ART SHOW-EXCLUSIVE-Automotive rendering & potriature

[LiL' NiCk]

I've seen the art show go from a few artists a rew years ago to an all-out Fridat nite feature!!! Unfortunately the combination of killer pinheads & talented drawers & painters makes getting through all the images a lengthy process. Hey, don't get me wrong, I LOVE THESE SHOWS!! BUT also love autmotive rendering. This show is EXCLUSIVE to AUTOMOTIVE renderings. (I encourage the pinheads to try the same kind of show? I'm thinkin this will create a more focus & smoother flow of art & ideas??)

BELOW are my Sketches.
I've had the this itcing concept for an early 60's, wild metalflahe custom sedan. Then I foung some kid's glitter & bam! my idea was on it's was. The first sketch shows a low sedan, while the second includes mods such as peaked cowl, "dippied" channeled body, & opposed-slanted "A" pillars. What ya think? I can't afford to build so if you're lookin for an idea here it is!

[Tuck]

haha your funny nick... I know your more of a fine artist but when it comes to these auto renderin'

I want you to come over sometime to hang... ill introduce you to Alvin... he makes bad ass templates I think you could really push shit useing them,

and paper is another thing... I learned alot in the dorms hanging with katzenhammer trying out new shit was something i picked up...

just try it... whatever, pens, paper untill you get the right combo.

If you used marker paper it wouldnt wrinkle like that drawing you did-

I work a drawing, and trace over the original crappy sketch about 9 times before its really tight... heres one i started thats #3 in that series... i just happened to have a pic of it.

theres shit in this sketch that i dont like, so ill move it around and change it untill I do... i dont see things right off the bat.

Sometimes i leave come back and go... dude that looks really really gay... and quick change it. It takes a few days to get one really good drawing, i dont think alot of artists realize this is norm off the bat... I sure didnt.

keep up the art bro...

[Tuck]

heres an example too...

but this is just MY WAY...
i find that everyone has there own way of doing things.

I hope I dont piss off redpunk for posting this... but here it goes. From pencil to Tshirt.

[Tuck]

ill take that rough marker image and scan that puppy in...

then ill redraw the thing entirely in vector useing illustrator. Takes a butt pounding of sitting in front of the screen with the wacom DUH-

but this is what i get...

[Tuck]

then you can have them printed up and loookin sweet titty.

If any of you guys want one of these email REDPUNK on the hamb. Hes a ruler.

[Tuck]

anotha' dog-

[Curt Six]

Tuck - can you post a picture of something you do really shitty? I think it would make a few of us builder/artist/painter HACKS feel a little better. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

[cleatus]

Tuck, interesting to see your process.

Question: Any tips for doing "pinstripes" in Illustrator. Hard to get a nice line - like it was pulled with a Mack instead of dragging nodes around.

Yours have a nice flow and look right. Mine look too mechanical.

[porknbeaner]

Nick,
You coulda went all day without doin' that now I have to redesign all over again. I was thinkin about canting my a pillars back on the coupe but now...
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Tuck]

I rarely post anything in the hamb art deal b/c It started to feel like I was getting the ol slap on the ass... but thats not really what I wanted from the hamb so I stoped posting... maybe thats gay... but eventually ill get it all on my site and people can look if they want to.

at first i was really excited like. DUDE LOOK AT THIS SHIT... but now its different.

curt honesty I mess everything up, im unorganized... im all over the place and its hard for me to focus on one thing.

Just ask anyone whos close to me... im a metro hippy[tm]. I think I would be somewhere If I just did one thing...

I think its cool you dig it but I suck, I barley break even in my shop cuzz I have ADD and get sidetracked with anything that grabs my attention...

I need a pauly senior to step into my life and bitch slap me... seriously.

But im working on all of the above... and someday ill make you all proud.

[Tuck]

On those pinstripes... I just did one side and would copy and mirror. I used a symetrical spade to draw over on a 20% layer underneath to use as a guide but I think I just lucked out... it took me a few times to get it down.

