How to make a cool emoji illustration. Draw a colorful illustration in Photoshop

I have for last days some kind of unprecedented creative and working upsurge. Finally like it own works, made both for customers and for stock. Therefore, it is easy to draw and layout, it’s nice and makes me happy.
I want to reveal the secret of the workflow a little. I’ve been thinking about making a video for a long time about how objects are drawn for stock, but I haven’t gotten around to it yet, so I’ll show it only in pictures and words.

Step 1. Choose a topic
Where does the work begin? From choosing a topic. To be honest, I’m not yet particularly sophisticated about trends, choosing niches (maybe that’s why I have modest numbers in my wallet), I draw what I want. I chose a style for myself, calling it “multi-realism”, that is, realistic enough to convey volume and shadows, but at the same time leave cartoonish fury and gloss. Currently I am working in the “objects” genre, but later I plan to include people and small stories here.

I am never faced with the question “What to draw”, rather “What to draw first”. I am impressed by absolutely everything: food in cafes, store windows, beautiful photos people, the works of other authors. Fortunately, I don’t have to sit at the monitor, dragging different flowers back and forth in the hope that something decent will come out. I completely abandoned creating backgrounds, textures, business cards and other things that were quite popular among other stockers. It just didn’t work out, I didn’t enjoy the process of making them, and accordingly they didn’t sell at all.
When I sit down at the computer, I always already have an idea of ​​what I want to see as a result, but I’m getting a little ahead of myself.

So, choosing a topic. I always and everywhere carry a diary with me, which, by the way, also really puts me in a creative mood. And as soon as an idea comes to my mind, I add it to the Mind Map. I won’t go into detail about what it is, this information can easily be Googled, I’ll just clarify that the method is really cool. Allows you to structure ideas without squeezing them into a framework, allowing the development of one thought indefinitely.
This is what my cards usually look like.
Ideas are written down on a web, then thought about and analyzed. Something is postponed, and something gets life in the second stage.

Stage 2. Sketches
Everything here is extremely simple and clear; if I choose a topic, then I list which items can relate to it. And then I look for pictures of the necessary items and copy them into my moleskine. It is necessary to copy, stock photos do not allow you to use other people’s photographs as direct references (redrawing of other people’s photos), but if you select several pictures, take something from one, something from another and eventually get your own drawing, then everything is fine, the author’s the right was not affected.
To be honest, I draw so-so, my hand is not focused on creating straight lines, but this is not particularly necessary, which is why I love vector.
The sketches here serve as approximate schematic sketches, from which I will take general shape. Illustrator tools that allow you to draw will later save you from crooked lines. smooth circles and rectangles.

Stage 3. How do others do it?
For myself, I have established the basic principle of working with stock: my pictures should be no worse in quality than those presented on the first pages of popular ones. If the work is not up to par, I will tinker with it until I am satisfied with the result. Naturally here we're talking about and works on the same topic and in the same technique as mine.

Yesterday I decided to draw on the theme of Fast Food. Using this search query I found cute sausages in dough, potatoes, cola. I chose what I would buy myself if I had such an order, and simply what pleased the eye. I directly throw the pictures I find onto the sheet where I am going to work. I don’t take anything from them, neither color, nor shape, nor style. I only need a general impression, everything else will come from my sketches and selected palettes.

Stage 4. Design of basic forms.
Then work with the computer begins. I have a graphics tablet, but I use it extremely rarely; I like to boast that all my work was done with a mouse, which, by the way, pure truth. Main tool: pen. Those who understand vectors will understand what the essence is. In short, the pen allows you to draw curved lines of any shape using points and vectors.
With a pen (for objects that require evenness: mugs, plates, boxes - ellipses, rectangles), I outline the main details, paint them in chaotic colors, just to determine the shape.
The end result is these unattractive illustrations, but general idea is already clear, further only complication.


