cap82_tut_tbfh.pdf

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Tutorial [illustration] The Boy Fitz Hammond, www.tbfh.com

Drawing figures

from photos

Create a character in Illustrator CS using your eyes,

some photos and the all-important Pen tool...

you through the process of

creating a ‘real life’ character

using Illustrator CS2 . The main

character in this illustration is John C

McGinley, from the TV show Scrubs . He was

originally drawn for a feature in a magazine in

which readers submit their real-life questions

to a different celebrity each month. To save

money on photoshoots, publishers often

commission designers to illustrate celebrities.

What follows is a step-by-step guide showing

you how to do just that.

The tutorial begins by explaining the

importance of good, proper preparation when

drawing a real-life character and how sourcing

strong reference material is crucial to starting

off as you mean to go on. And (obvious as it

may sound) we address the importance of

drawing what you see in this reference

material, rather than what you think you see.

We give you some advice on how to

visualise characters and outline the beneﬁ ts

of doing so before you begin to draw them on

screen. You might feel stupid striking poses

(especially in a studio full of other people), but

it’s worth giving it a go, because it deﬁ nitely

helps with what you draw.

There are also tips on using layers

effectively so that you can manage or amend

speciﬁ c parts or your illustration without too

much difﬁ culty. Plus we tell you why it’s good to

outline fonts.

Finally, you’ll see why the Pen tool is king

(that’s all you’ll need to use), why the Pathﬁ nder

palette rules, and how simple strokes and ﬁ lls

can act to add effective highlights or shade just

by setting different transparencies.

Expertise provided by The Boy Fitz Hammond. See more of his

illustrative work at www.tbfh.com.

Tutorial Drawing ﬁ gures from photos

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O ver the next few pages we take

Tutorial Drawing ﬁ gures from photos

Part 1: Prepare to draw

Sourcing good reference material is the key to success...

Proper planning

You should always start a new

illustration by setting up your

ﬁ le correctly. First, double-

check the speciﬁ cations with

the client. If you’re creating a

spread then be aware of where

the gutter (the area lost to the

fold of a spread) will sit in

relation to your illustration.

Create a Gutter layer in your

ﬁ le showing you where details

will be lost. Also mark any

areas you need to leave free

for text. Once done, rough out

your whole illustration.

1 There’s no point drawing blind, so before you

open Illustrator , source some quality reference

material of the person you’re planning to draw.

Google images ( [w] www.images.google.com) is a

good place to start. Save all the pictures into a scans

folder in your directory and rename the ﬁ les.

2 Open Illustrator and create a new document

measuring 480mmx290mm. Save the ﬁ le into

your artwork folder and create a new layer called

Scans. Import the reference images into the layer

(File>Place). Arrange them, then lock the layer.

3 Have a good look at the subject matter before

you go any further. Identify and note key

features which you’ll be able to pick up on once you

start drawing. The dude here (John C McGinley) has

got really strong features. His jaw, teeth, mouth,

cheeks, nose and hair are all very distinctive.

Part 2: Face facts

The most important thing to get right is your character’s facial features...

Supplying ﬁ les

Problems can arise when

supplying ﬁ les to a client if

you’re asked to save the ﬁ le to

an earlier version of Illustrator.

Ideally you should always try to

supply the ﬁ le in its current

form (CS/CS2) but this isn’t

always possible. Probably the

best way to eliminate any

potential problems with ‘saving

down’ artwork is to supply it as

a bitmap instead. Check ﬁ rst,

but a high-resolution (300dpi)

TIFF or JPEG will usually do.

Choose File>Export... And

away you go. Remember to

include any required bleeds

when exporting.

1 Create a new layer. Bring up the Colour palette

(Window>Colour) and use the sliders to create

a skin tone. Once you’re happy with a colour, drag

it from the palette into the Swatches palette. (It’s

best to keep your main colours handy.) Repeat the

process to create the skin stroke colour (a slightly

darker colour works well).

