by catpaw | 30 Nov, 2020 | I'm getting too old for this shit, photos | art | design
For over a decade I’ve avoided Photoshop’s pen tools. The struggles I’ve encountered using them have been, well, monumental. And embarrassingly frustrating. You can do wonderful things with pen tool such as take a muddy, mundane sketch and create a beautiful image with sharp, clean lines.
I had a breakthrough last week ago. I finally figured out why I struggled with them. My problem turns out to be basic. I have no sense of left/right, horizontal/vertical, clockwise/counterclockwise. If you ask me to turn counterclockwise, I stop and envision a clock face first. My brain tells me the left is -> that way. You get the picture. I’ve always known this. But it wasn’t until last week that I realised this was the root of the problem.
Those mildly quirky bits of how my brain processes certain things turns into a hinderance when working onscreen. I can’t anticipate which direction a curved too will go. I struggle to flip things and end up going through all the options before hitting the correct one. It’s impossible to work on autopilot because I need to think through every move. So, I sat down and devised a solution.
Why was it such an issue? I’ve gotten along without figuring out how to use shapes and the pen tool until now. It boils down to this – I can’t stand not figuring out how something works. I did, in fact, fire up pen tools every now and then, over the years. Frustration was the result. When I began playing around with cleaning up old patents, so they were viewable, I realised now was the time to tackle pen tools. They offered the only way of getting the crisp lines I wanted.
The line tool is basic enough. I just get impatient and oft times don’t line things up correctly. It’s the old issue of horizontal vs vertical flip and nudge a little to the right or left. So, I sat down with the Antoinette Flyer and used it to discipline myself into getting lines even and laid down properly. Old airplanes were wonders of straight lines and cables, so it was the perfect thing to work with. Wheels were easy – the shape tools took care of that.
The propeller was problematic. I initially thought I could fudge my way through using the freehand pencil tool. It was a disaster. I wandered over to YouTube and watched a couple videos on using pen tools and that’s when I had an epiphany. Pen tools are about understanding directions. I spent a frustrating hour trying to get the curves right for the propeller and thought this isn’t going to work without someone standing over my shoulder yelling “the other left”. Little post it notes turned into the next best thing. I often have left / right notes on my screen when I’m running through a tutorial with a customer. I stuck them back on, included notes on horizontal / vertical, etc. All the little directional indicators I needed.
The propeller looked ok.
Now I felt frisky and time for more lessons with pen tools
Here’s the starting ground.
I found it in the form of a velocipede – bicycle for we mere mortals. they were nicknamed Penny Farthings. Getting all the bends correct and using different line thicknesses to create a shadow effect was a challenge. I’m a little embarrassed to admit, it took me around 8 hours to get them right. I drew them and erased over and over until I got the basics down on how the pen adjust lines.
Here’s the line drawing of the above Penny Farthing
Pen Tools and Shapes were ideal for this
Yes, it did take a lot of work to get the little curves correct but worth the effort. I looked at the sketch and thought it was time to elevate it to the next level.
Pen tools and a bit of colour
A bit of colour elevated the line drawing
I can already see ways of improving the image with a bit of free hand highlighting. That’ll take practice but will be fun. This little patent sketch is now poster worthy. And yes, I turned this into merch. How could I not? I’m now trolling through old patents looking for other ideas to work with. This challenges my brain on so many levels. It’s exhausting but fulfilling.
Cool!
Wander over by clicking this link -> Bittergrounds.Redbubble to see how it looks on different things. When you get there, click on the Cycles category. I’ve been busy over at the store. Lots of things coming and going as I fuss with designs. So have fun, let me know what you think. Remember, anything you buy goes to supporting this website.
Cheers!
Check out my first pen tools sketch of the Antoinette Flyer mentioned above:
Cleaning up a magnificent 1908 Antoinette Flyer schematic
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by catpaw | 22 Feb, 2017 | photos | art | design
Still working on the doorway arch. Hard to believe I haven’t flitted off to another project already, but this one has turned into an excellent challenge with all the shadows and highlights. After doing a line trace of the original photo, I’ve been using a simple round, black brush tip with varying flow to get the deep, dark shadows and sense of depth. Here’s the next stage:
I’ve turned the water colour wash off for awhile so I can concentrate on just the ink effect.  I’m saving each stage, so far 15 shots, so I can pull them together on an animated gif to show the work as it progresses. When I finish the art, I’ll post it for you.