This 5. Color selection.
Color selection, one of the most important moments, which I categorically don’t trust myself and don’t choose the colors myself. There are many services that allow you to collect beautiful palettes, but this is not quite the same. The main assistant in color selection was the service: shutterstock.labs. Interesting stuff, I recommend digging around, even just for the sake of general development. The site allows you to select photographs on topics of interest, taking into account your preferred palette. For example, I know that to draw Fast Food I will most likely need yellow, red, orange, brown and their shades. I create a corresponding search query and the program gives me ready-made photographs with the same hot dogs, potatoes, etc., and even in bright, beautiful flowers, which I will subsequently use in my work, thanks to the eyedropper tool.

Stage 6. Subject development.
The rough part of the process is completed, let's start creating. For the rendered details, I select colors from found photographs, then add new details: shadows, highlights, light, texture. As a result, I get a set of individual items that can now be assembled.


Stage 7. Composing compositions.
The items are drawn, it's time to think about how to present them. Even during my short stoker activity, I managed to realize that compositions sell better than just items on a white background (although I also upload them in this form and sometimes they buy them). Therefore, now I simply combine our entire collection into different pictures, with backgrounds, without backgrounds, with inscriptions, without them. The more you can create from one collection of pictures, the better. I especially like it when some items can be taken from past works. For example, I added ice cream from the “Summer” collection to the “Fast Food” set. That’s why I try to draw in the same style so that I can combine everything.


This is what my work on pictures looks like. I discovered that such stages left an imprint on my design work, I began to make products of a different style and of much higher quality, which is also pleasing.

Illustrations in a book are an important emotional factor influencing the reader. fiction, which has an aesthetic and semantic impact. Illustrations contribute to a better perception of texts of any level of complexity, helping to make a choice in favor of a specific publication!

In this article we will introduce you to the main points of illustration and tell you about ways to do it. All you have to do is choose the appropriate way to decorate your book with illustrations.

The size, format and location of each illustration in the book has its own purpose. You need to become familiar with how illustrations are typically laid out and drawing techniques so that you can communicate with illustrators on the same language.

Highlight following types illustrations:

• Frontispiece. Such an illustration for a book is printed on a separate thick sheet of paper and glued to the left side of the first book block, spread title page before the first page of text material. Typically, this sheet displays main idea, the action of the story. In some cases, a portrait of the writer or the main character of the plot of the work is placed here.
• Screensaver. It is used to decorate the beginning of a chapter or section, and reproduces a thematic breakdown of the content of the entire rubric part of the publication, this is a kind of graphic introduction. The screensaver prepares the reader for the development of the plot and the emotional perception of the work. In addition to thematic pictures, at the beginning of sections they often use an ornamental, symbolic, subject-decorative thematic composition called a ruler.
• Strip. A drawing that takes up the entire page of a book.
• Half-strip. A picture that is located anywhere on the page: top, bottom, right or left.
• At the centerfold. The image that occupies the spread of the publication.
• Defense. Thematic image framed with text.
• Drawings in the margins. Small images distributed along the edge of the text strip.
• Background. Often used in color gift editions. The text is placed on top of the image.
• Ending or vignette. A picture or graphic element is placed at the end of the text. It is performed in the same plot-thematic execution with the screensaver.

The following are the basic drawing techniques:

• pencil or charcoal;
• watercolor or oil;
• line drawing in the style of books from the glorious times of the USSR;
• computer graphics, including 3D;
• photo collage - an illustration made up of several photographs;
• photorealistic drawing.

Check out the illustrations made in different techniques, and choose the appropriate option for yourself.

Coal Watercolor Pencil Photorealistic painting Line art Photo collage

Attractive publication cover, aesthetic and memorable appearance, thematically correctly selected illustrations are a guarantee of the future success of the book. And here it is important for the author to decide which illustration method to choose.