2 Select the Pen tool (P) from the toolbar.

Clicking and holding the Pen icon enables you

to tear off the Pen tool options. Having them on

hand enables you to switch between the Pen

options. Use the Pen tool to draw out the shape

of the head.

3 Add a layer called: rough face. Use the Pen

tool to mark out where the features sit in

relation to the face and one another. This is where

all the preparation comes in useful. Work closely

from your reference material and use simple dotted

lines to mark the guidelines.

4 Add more layers for the features on the face

(eyes, nose, mouth, teeth, and so on). Keeping

facial elements separate makes the face as a whole

easier to manage, develop and amend. Study the

reference while you draw. Draw what you see, not

what you think you see.

5 Work up close on the features to include as

much detail as possible. Use the Magnifying

tool from the toolbar (Z) to zoom in. Alternate

between magniﬁ ed and 100 per cent views to keep

track of how what you’ve drawn looks at actual size

(View>Actual Size).

6 Soften details around the eyes and forehead by

knocking back the stroke colour. Identify the

strokes you want to fade and once selected reduce

the K value (black) on the Colour palette. It’s a

simple but effective way of softening the face and

blending details together.

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Part 3: Light and shade

Add some tones to bring the face of your character to life...

Saving versions

Computers sometimes corrupt

ﬁ les, so it’s a good idea to

save off different versions of

your work as it’s developing. A

simple *v1.0.ai, v1.1.ai, v1.2.ai,

and so on, at the end of each

ﬁ le name will sufﬁ ce. You

could try saving a version

every hour, so if a ﬁ le

suddenly corrupts, you won’t

have to start from scratch.

1 Select the Pen tool with a white stroke. Identify

the edges on the face where light would hit

and, with the white strokes selected, choose

Window>Transparency to open the Transparency

palette. From the dropdown menu in the palette

select Screen and adjust the percentage until you’re

happy with the result.

2 Create a new layer and copy (Edit>Copy) all

elements that form the head/face. Edit>Paste

in Front into the layer you just created. Choose

Select>All to highlight all, then select Object>

Path>Outline Stroke, so you’re left with only ﬁ lls.

Finally, click the ‘Add to shape area’ button in the

Pathﬁ nder palette to create one whole head shape.

3 Use the Pen tool to draw a line where the

shade will fall on the head. Choose Select>All

and select Divide in the Pathﬁ nder palette. Delete

the divided shape leaving only the area intended to

be shadow. Change the ﬁ ll colour to 20 per cent

black and in the Transparency window select

Multiply. Adjust the percentage as required.

Part 4: Posture and background

Once the head is sorted, get cracking on the body and the hospital environment…

Layer usage

Using layers effectively means

you can pinpoint and isolate

speciﬁ c parts of your

illustration in a ﬂ ash. It’s a

good idea to label the layers

too. It takes a second to do

and it’ll save you time in the

long run. Labelling layers is an

especially good idea if you’re

handing the ﬁ le over to

someone else.

1 Figure out a position/stance in your head then

get to your feet and test it out. Doing this

helps you visualise what you’re going to be

drawing. You could then sketch it on paper too.

Use the Pen tool (P) to re-create the stance, keeping

individual parts on separate layers.

2 Think about colours and details and consider

how the character will ﬁ t in with the rest of the

illustration. Here the doctor’s leaning against a desk.

Minimise what you need to draw by obscuring

certain areas. For example, the long white coat

saves having to fully detail his body, waist and legs,

which saves you a bit of time.

3 Finish off your character with some extra little

details, such as pens in the pocket and steam

from the coffee. Fonts are a good way of adding

details too – the ‘CRITICAL’ stamp on the patient

report, for instance. Finally, add shadows to the rest

of the character by repeating the steps above.

