There always seems to be a thread or two floating around asking about process, so I figured I’d put mine out there. If anyone feels like detailing their process with lots of pictures and information, it would be sweet to do it here.
I’m going to go from start to finish on my last tee-off design, without skipping too many steps. So, here goes.
Step 1 for me is always to research. I spent day 1 of my design time researching cartoons from the 80's and deciding which ones best fit my theme, and would hopefully strike a note with my audience. I compiled a folder of reference material to start my sketching.
Next step was to sketch out my idea on paper. I don’t know why, but I have to start on paper. Just can’t do it with the computer. Had to cut the paper and scan it in peices.
At this point I begin to tighten up my sketch in Photoshop. I usually do this in several steps, but I condensed it to 1 step for the sake of time, in this design.
I decided to sketch Mumm-Ra’s wraps in using photoshop, rather than on paper. Another time consideration.
Then Once I was happy(enough) with the sketch, I lightened my colors, so that I could ink with dark colors over them.
Most times I will do a quick digital painting of my shading and highlights at this point, because I use that information when I decide some of my line variation. This design wasn’t going to have a complex shading scheme, though. So I left it alone.
Then it took a trip from photoshop to illustrator, and this happened along the way:
Once I completed the outlines in illustrator, I brought it back into photoshop for some quick coloring.
And I wasn’t happy with it, so I applied gradient maps, and tried other techniques until I reached a final product.
I think I should add that I got some good advice on color at this point, but was not smart enough to apply it. Haha.
That’s pretty much it for this guy. I get more involved when I have longer time-frames to work on a piece, but this is the general idea.
Here is the finished product:
http://emptees.com/tees/6588-tee-off-enemies-of-the-eighties
Questions, Comments, Advice, and Criticism are more than welcome. I hope you have enjoyed and/or found this useful.
37 Comments
godmachine said 4 months ago
cheers for this man- it helps to see peoples work process.
heavyprints said 4 months ago
Thanks for the appreciation. Maybe someone just learning will learn something from it, or maybe someone skilled will see a flaw in my work flow and offer advice. I think it’s a win-win. :)
gaunty said 4 months ago
probably a stupid basic question, when you change the colours of your lines do you use illo or PS? If ou use ps how do you change the colour withour loosing resolution (I mean keep the line smooth) ?
heavyprints said 4 months ago
I open my lines in photoshop at about 16x22 inches at 300 DPI with Anti-Alias turned off. I change my line color with the paint bucket tool.
gaunty said 4 months ago
nice cheers! Love the tee.
heavyprints said 4 months ago
Thanks man. I appreciate it.
goodnite833 said 4 months ago
Its always awesome to see someones process of their work. You did a great job.
heavyprints said 4 months ago
Hey, thanks. I like seeing how other people work, so I thought it might be fun to share. Glad you like it!
quakerninja said 4 months ago
I don’t spend enough time with photoshop. I’ll have to try this coloring thing sometime.
insightful and delightful.
cbass99 said 4 months ago
heavyprints, nice job and interesting to see someone else’s workflow.
cheers.
Cole said 4 months ago
gosh, you’re sexy
ez-kun said 4 months ago
HAHA, true
heavyprints said 4 months ago
Cbass - Thanks!
Cole, you’re sweet. Call me.
Ez - When you encourage him you only make it worse. Haha
Torchesinthedark said 4 months ago
care to explain that trip from photoshop to illustrator?
Do you have some trick for cleaning up the line work or did you just do everything with the pen tool in illustrator?
Cole said 4 months ago
looks like the pencil tool via wacom tablet to me.
heythequickness said 4 months ago
This is a really nice description of how you work. Thanks heavy!
heavyprints said 4 months ago
It’s simply the brush tool and a wacom tablet. It is a Plain round brush(brushes > default > print > round). It is set to 3 or 5pt, and pressure sensitivity is turned all the way up. The line correction options are turned most of the way down.
No secret sauce. Just a wacom tablet.
Ramvere said 4 months ago
Dude great explanation of your work flow, and I know first hand you busted some ass on this design. its good to see how you do what you do, and hopefully more designers will show their process too.
And yeah, your design turned out badass!
edgillustrator said 4 months ago
thats great dude!
i might even have my go at showing how i do my design process ;]
nate gonz said 4 months ago
do ittttt
heavyprints said 4 months ago
That would be rad man! Glad you like it. Hope to see yours soon!
hideouscarwreck said 4 months ago
really cool to see the whole thing, i’d love to see more people’s processes.
YES
herky said 4 months ago
Very cool to see your process. When you colorize the design in photoshop, do you just make a "new" layer, arrange it below your line art layer and just start coloring in the objects with your wacom pen? Sort of like a coloring book, staying within the outlines(because that’s what I do). I just wanted to know if there was a faster or easier way to color in photoshop.
nate gonz said 4 months ago
when i color in ps i make a layer above and multiply..but i might be wrong..i usually am
godmachine said 4 months ago
that’s what I do. or put the colour layer under it!
or use magic wand> select multiple areas> expand area> new layer> multiply> fill. probably not the best way- but it works for me.
heavyprints said 4 months ago
Actually, since I open up my illustrator file with Anti-Alias turned off, I just use the paint bucket tool. I make new layers for each color, and check "Contiguous" and "Sample all layers". Sometimes I color with the wacom if there is alot of small spaces that would take a long time to fill.
Some times I use the pen tool in illustrator and place a layer below my lines, to block out large areas of color before bringing it into photoshop.
Also I turn contiguous back off once I have all of the spots filled in, to fill every pixel of that color quickly when I change the colors around. So handy.
herky said 4 months ago
nate gonz, Godmachine, heavyprints- cool I’ll have to try these tips. I usually like to work/colorize in Illustrator (select same fill color, ect.), so it’s nice to learn more Photoshop techniques. Lately I’ve been trying to use Photoshop more though, thanks for the tips.
heavyprints said 4 months ago
Sweet. Let us know how it turns out man.
basil said 4 months ago
Ramvere said 4 months ago
I wanna see more progress on your next designs too nick, so we can see how your process changes for each one.
daleedwinmurray said 4 months ago
Cool to see how you do
gaunty said 4 months ago
Would definitley like to see that
hideouscarwreck said 3 months ago
i would love to see more people post their process :)
Stephan.GFX said 3 months ago
Hey heavyprints, how did you get the outlines so smooth? You said that was the result when you carried it to illustrator from photoshop? What did you do?
And nice post :) Very helpful.
heavyprints said 3 months ago
Illustrator will automatically make the lines nice and smooth. All you have to do is open the .AI file in photoshop at a resolution of 300DPI or greater with Anti-Alias turned OFF.
You and me both! Haha. I figured people were tired of seeing my process after the king of sin, so I’m writing a small tutorial now. Maybe it’ll be sweet.
Stephan.GFX said 3 months ago
Oh I see - thanks man.
adamastephens said 3 months ago
i’d love to see