Method 1: Order illustrations from an illustrator

Hiring a professional illustrator or graphic designer is one of the best options providing your written creation with high-quality images in full accordance with the presentation. All illustrations for the book are made using the same drawing technique, maintaining a single style agreed with the author.

Hiring an illustrator to work is not the cheapest method, but it is the most advantageous in terms of quality and accurate representation of the author’s intention.

Method 2: Select ready-made illustrations for an existing plot

This method is well suited for poems or stories where all the illustrations are not connected by a common theme.

On the Internet you can find many ready-made images on the theme of the work. But you must use them to design your book only with the permission of the artist or photographer, since in this case there are copyrights to the image. Failure to comply with this requirement can lead to unpredictable consequences: litigation, monetary fines.

Therefore, it is better to turn to the services of photo banking sites, where all photographs, reproductions, drawings are provided for a small fee, and sometimes for free. A wide selection and high-quality images allow you to design literary work without violating the copyrights of others. Our publishing house uses the services of the photo bank www.lori.ru, where you can quickly find a suitable image using keywords.

Method 3: Find an artist among your relatives or friends

If you ask, you will be surprised how many people you know can draw. Even if not very professional, but very sweet and sincere. These people will welcome the opportunity to illustrate your book for free, or for a small fee or return favor. Let them draw on paper. And then the publishing house will professionally scan the illustrations and insert them into the book layout.

Services of illustrators of the publishing house TRIUMPH

Our specialists create illustrations in any technique. By ordering the publication of a work from our publishing house, the author gets the opportunity to work directly with the illustrator, which allows him not only to discuss the technique of performing the work, the number of drawings, but also to agree on the cost. Payment is also made directly to the artist.

In this tutorial we will learn how to create an adorable children's illustration using digital painting techniques in Photoshop. Let's start!

The result of our work will look like this:

Lesson details:

• Software: Adobe Photoshop CS5
• Difficulty: medium
• Duration: 8 hours

The following materials were used in this lesson:

• Texture 1

Step 1

Create a new layer File > New (Ctrl + N). The author of the lesson chose the A4 format.

With the tool " Paint Bucket"("Fill" - G) fill the background with a desaturated blue color and add a new layer (Ctrl + N). For the very outlines of the design, use a darker color that you like. The author made several sketches, 3-5 minutes each, leaving three that are more or less suitable for the work.

Step 2

We select the sketch with which we will work. On a new layer with the tool “Brush” (B) we begin to clean and define our drawing.

Step 3

Select the layer on which the sketch is located and set the opacity to 15-20%. Create a new folder below with layers of individual parts of the drawing (body, legs, horns), coloring all parts simple flowers.

Step 4

Before we set the volume of our figures, we need to understand where the light is coming from. IN in this case the light falls slightly to the left. We will take a shade of white (a little blue, not snow white) and draw large areas incident light on Clipping Mask (clipping mask), to create which you need to create a layer above the layer with the body and with the key held downALT click between two layers. Take the "Eraser" tool ("Eraser" - E) with low transparency to create a soft gradient.

Repeat these steps for the horns and legs. For the horns, use a dark color since the base color is brown. For the legs, use a blue similar to the body color.

Step 5

With a hard brush and a dark blue color paint the eyes, nose and mouth on a new layer.

Now use white to outline and highlight the nose and a little blue for the eye sockets.

Step 6

In this step we will use blue to draw the shadow of the volumes and, if necessary, a little white to further define it. Use brushes with or without pressure depending on whether you want to cover large areas or paint more precise outlines. Use "Eraser" (Eraser - E) to create a soft gradient.

Step 7

Select all layers of the body and duplicate them (drag layers while holding down the ALT key). Merge the new layers into one (Ctrl + E).

Open the panel "Levels" (Ctrl + L) and add some contrast to the image.

Step 8

We create wool. With the Smudge tool we make zigzag paths. Remember that you need to draw fur based on the volume of the body.

Continue drawing the fur, only now inside the body. Especially in areas of color transition.