4 Use the Pen tool to develop the already

roughed background. Draw in details to build

up the scene and remember to keep different

elements on separate layers. The setting here is a

hospital ward, so draw what you’d expect to ﬁ nd,

such as beds, patients, screen curtains, signs, ward

desk, and so on.

5 Now add some perspective to the illustration.

Think about a foreground, midground and

background and organise the layers to add depth

to the image. Here, the doctor and the desk are in

the foreground; the yellow ﬂ oor line, curtains and

hanging sign provide a midground; and the wall

and beds make up the background.

6 Adding shadows to objects creates depth.

Use the Pen tool to draw areas for shadow

and give them a 20 per cent black ﬁ ll with the

transparency set to Multiply. Using the Multiply

setting allows details under shadowed areas to

remain visible. Drawing a shadowed area behind the

main character lifts him away from the desk.

Tutorial Drawing ﬁ gures from photos

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Tutorial Drawing ﬁ gures from photos

Part 5: Adding extra people

You never see empty beds in a hospital, so add some patients…

1 Plan where you’re going to add additional

characters making sure they don’t interfere

with the main ﬁ gure. Fill up space without

overdoing it. A nurse behind the desk and a patient

in either bed should be enough. Create new layers

for the characters and use the Pen tool to start to

draw them in.

2 Keep the additional characters simple and

more cartoon-like so that the focus of the

illustration remains on the main character (the

doctor). Keeping the extra characters simple in style

doesn’t mean they have to be dull. Add humour by

creating funny situations: a love-struck nurse and

patients sharing contraband.

3 As mentioned before, physically play around

with possible positions for the background

characters. Practising positions will help you visualise

what you want to draw on screen. For instance, try

sitting with your elbows on your desk and your

hands on the side of your face to get a feel for how

the nurse should look.

4 After adding the extra characters, you might

want to adjust the background objects you’d

already drawn to ensure they ﬁ t together. Take the

two bedridden patients, for example. A quick tweak

of the bedding and a shift around with the layer

order sees them tucked up tight in bed.

5 Once the background characters are in place,

add some light and shade to them and their

surroundings (repeating earlier steps). Drop in a text

bubble to indicate what’s going on between the two

patients and use the Pen tool to add a few

movement lines on the dude passing the tabs.

6 Cram in a few extra details to ﬁ nish things off.

Complete the nurse’s love-struck appearance

by changing her pupils to love hearts. Add to the

hospital feel by sticking an oxygen mask on one of

the patients. Break up the plain wall behind the beds

by adding a couple of emergency alarms.

Part 6: Tidying up

No one likes messy ﬁ les, so take a few moments to organise them properly...

Outlining fonts

When you’ve ﬁ nished your

illustration and proofed and

spell-checked the text, it’s a

good idea to turn all the fonts

to outlines (Type>Create

Outlines). Creating outlines of

your fonts avoids any

problems that might occur

later on – for example, if

you’re sending the ﬁ le to a

printer. It’s a good idea to save

an editable copy of the ﬁ le

before outlining the fonts, in

case you need to amend the

text in the future.

1 Embedding images into the ﬁ le increases the

ﬁ le size but it guarantees all images are

enclosed in the one ﬁ le. Choose Window>Links to

embed images. In the Links palette, select the image

you want to embed and choose Embed from the

palette menu. While you’re at it, remember to

delete any images that you don’t need to include.

2 Check the ﬁ le for any objects you might have

Locked or Hidden. First, make visible and

unlock all layers. (Do this quickly in the Layers

palette menu with Show All Layers and Unlock All

Layers.) Then choose Object>Unlock All to unlock

any locked objects. Choose Object>Show All and

delete previously hidden objects as necessary.

3 Outline any fonts used (see the ‘Outlining fonts’

margin note) by selecting all (Select>All) and

choosing Type>Create Outlines. Then delete any

unnecessary layers that are no longer needed. Not

only does this help keep ﬁ le size to a minimum but it

also keeps the ﬁ le tidy and organised. ca p

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