruits), and theeffect of sugar addiction.

The rst step was research, compiling and summarizingdata. The second step was compiling reference photos todraw illustrations for the infographic.

Working Process in Adobe Illustrator

I began by creating a new le and placing a reference photoin its own layer (File -> Place or Shift-CMD-P). I then createda new layer. Using the pen tool I would trace the photo,starting with the basic shape with a median value or hue.Then I would draw the shadows, the highlights, to add depthand details to the image. The color palettes were taken fromthe reference photo using the Eyedropper tool (I).

For the sugar drawing, I also used the scaling and perspectivetool to change the angle of the text and allude to depth.

Creating an infographic



Apples and Oranges

To draw the orange, I used a new technique. Instead ofpainstakingly tracing every curve of the orange with thepen tool, I simply used the ellipse tool (right-click on therectangle tool or shortcut L) to draw the face of the orange.

The side of the orange and the inner fruit were all tracedwith the pen tool.

To draw the apple, I used the pen tool to trace the mainbody of the apple, the stem, and inner contour on their ownlayers. I then traced multiple highlights (from the lighting inthe reference photograph) and placed them on their ownlaters.

Finally, I duplicated the body and lled it with a darkerred. I then used the eraser tool to shape it into a shadow.(This same technique was used to create the highlight andshadows on the stem.)



Bringing it all together

I had my data and illustrations completted. Now it was time

to create the infographic. The original le was in tabloid size(11x17 inches), portrait orientation. The challenge was ttingall this information together in one spot and making it ow.

What was it that I wanted people to know? How much sugardo we eat? since this infographic was all about foods andtheir effects. So I placed it in the center of the page, with thelargest font and its own unique font. The spoon is also partof the title, to reinforce the eating. The sugar is near the topof the page so people know what the infographic is about.

I used different colors and fonts to seperate the foursubtopics. In each title, the word sugar is pink to repeatthe motif.

The data itself is grouped together visually by containers.I used neutral browns and greens for the background, soit would not clash with the bright and saturated hues in theaccompanying illustrations.

The different hues of brown are supposed to representcandies and chocolates and caramels. The green, circularcontainer that is the backgrond for fresh fruit is intentionallydesigned to contrast the other containers and background.



This illustration began as a drawing of a ame-lit candle.As I was drawing the candle though, inspiration struck. Iwasnt drawing with a speci c goal in mind anymore. Flamesbecame wisps and feathers. I saw a new shape in what I

drew. A small ame transformed into a rebird, soaring onluminscent wings.

I decided to make this the cover of this magazine becauseI think it evokes the act of creating art. Often I begin with apreconceived goal or conception, but as I start to draw I amovertaken by sudden inspiration and lost in the ow. What Iimagined is forged into something else entirely.

I hope you enjoyed my art and a look into my workingprocess.

the Fire Insid


52/52

Date post:	02-Jun-2018
Category:	Documents
Upload:	asrablack
View:	234 times
Download:	0 times

Luminous Life

Documents