Step 9

Let's take a break to create a hair brush. Create a new file File > New (Ctrl + N). Set the width to 500 pixels and height to 300 pixels.

Add a new layer with a transparent background.

Go to Image > Mode and select “Grayscale”.

With a round brush, make several dots of different sizes, as seen in the image.

Click Edit > Define Brush Preset and give your brush a name.

Select your new brush and activate the "Transfer" pressure mode. Set "Spacing" to zero. Test your brush until you are happy with the result.

Step 10

With a new brush we draw a new layer of fur. Use the same color as for the body, improving the volume of our figure. Try to draw the hair in some kind of "mess" to make it more realistic. Also note that the coat is longer in some areas, such as on the back or belly, while it is shorter on the face or chest.

Continue working on the fur. Try to design the shadow of some strands to create a sense of movement.

Step 11

On a new layer paint some blue spots. Blend mode “Multiply” so that the fur below remains visible.

Use the Smudge tool to create spots required type, always paying attention to the direction of hair growth.

With the Eraser Tool (E) set to very low opacity, erase the spots in line with the rest of the strands.

Step 12

Use a soft brush and paint a dark blue area as shown in the image. Do this on a layer with a blending mode of “Multiply” with an opacity of 33%.

Soften the shadow with the Eraser tool at low opacity.

Step 13

Add a layer of "Clipping Mask" for the legs. We draw a shadow in the same way as for the body.

Use the brush with the Smudge tool to simulate fur on the legs.

Step 14

As was done in Step 12, draw white and light areas with the “Overlay” mode.

Time to draw the horns on a layer with the “Multiply” mode. Use the same brown base color for the shadows using "Eraser".

Step 15

Now let's leave the creation of the bear for a while and make the layer with the sketch visible. Below we will make two folders: one for a boy and one for a girl. For each folder, make different layers with simple colors for the face, hair, legs, scarf. The author uses Orange color to create contrast with blue.

Step 16

On a new layer draw two circles for the eyes and use white for the highlights. Add a layer below and use a color that is a mix of brown and light pink for the eyelids and underside of the face (nose and mouth).

On the new layer below set the mode to “Multiply” with 50% opacity and use a light red for the cheeks.

With a stiff and small brush we make several freckles, some of them darker than the rest, above the cheeks and near the nose.

Step 17

With a hair brush (for wool) paint on a new layer with orange-brown color hair.

Add single hairs along the edges.

On a new layer with the “Overlay” mode draw yellow hairs.

Step 18

For the jacket, add “Clipping Mask” in “Multiply” mode. We use the same orange to draw shadows.

Let's add a little more to the new shadow layer, only with brown color. Mode - “Multiply”.

Use yellow to draw light.

Step 19

We do the same for other items of clothing. We will place folds on the clothes.

Use dark brown for shadows on sleeves and arms, for wrinkles and folds. Use light brown for light.

Let's do the same for mittens and shoes.

Step 20

For the scarf, try to define the folds using several shades of dark, especially below the face.

With a small brush and using the same color as the scarf, make random little stripes.

Step 21

Select all the layers with the boy and duplicate them. Merge the duplicates (Ctrl + E). Add a layer with a Clipping Mask set to Multiply. Use a desaturated blue with a soft brush and darken right side child.

On another layer, set the mode to Overlay with Opacity 54% and use a light blue for the left side.

Now we draw the girl using the same steps as we drew the boy.

Step 22

Select all layers and duplicate them. Add a new layer with the “Multiply” mode, painting dark blue shadows on the girl, softening with the “Erase” tool.

Darken the parts of the girl that come into contact with the animal.

Add the boy's shadow on the creature's belly.

Step 23

Add a Multiply layer between the character folders and the background and draw a shadow on the ground.

Step 24

Add a layer below and draw snow.

With the Eraser Tool (E) at very low opacity, softly outline the shadow on the ground.