[Broman]

Oh cool,

I'm glad Tuck admitted that it takes him a couple of days....I thought I was the only one. I always see/hear guys whipping out sketches in a day (or less) and it always makes me cringe 'cause it takes me a week to do a good rendering.

I used to use the scanner and vector software method until I broke my scanner and lost access to a good program that does vector. I guess I have Illustrator, but I don't know a single thing about it. I know I can't scan directly to vector - at least I haven't figured it out yet. I used to use a sign designing software that scanned directly to vector and let you work in wire-frame and layers. It was ten times easier than Illustrator and you could output to a vinyl cutter directly. It al so let you build images in exact scale. Very nice.

I stole this pic from Ryan a long time ago and was going to make HAMB decals, but he would never allow it so it so it sits in the archives.....

[Curt Six]

[ QUOTE ]
Question: Any tips for doing "pinstripes" in Illustrator. Hard to get a nice line - like it was pulled with a Mack instead of dragging nodes around.

[/ QUOTE ]

I have had to do these a few times, and I found that it was easiest to draw your stripe with a single 2 pt. line, then outline the stroke and manually create some "inconsistencies" in the line's stroke (as well as bringing the ends to a point). It seems to work pretty well and translates well when I'm getting shirts screen printed and such.
Curt

[Broman]

And I made that into this....

[Wowcars]

[ QUOTE ]

curt honesty I mess everything up, im unorganized... im all over the place and its hard for me to focus on one thing.

[/ QUOTE ]
Yeah, he's right!

On the Illustrator thing, Tucks idea is exactly how I do the same thing, and pulling the 'nodes' just takes a lot of time to practice figuring out which pen to use or arrow to pull with, also holding 'alt' will change the effects of some of the tools, so it will only alter one side of the node, instead of symetrically. After playing with Illustrator for 10 years, I still don't know all its tricks.

[Tuck]

Browman come up sometime and ill show you a ton of tricks in illustrator. I learn more every day I use it. That drawing had 9 pencil sketchs and took me 4 days.

You know.. there are some AWESOME artists on this board hidden... pros that I wish would post helpful stuff for us to CHEW ON. I mean hot rod artists...

they keep all this info secret...

Two of the most helpful artists on the hamb for me are Picasso and Brush... Katzenhammer when we went to college together... as far as getting a feel of what i should be doing/ write or wrong...

I wish guys like Mcfail would post process or how he does something, ive pm'd him a question once but I guess time is money... i stood around Moriaritys place in awe of all of mcfails paintings/drawings bla bla bla... but i guess im a punk and if i got to his status I would blow it off too...

anyway im not stirring the shit im hopeing to help give a perspective on whats real-

[Wowcars]

One program to scan into vector images I have used previously is Adobe Streamline, you can control the points fairly well but you need to do some cleanup of the image manually. Is there a better program out there than this?

[mikes51]

Tuck,
Great post on the steps from sketch to final tight Illustrator art. Man, that's alot of mouse clicks, but worth it.

Here's a couple of my renderings. I could just find these real old ones right now.

This one is a Chevy version of the Tiago Ranchero.

[mikes51]

A modern treatment of the old style Bomb. This was in Lowrider Arte 1995.

[Tuck]

mike I would LOVE to learn how to do more 3d stuff...I remember seeing those video games you designed in the eightys and thought that wouldve RULED.

i used alias and a few others my senior year in ID but all I drew were door frames for a house that sucked up buggs haha.

I love that that stuff and those programs are easier once you work with them EVERY DAY.

[Curt Six]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Question: Any tips for doing "pinstripes" in Illustrator. Hard to get a nice line - like it was pulled with a Mack instead of dragging nodes around.

