Tuesday, October 28, 2008
SRUNNING VECTOR
Vector Art
Category: Art • Neuroart • Popular Culture
Posted on: December 10, 2007 8:00 AM, by Sandra Kiume
Stunning vector art by Brazilian illustrator Guilherme Marconi. Marconi is a fabulously talented designer who has created a number of unique works related to thought and brain. Check out this contribution to the Vector Magazine calendar in a pdf, and view more of his portfolio (including an Absolut Vodka ad) at his web site.
CREAT VECTOR IN PHOTOSHOP
Vector art is REALLY popular at the moment. Everyone is making vector art. It's not hard to do and you don't need to be able to draw to create it. Be warned though, vector art does take a lot of time and patience. Especially if you want to create OUTSTANDING art.
In this tutorial I hope to shed some light on how to make vector art and more importantly how to make really great vector art with Adobe Photoshop.
In order to even start to think about doing this tutorial YOU MUST KNOW HOW TO USE THE PEN TOOL. If you don't know how to use the pen tool just do THIS TUTORIAL first, (it's not hard honestly).
To see a better sized version of the finished vector just click HERE
I suggest you read through the entire tutorial before you begin...
Forming the Features
There's no set order in which to create the various features. I like to work on specific area until it's done and then move on. Having said that though, I always notice a little something to tweak once I'm working on another area...
I used a grand total of 316 layers to form this Bjork vector so obviously I can't show you every step by step layer, but I did make an animated clip of the layers. It's 16 hours worth of work condensed down to 1 minute...don't blink or you'll miss some layers. If the video below isn't working try CLICKING HERE (or come back tomorrow).
What follows next is a breakdown of some specific areas with some tips thrown in. I'll start with the eyes because I always like starting with the eyes. They are definitely one of THE most important areas.
THE EYES (well actually, eye in this case)
As you see, by comparing the original photo eye to my vector eye, I definitely didn't create exactly what was in the original photo. It's very important however to pay attention to the reflective quality of the eye. I've used several layers here to make it look semi-life-like and I work super zoomed in. Also you'll notice I used a pretty vivid violet colour under the eye...this really just adds interest to the vector.
Never use pure white for the eyeball. It will just look weird! If there is white anywhere on the eye it will be in the reflective highlight.
1. Put in the basic shapes of the eye. Note I used Layer Style Inner Glow on the iris layer. Make sure the pupil is round by using the eclipse tool.
2. Add in eyelashes (mine look a bit like cockroach legs ha ha). You can create multiple paths on a single path layer. I find a faster technique for shapes like this is to just create one and then duplicate it, altering it with transform and using the convert point tool.
3. Add in the highlights etc. You can see that the highlight has it's opacity lowered so that the layers below show through. By adjusting the opacity of your layers, your vector will have a greater complexity...it will appear like there are more layers.
FAMOUS VECTOR ARTISTS
Hyperreal Vector Artists
Cristiano Siqueira
Chistiano is an accomplished illustrator from Brazil. He has multiple vector stylistic influences. He has some works in vexel styles, cartoon styles, realistic styles, hyperrealistic styles, and various mixtures of these. The work depicted below has a great deal of realism, but also brings in a feeling of fantasy. Here is a link to an Interview with Cristiano Siqueira, in case you want to learn more about the artist.
Giulia Balladore
This illustrator is from Italy. Here is a link to an Interview with Giulia Balladore, in case you want to learn more about the artist. In this interview the artist’s style is described, “my work has a huge hyper-realistic and fashion influence; chiefly I like to focus the human nature in each of my illustrations.”
Oleg Rogoznev
This is a Russian artist with a really impressive craft when it comes to design of realistic vector images. His work takes on hyperreal qualities by focusing on extreme detail (see “The Flower” below, at the left hand side). In the “Still life” (below right) he uses subjective lighting. In the “Large eye” he captures realistic detail, while allowing some of hair and skin elements to show through as simplified vectors. You can visit his portfolio for further works.
Nuria Herrero
This artist currently resides in Spain. She has a portfolio filled mostly with cartoon style realism. Though she also works in Hyperreal style on occasion, as can be seen from the selection of her work below.
Catherine Preston
This artist is from the United Kingdom. She has a small selection of high quality vector portraiture. The top illustration is exemplary for her work. In the bottom illustration notice the choice of details in the image. Leaving out some of the texture in the iris of the eye gives a little bit of flatness to such a realistic image. Apparently, such kinds of artistic choices lead to stylistic effects.
Chris Nielsen
Chris is an illustrator from California, USA. He doesn’t use the Gradient Mesh tool. He prefers to create all that exquisite detail with a multitude of flat abstract vector shapes. He defines his style as “Stylized Realism.” In the motorcycle portraits below, he allows some unfilled vector lines to show through the design. They coexist with the shiny chrome details.
Joseph Ryan Nasipak
Joseph is from Ohio, USA. He has used the Gradient Mesh Tool in some illustrations, but also uses blurs to good effect. The artist has the following to say about the top image, “This image was done with solid color fills, gradient fills, gausian blurs and opacity tints. No mesh.”
Eric Gushee
Gushee is from West Virginia, USA. Most of his vector work is done in a flat shape gradient style. The pieces below show that he also works in a Hyperreal style. The top image and the image at the bottom left look as if they were made with gradient meshes. The image at the bottom right is more in line with his flatter style.
Patrick Kerby
This artist is from Ontario, Canada. He has a large photography collection. Vector illustration is more of a hobby for him. He recreated Spiderman from a poster in the large image below using Gradient Meshes in Illustrator.
Mark Westberg
This artist is from Minnesota, USA. He has an interest in motorcycles, airplanes, and nudes. They are all created in vector, but have an airbrushed painted quality applied to them. Especially the airplane images below. They have a hyperreal detail, while using depth of field, and blur techniques to simulate motion. Look at the blur on the propeller at the bottom right. The artist also creates atmospheric lighting with the sunset backgrounds. The motorcycle is made from flat shapes. If you look at the left rim you can see where some noticeable shapes were left.
Jussta
This artist is from Poland. Her portfolio displays a range of work including Vexel stylization, Vector Cartoon, and Hyperreal. She mixes these styles in her work. Each image has areas of different stylization. In the large image, you can see how the flat vector jacket contrasts the realism of the woman depicted in the image.
Todd Mac
This artist resides in Norway. He has a mixed style, which combines realism and flat vector graphics. The top image is titled Copertone Girl. The lighting and detail in this image have Hyperreal qualities. The face in the image is done with the Gradient Mesh Tool in Illustrator. Of course, the artist also mixes some flat vector graphics as well, like in the strands of hair and background.
Sean Hodge is the creative mind behind AiBURN.com, a weblog about design, creativity, inspiration and graphics.
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