Step 25

Below the snow layer, create a gradient (from orange-pink to transparent) with the Gradient Tool (G). Set the options as shown in the figure.

Time to draw the clouds. Use pink and white colors for the top. Draw circles using brushes of different transparency.

Use "Eraser" to make the clouds less expressive.

Step 26

Go to “Adjustment Layer” > “Level” and put the background on top, as shown in the figure.

Step 27

Add a layer below the pink gradient and make another one from blue and blue to a transparent background - from top to bottom. Just in this case, make it a little shorter than the previous one.

Set the shadow layer's Fill to 72%.

Step 28

Add a layer on top of everything and make a gradient from dark red to transparent. Set the mode to “Multiply” and fill to 33%.

We erase a little in the area of ​​the characters, especially in the light area, and a little in the shadows.

Step 29

Let's give some attention to the snow using a wool brush. The main thing is to set the distribution interval “Spacing” for scattering points. You can keep trying various options depending on the effect you want to achieve. The author of the lesson set the value as shown in the figure below.

Lower the layer below the rest and draw snowflakes.

Duplicate the layer with snowflakes and go Filter > Blur > Motion Blur.

Install as shown.

Erase a few snowflakes on the first layer and a few from the blur layer.

Step 30

Create a new folder and place it on top of all layers and folders.

Duplicate the folder and combine Ctrl + E.

Place the texture on top of all layers. Click on the bottom right and select "Rasterize". Using the Magic Wand Tool (W) with the options you see in the image below.

Place the image on top of the texture and create a Clipping Mask. Move the layer down and fill it with color using the Paint Bucket Tool (G). We use Blue colour, but we will change it later.

Double-click on the slider to go to “Layer Style”. Select “Drop Shadow” and set it as in the image.

Duplicate the texture and place it on top with a fill of 40%. Double click on the texture to open “Layer Style”. Select “Inner Shadow” and set it as below.

Step 31

Add a gradient with the same color as the background on a layer set to “Multiply”, filling 54% between the background and base texture layers.

Go to “Adjustments” > “Photo filter” and place this layer at the top as “Clipping mask”. An example in the picture below.

Go to “Adjustments” > “Hue/Saturation” and place this layer on top of the background. Change the background color.

Step 32

Almost done. Add a new layer to add a few details to the illustration, a couple of strands to the girl's hair.

Final result

Over the past few weeks I've been trying out using grayscale filters, curious about the results and what they can do. Also, much to my surprise, I discovered the Width Tool in Illustrator CS5. Having these two tools, I decided to put them to good use and create an illustration in the style of Roy Lichtenstein.

There are quite a lot of tutorials that tell you how to create such an image, but I decided to go through this one myself. I was not interested in other lessons, because... my occupation was only entertainment. Therefore, if I suddenly copied someone's technique, then I really didn't know. In addition, it would be quite nice to post a lesson on creating illustrations in a similar style on this site.

Roy Fox Lichtenstein (October 27, 1923 - September 29, 1997) - American artist, representative of pop art. The artist's success was brought to him by his works on the themes of comics and magazine graphics. Wikipedia

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5

Step 6

Step 7

Step 8

Step 9

Step 10

Step 11

Step 12

Step 13

Step 14

Step 15

Step 16

Step 17

Step 18

Step 19

Step 20

Conclusion

This topic is a translation

You'll see me create a concept sketch, a background, and then gradually refine the image by drawing out the details. By the way, you can easily apply the techniques shown in this lesson when creating your illustrations, logos and other projects! Following tutorials like this will always make the drawing process easier, but if you think you're not good enough at drawing, it's never a bad idea to just give it a try, since the goal of these tutorials is to improve your skills, one way or another! I'm sure that those of you who are unable to draw large scale drawings can start with quick sketches like this one.