[/ QUOTE ]

I have had to do these a few times, and I found that it was easiest to draw your stripe with a single 2 pt. line, then outline the stroke and manually create some "inconsistencies" in the line's stroke (as well as bringing the ends to a point). It seems to work pretty well and translates well when I'm getting shirts screen printed and such.
Curt

[/ QUOTE ]

This is kinda what I'm talking about. It also helps to look at where the inconsistencies and little "character" elements wind up in the REAL pinstriping I try to do...helps you fake the mistakes http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Now I'll stop posting about this before I get the shit kicked out of me by the REAL stripers!

[LiL' NiCk]

Thanx! TUCK! This is the kinda post I was lookin for! (And by the way the 360paper is wrinkled cause I use a glue/glitter combo for the flake effect-didn't show well in scan)The process you explained is the same I use. Some artsits use more of the steps than other artists. That's the difference between rendering sketches & tight finished drawings.

Tuck do you use non-photo blu pencil for layout, they work great! After the mon-photo blue, save a step & go to kinko's then you can tighten drawing in different sizes & alterations.

Hey, I try to be funny, at least tuck noticed...(was he rippin on me...) http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Tuck]

hey wowcars there is no magic program.

you just have to do it by hand to make it really nice.

HEY NICK... haha im prodding you and always will as long as were both her on the hamb. I think you have alot of passion and need someone to give you shit... thats why im here. Alvin would RULE YOU.

[mikes51]

one more, from my old site.

[Curt Six]

Here's my kinda 1-2-3 on rendering...not as detailed as Tucks, but same process. I'm not that familiar with '36 Chevy's, but a friend (whose birthday was coming up) has one, so I snagged a pic off the internet for referrence. I traced that straight out, then started fooling with it...cut the lid, made it a bit more cartoony...by the end of it, I'm in Illustrator as well (this was where the stripes came in, too)

Anyway, this is a cool post! Nice stuff everyone's got!
Curt

[Broman]

I know that I've posted this before, and I am sorry for that, but it was within the context of this post and I don't usually put my art on the board so it worked out (for me at least).

My favorite media is the good ol pencil/colored pencil and paper. Not a very highly graphic media, but I like having the feeling of control and familiarity that I get with it. When I get into markers and such one mistake and it's back to the drawing board. I have been halfway through a marker sketch and watched myself let the marker bleed or make a shakey line and it just burns my ass. I guess what I really SHOULD do is keep practicing with markers and other medias so I could achieve the same confidence, but.....well I dunno....I just haven't.

My art instructors all used to tell me to pic up airbrushing. I am such an anal - opps - I mean detail oriented person that they thought I would be a perfect canidate for the practice. To this day I have less than 8 hours of experience with an airbrush. I guess I will never learn......

[Tuck]

ive learned a ton of shit airbrushing one of the coolest tools is the plotter when were doing what we do with illustrator. Take it to flexisign and cut it in a template.

[Tuck]

an example but im not trying to DERAIL this topic... they just all overlap. this has yet to be shaded to look like its bouncing off the tank.. or highlited... or cleared... but you get the idea.

[mikes51]

[ QUOTE ]
Take it to flexisign and cut it in a template.



[/ QUOTE ]

Well, there goes the value of my stock in Exacto corporation. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Here's a traditional rendering technique.

colored pencil and black marker on blue paper.
Note the 70's era subject, but is it 70's era technique?
I think not. A good pencil rendering is timeless IMHO.

[Church]

Seriously Tuck...tat line are version is amazing!!! I have a bunch of McPhail stuff at my place. A few sketches, ink on paper, colored pencil, and one shot. If you get out to SoCal, give me a buzz and study away.

Oh, and here are a couple I did...only non cartooney!

[Church]

...nuther

[Tuck]

road apple you can really see that fish eye lens in that bottom pic.. it makes that image RULE. I Love it...