by catpaw | 20 Feb, 2017 | photos | art | design
Back banging away with my Wacom tablet again. I’ve been working on trying to even out my water colour wash effect. To date, it’s been pretty much hit and miss so I’ve been working on some new ideas. I was looking over shots I took yesterday and spotted a photo that would be excellent to try out some of these ideas. I was wandering around in the Bloor/St. George area, by Varsity stadium photographing some of my favourite buildings. One in particular has a beautiful arched door – Munk Centre for International Affairs:
I did the usual, outline of the photo first. Yea, cheating still, but I like the effect of free handing the outline. I tried using Photoshop to do an outline, but it looks too clinical.  Then I used a basic round tip (2 to 6 thickness), black for highlights and shadows. While I was pissing around with it, I realised I could get an excellent pen and ink effect by varying pen pressure and flow. Another issue I have is consistency in shadows. I can look at a photo right in front of me and still screw up the sun direction. I had to go back a number of times and correct the angle. Even with the original photo laying underneath the drawing as reference, I still get it wrong. It’s like I look at a photo, understand where the shadows are supposed to be then my hand says “let’s pop that shadow on the opposite side”. Go figure.
After completing a small section, I wondered if a light wash beneath the outline would enhance the shadows so I went to work on a different brush – flat, square and light ink flow with buildup.  I was able to build up a darker colour in spots. Best part, I was able to duplicate this a couple of times. I’m not doing any blending, just straight water colour brush, varying sized. So, yea, I’m pleased. The shadows have given the arch real depth. Come back in a week to see how the picture is going.
by catpaw | 3 Feb, 2017 | photos | art | design
Well, lost the original article in the move over to a new host company, but that’s my oversite. Forgot to do a fresh backup that day. Here’s a reconstruction… sort of.
I wondered what I was going to do with the photo I posted previously. The koi fishpond was enticing, but I struggled a bit with how to approach it. I started the same routine, basic outline, rough out the fish, apply paint effect and started to laugh – this struck me that I was doing an adult version of paint-by-numbers.
I stood back a bit and decided to go for it started to go a bit more freehand. The righthand fin, er fin on the right side of the middle fish was done without outlines as well as much of the pattern on the fish. I was trying for a more flowing look. Right idea, but the blending is heavy handed. The paint effect is far too thick. I’m struggling with blending brushes. I’ve got the weekend off, so I’ll poke around with them, try to set up a new grouping. I need to change effects.  The fish should look like its water coloured, not so slathered on acrylics. Maybe turn off buildup. Hmm …
I’m also doing less detail on the overall outline. I’m looking for a more flowing feel to the background. Here it is in all it’s glory:
Digital art – Koi fish
I was going to delete the work and start fresh but decided “warts ‘n all” was needed. Not happy with it in general, but the mouth and whisker is spot on. Really pleased with the sense of depth. That’s part of a problem I’ve had for decades when it comes to drawing. Even using pencil and paper, I often can’t remember how I get a certain effect – I just wing it. I don’t think through steps or think about what I’m drawing. I just start and enjoy. So … this weekend I’m sitting down with my notebook and making notes on each brush (especially blending) and the effects. That’s the only way I’ll remember what they do.
Then again, if all else fails, I can start a career as an adult colouring book maker.
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by catpaw | 17 Nov, 2016 | photos | art | design
A couple of friends are enjoying Kyoto at the moment and sending wonderful photos my direction. This one in particular caught my eye: 
Beautiful, isn’t it? Peaceful as well. I’ve been looking at something to use to test new brush techniques with my Wacom tablet. I’ve never had luck with water colour techniques in the past. Everything tends to look like the Blob. Not pretty. But I decided to be brave and give it another whirl. And yes, I cheated again. I did the line drawing over the photo first to act as my template. Then I set about using brushes with wet edges and build up ticked along with parsimonious use of the mixer brush. I started on the bridge. After 2 tries, I finally got it ok. Then the water, slowly filling in sections. Finally the trees and here it is: 
I like the incomplete look, like the landscape is just coming forward. But there’s something about the extra whitespace that gives it a sense of calm. My first successful attempt at a watercolouresque picture. When I feel more confident in controlling the pen, I’ll try a free hand drawing, rather than doing the lineart first.