I used the following tools:
- Photoshop CS3
- Wacom Graphire 3 USB Tablet (Blue)

Step 1: I started with a sketch. Then I painted the surface of the ground. Here, as you can see in the finished drawing, there is a lot of green grass and it reminds me of the old song: "Green Green Grass at Home." So try to imagine something like this. Perhaps here, not far from the small house, there is an old oak tree, under the shade of which you loved to play so much as a child. Once I decided on the scene, I began to think about colors: main and background shades. Here I tried to imagine a clear image. I started drawing on a blank background to which I added some flowers. I don't like to work with drawings whose background is simple and inexpressive. Addition various colors keeps the image interesting and also helps achieve the desired mood.

Step 2: I added details using a small diameter brush. For these illustrations, I only use the brushes that Photoshop already comes with by default. You can download other brushes if you want. Here are the brushes I used for this illustration. In my drawing I will use only standard brushes. Before you start painting, you need to set up your brushes.

Step 3: Now you need to choose the main colors for your composition. And here are my colors for this illustration. As usual I want to create a very bright drawing. For the background I chose yellow and blue shades. All other colors are for the environment. Open another file and save your colors. And keep this new file always open while you draw.

Step 4: I decided to remove the old car that was parked near the house. She really doesn't fit here at all. This car doesn't fit with the rest of the picture. So I had to erase the car and paint an old oak tree instead, you might want to paint some other tree. I made a rough sketch in color with a large round hard brush, and then roughly painted in the details with the same brush but with a smaller diameter. I also created a new layer for the grass and did a rough sketch.

Step 5: I then started to paint in more detail on the green grass with a small hard round brush and a soft round brush to smooth out the image... but I may change this later, for example there might be some reddish blue or yellow flowers. But on this moment, I think green grass is just what you need.

Step 6: When I'm looking for a suitable color, I do this:

Step 7: Now pay attention to how I draw the wood. I don't show many types of wood in this tutorial. There are only two types presented here: one for the door, and the second for the fence.

Step 8: Now let me resize the canvas. As you can see, if you want to get a drawing with big amount details, then you will have to work on the canvas big size(approximately 2000 or 2600 pixels).

Step 9: Add details using a small brush. Here, pay attention to how I draw the details of the roof.

Step 10: In the next steps, I'm going to create some more layers for the green grass. The reason for creating multiple layers is that you will need to adjust the drawing later. It's much easier to correct mistakes if the main elements of your drawing are separate objects. I roughly colored the drawing using a large, hard round brush, and then added details with the same brush, but with a smaller diameter. I also created a new layer for the hair and did a rough sketch. Returning to the question of how to draw grass. Just click on the brush icon, select a different color and paint as shown in my sketches. Then just repeat the same action.

Step 11: Now it's time to start detailing the clouds. When drawing the clouds, I colored the shape white on separate layers, and then changed the layer's blending mode to Overlay so that the effect would be visible in the drawing. And I only used two layers for the clouds. One color is used as a base color, and the other color is used to increase the brightness of the background. Try to find a balance by combining different shapes brushes, and try to draw clouds using different strokes. You also need to define the light and shadows. Photographs of the real sky will help you in this matter. Just search Google for different cloud shapes.

Step 12: I also wanted to add some brightness sunlight and other details, such as a flash of lightning. After several attempts, I settled on the option shown in my drawing. It looked pretty rough at this stage, but I'll come back to that later. I should also note that each element of the design was on its own layer, which allowed me to quickly select the desired object and change colors with ease. Press Command+Click (on Mac) or Control+Click (on Windows) on the layer icon in the Layers palette to select the opacity.

Step 13: Settings. It is very important. You can pick up desired color and thereby change the entire atmosphere. Now I use Color Balance. After that I changed the brightness and contrast. You will notice how the lighting effect changes.

conclusions:

Now it's time to close Photoshop. I hope you enjoyed it! As a finishing touch, I add a Smart Sharpen filter to the flat drawing to get crisper, sharper lines. This helps highlight small parts, such as glare. I hope you enjoyed reading this tutorial.