[Jeff Norwell]

Road Apple very nice work....Tuck....your a Homo http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif......And the most multi talented S.O.B. on the planet....... http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
I work both digitally and traditionally........more digital because my clients demand it, here are different samples(all been shown before)

[Jeff Norwell]

traditional goache and oil..some bigwig cat at Mothers wax owns it,,,,

[Jeff Norwell]

Cartoonee line and fill job....I work with photoshop and Painter only....dont know Illustrator at all... http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

[Jeff Norwell]

Although This art is not ar related(a grammys client)...it is pure digital.work...just use oil paint and oil pastels in painter..........Try painter..it ROKKS!!!!!!

[Jeff Norwell]

The line stuff is all drawn on a tablet...no trad. materials..way to slow to scan stuff......I use a wacom on conjuction with my Mac......I did not do the TYPE app. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif

[LiL' NiCk]

Great work! I think everybody here learned something tonite! (This is how the show used to be! maybe you could have a "tech day": automotive art?)

THanx for sharin - brush, tuck, road apple! hey Tuck where's Katzenhammer, he'd fit right in on this stuff.

[Tuck]

hes here dude... hes shy and doesnt like getting an ass slap. maybe he'll post PM him

We used to rip shit up in my fifty ford... one night a cop pulled a gun on him when he stepped out of the door...

another night he questioned a cop who pulled me over for blue dots... the cop replyed to him... well.. BLUE MEANS POLICE. hahaha


Say I started useing Painter Eight, Im useing a Wacom tablet just like brush- its like trying to take a dump with the seat up.... but im working at it. haha.

Norwell gave me advice.. he said read the manual... j/k

Painter is more powerful with a tablet!!! and im picking shit up slow but sure... pretty soon ill be able to draw naked chicks.

Tuck

[deuceguy]

A tee shirt design I'm working on for my young grand-daughter. Vectored from a jpg.

[McPhail]

That stuff is all really cool......I like the way you see things Coby........but Ed Roth once told me it wasn't really 'art' unless you had stains on your hands........

[Buick59]

Well, Im not a pin-head, I cant draw fer' shit.....what place to photgraphers have in the new HAMB art world?


Here is my photo rendering.

[Peter Pan of Chicago]

This post is absolutely AMAZING!!!

Thanks to all you Rulers.

Joel http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[katzenhammer]

AAAhhhh just got home... Tuck I don't mind a light slap once and awhile just as long as ya buy me a Bloody Mary... HEY Nick sorry I haven't been replying to my emails. I gots a plate full of hassle and the shit is overcooked. Canson Marker paper is the cats ass. It holds up well to lots of abuse..

I still sling ink. Lots of it-- I really like the Staedler Pigment markers. crisp lines fast dry time. I have tried to do overlays in the past but it never works for me so I erase lines and draw over lines and erase. Use Artgum it is gentle and doesn't gouge the paper.

Non Photo Blue is no good. Just loosen up the hand and draw light. As you find lines you like-- darken them in. Once you have a good base going add detail. Tuck is essentially doing the same with overlays but I am a cheap fuck and I can't afford to waste paper. Work big! The semi I have posted is damn near 3 feet in length. The bigger you work the looser your pen/pencil will be. Also it leaves room for all the detail.

I am not a pro I just like to draw and share Ideas. Nick I really think your work has come a long ways! I like how you are "gesturing" your art.



Ah hell Tuck don't forget the night we made the HEX scream to Del Shannons "Runaway" in an attempt to ditch the Menomonie Fire Department...!! Oh shit and when we cracked that fucker up to a hundred just to catch up with that shiny semi... aaaahhhh yes..

Something wrong with Detroit?

Justin Slingsby

[safariknut]

I don't do a whole lot of drawing anymore but here's a couple I did several years ago.Some were 8 1/2X 11 paper and some were 11 X 17 coated with polyurethane to get a parchment effect.Some are 1-Shot on metal.I'll post one of each.BTW the chrome effects on paper were done with 2-ended markers(I forget the name);one side a fine point and the other a wide edge.

[safariknut]

one done on urethaned paper

[safariknut]

and a painted one of Tom May's 32

[safariknut]

and finally something I like to fool with occasionally:doing an absolute minimum of lines and still have it recognizeable.

[LiL' NiCk]

This minimalist approah is beautiful shit! LESS IS MORE!!!!

[ShortBus]

You guys fucking amaze me.

Here's an ink drawing I did. It's Pilot Rolling Ball on steno paper that I churned out during a staff meeting at R&C. It also appears as though I almost took some notes during the meeting.
http://members.cox.net/rickamado/61gmcdrawing.jpg

I love to draw, I wish I were gooder.

[Tman]

Fuckers Hemingway with a camera and wishes for more? http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif

[D Picasso]

[ QUOTE ]
Ed Roth once told me it wasn't really 'art' unless you had stains on your hands........

[/ QUOTE ]

Bingo....but then, I'm a Luddite.

machines have their place, though, especially as one gets older. I've been corresponding with The Pizz via email and the subject of inking was discussed. it seems as we get longer in tooth our eyes can't get the picture they once could. I have to slide my specs down my nose, Granny-style, to get any kind of focus nowadays- I'm really nearsighted- and often I just remove 'em and lock my peepers about 2 inches from the board. as Sol Rosenburg said, "I don't see so good".

someday I'd like to take a crack at drawing on a Wacom tablet, per Jeffy's advice- by the way I love the 'Pure Hell' dragster painting, my buddy, it's wonderful- as shuffling endless layers of layout paper gets to be a hassle. my hangup is that I'm a cheap bastard and pencil lead and paper are still relatively inexpensive, at least for now. add to that the piles of sketches and boards can be burned all winter for heat. this is a plus given the overall collapse of illustration as a career.

I suppose the best advice I can offer is to get the rudiments of drawing down cold before you introduce the various pieces of machinery and technology to your toolbox; the lowly pencil and paper still offer a great deal of options and opportunities to sharpen your skills.

[40StudeDude]

[ QUOTE ]
Ed Roth once told me it wasn't really 'art' unless you had stains on your hands........

[/ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]
...the lowly pencil and paper still offer a great deal of options and opportunities to sharpen your skills.

[/ QUOTE ]


Amen to that...I'm covered in ink stains most of the time...the majority of my work involves Rapidographs of various sizes, french curves, markers and lots of tissue paper and inkable acetate...I do a ton of T-shirt designs and none of it on computer...altho I'm told that free-drawn illustration is a lost art...it won't be until the day I die!

R-

[40StudeDude]

Here's another-- pen and ink only!

R-

[LiL' NiCk]

Thanx for posting Piccasso & 40studedude, I've always admired both styles of work! And I strongly AGREE with you, DAN & 40-stude dude! Free-hand, loose, gestural mak-making is the way to GO! More of"you" is put into each piece of art. THanx guys for making this post turn out so great!...NICK

[Slide]

Very cool stuff here yall.

I'll agree with the thumbs-ups to the Wacom tablets. I have 'em at work and here at the house.

You dudes using Painter... anyone trued that new version yet? (version IX). It sounds like they fixed my 2 main beefs with the speed of the brushes and the palette structure.

Here's a goofy little sketch I did the other nite while my 3-year-old son and I were at the kitchen table drawing together. I'm prolly gonna play with it s'more in Photoshop...

[Tuck]

Ive been thinking about putting my tablet up for sale and buying the moniter Cintique, they dropped in price a whole Grand... and your drawing on the screen its so much more natural.

[k-member]

What a great art tech post. I like to mix it up alot. I use every thing from illustration pens to #2 pencils and most mediums inbetween. Here's a Talons drawing ink & brush pic done freehand, no under drawing. A little toony, but lots of action.

[k-member]

And some water color portraiture.

[k-member]

And a LiL' one from this week, done in water color as well.

[nate]

For anyone who would like to see, here's one process I use. Starting with a pencil or pen sketch, add a gray tone, then add shadows and highlights in photoshop.

Sometimes I'll draw over the lines in illustrator, but I like the sketchy feel too.

http://img41.exs.cx/img41/6594/12751.jpg
http://img41.exs.cx/img41/323/12752.jpg
http://img12.exs.cx/img12/7279/14504.jpg
http://img12.exs.cx/img12/1573/14506.jpg
http://img12.exs.cx/img12/7564/salty_pu.jpg

Nate

[Church]

I must admit Dennis........that Roth's quote is pretty damn good. But don't forget if I was busy all day staining my hands, I wouldn't be out buying all of your guys art to put on my walls!!! http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[McPhail]

Coby..... I'm not belittling the computer stuff by any means.....I am in awe of that stuff most of the time......i wish I could learn it........It's just that I think that I'm going to be one of the dinosaurs......... God Bless you Coby......

[Broman]

I used to bitch at my co-workers because I was wasting my time designing signs for dumb-asses who had no sense of style. And whenever we did get someone who'd let us use our own judgement and taste - they never had the dough to buy the good designs. Add that to the fact that I was burnt out at the end of each day to the point that I didn't want to draw anything for myself (just for fun). It's enough to drive you crazy.

I live in Iowa too, so that never helps....nobody "gets" me *sniff* ...... http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Of course things are looking better. I feel good right now because I am in drafting(blueprinting) classes and I get to draw with my bare hands.....nothing fun, and usually with tools, but I still get to use my hands - so it is a release.


If there is one thing that I have learned it is that I will never make money by drawing or painting what I want. At least not living here. And sad as it is to admit - I am never going to move. My whole family is here and all of my friends too - friends that I have known since before kindergarden. I can't bring myself to take my daughter away from a her grandparents and friends either. Despite all that I have said here, I am not giving up.

Soon I will be onto CAD stuff in school and then it's a whole new ball game. I have been collecting 3D programs that use NURBs format and when I know more about building something from scratch in the computer - look out.......

This CAD degree could take me anywhere. I have been talking to lots of different people and I still don't know where I am going with it. One of my class-mates is looking at going into video game design. I thought about getting into the CG movie business. Then there's the normal stuff like architecture or working at a machine shop or civil engineering or........

[Tim]

this is all ive got on this computer

[Tim]

and the original, sorry for blury pix

and some random stuff @ this addy, most of its a couple years old but feel free to have a look see

http://groups.msn.com/ZekesHAMBerChat/timsrandomart.msnw?Page=1

[surf monkey]

this is one of the best posts i`ve read for a long time.....all my favourite artists all in one post (just missing Sailor)
I`ve tried the computer approach to creating but i just find it too time consuming and a little impersonal and bloody hard ( i never invested in a tablet for a start , which might have made it easier...

Give me a pencil anytime http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
this is my longwinded attempt at the computer approach
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v244/surfmonkey/fin.jpg
followed by a pencil sketch
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v244/surfmonkey/shoebox.jpg

monkey

[38pickup]

Well, first I want to say there are some amazing people on this board, going trough this thread just blows me away. As for a good scan to vector tool, there is not really one tool that can do it all.

I first bring the scanned drawing image into Photoshop. After I have cleaned up the drawing, I bring it into Corel Draw and convert it to a vector image using Corel Trace and have been happy with the result. Later On I will post some of the results.

I still do allot of my drawings first in paper, then if needed I bring them into the computer. A while back someone stole my sketchbook that had 12 line art renderings of cars. So I won’t be able to show you those.

Ed Roth, when I was 9 told me keep drawing, so I pass the same onto you.

[Broman]

I'm sorry but I gotta say that scanning to vector using Gerber's Graphix Advantage is as easy as converting a photo from color to black and white. (note: the update is called Omega)

G.A. makes it idiot-proof. Just scan it, clean it up then cut or print it. It really is awesome. Of course you have to use your head in terms of what you are scanning. A sketch with heavy black (ink or marker) lines is going to be awesome. If you try scanning in photos and art with lots of mid tones, you will be screwed...and pissed. Otherwise it's as close to a "magic" program as you're going to get.

I have never used Flexi Sign Pro, but I have heard that it is similar in it's functions and abilities. What really sucks is that these programs are marketed only in sign mags and at sign conventions. Because of this they are a little, ok, a lot pricey. I think the sign guys like to keep their secrets - they don't want John Q Public to have the same abilities as they have, ya'know - (job security)?

The price does fall - slowly and occasionally, but for the most part it is a professional/industrial software (3500 clams for the full version - Omega CP 2.0 & for bottom of the line it's like 995 bonesfor the Omega CL version)

I am really stuck now because I have become so used to this software (5 years experience) that it makes Illustrator seem clumsy and clunky to me. I suppose if I really got to know Illus. I'd find that is is more flexible and adaptable than what I am used to. I suppose it's like a Swiss Army Knife compared to a fillet knife. But when you want to clean a fish........

Anywho. Not trying to sound like an advertisement or nothing , but I am just saying that I scanned to vector almost everyday for 5 years - everything from marker tracings of cars out of magazines to logo "slickers" used in advertising and it couldn't be much easier....

[chrisman]

[ QUOTE ]
One program to scan into vector images I have used previously is Adobe Streamline, you can control the points fairly well but you need to do some cleanup of the image manually. Is there a better program out there than this?

[/ QUOTE ]

There are two plug-ins for Illustrator that seem to work really nice. One is called Silhouette (http://www.silhouetteonline.com/), I've tried the demo and it is quite easy to use. The other one is Logo Spruce (http://www.comnet-network.co.jp/eng/product/elogospruce.html?ct=ls), haven't tried it but there is a demo for pc users.

[Broman]

Chrisman, thanks for the links, I may have to settle for one of those plug-ins.

Damn I never even thought to go look for a plug-in - that's an awesome idea. Jeez I'm thick sometimes.....

[LiL' NiCk]

My b/w attempt

[LiL' NiCk]

My QUICKY computer-sketch..attempt....

[Bass]

All you guys on this post are really good at what you do...thanks for sharing!

I wish my computer skills were better...I just don't really get the charge out of doing stuff on the screen as I do on paper. I like Dennis' Ed Roth quote...I agree to a point. But the stuff that Norwell posts still blows me away.

As far as technique goes, I'm a hack compared to most of you. I do things similar to the way Tuck does them...but different of course. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif I do a quickie pencil sketch, usually on whatever paper is closest to my hand at the time. I use this to work out my perspective and the major details.

Then I start on the real thing, usually on 11 x 14 Bristol Board. I've been using the coarse Bristol lately, but I like the smooth too for certain projects. I rough the drawing in with pencil, using my sketch as a guide. Then I start blocking in the lighter colors with Prismacolor markers...I build color similar to a watercolor painting, blending marker colors as they are still wet. Most times I go back and forth between the inking portion (with various pen sizes) and markers as I work on the drawing in sections. After the color is roughed in with marker, I do the ink detail work with a pen, and start doing highlights and some final clor blending with Prismacolor pencils. Final highlights are usually done with white Createx and a brush, sometimes other colors depending on the project.

I want to start using some airbrush in my work, but I haven't really been able to work it in yet.

The scan sucks, but here's an example of a rendering I did with the technique I described above (over a year ago). This is just my way of doing things...I'm self taught, and like most artists, I try to experiment alot.

http://pic3.picturetrail.com/VOL19/1983783/4017955/71072057.jpg

-Brian

[Broman]

Bass,

That's too cool. I think we are very similar in our approach. And taste too. I did this drawing with pencil and paper. Then I colored it with Prismacolor colored pencils. Somehow the scan makes it look weird, but thers isn't much I can do about that. This print was part of a HAMB auction (Jerry won).

I have always wanted to do cortoonistic stuff and this is one of those experiments towards a "cartoon realism". I personally never liked it.....When you see my art together it makes more sense. But (IMOHO) as a single piece I always think it just looks fucked up........

I'm still learning.