Friday
Sep052008
A Minor Epiphany
Friday, September 5, 2008 at 01:54PM 
Drawing linework in Photoshop is starting to grow on me
I picked up a copy of John Buscema ‘A life in sketches’ and was musing on how fast this guy managed to be while keeping on-top of quality (especially when he inked his own stuff). His sketches are stunning. And watching the buildup of lines got me thinking that I need to do something similar in the digital realm.
The problem for me drawing in Photoshop has always been that lines get lost when you zoom out. It’s hard to see what you are doing, Hard to get a nice line, and I would always end up with a constrained feeling. Like it’s not possible to see the whole image properly at once, as on a real bit of paper.
Corel Painter is better at this, even when zoomed out you get a fairly decent line, it seems to average the stroke a bit better and smooth things out. but...I just find other aspects of the app to be too painful.
But looking at the broad strokes Buscema sketched with to put his first rough layout down (I think he would do his ‘thumbnails’ at full size, just straight on the board) I figured I could probably ‘sketch’ with something much larger and looser in Photoshop, and then zoom up for the final lines...filling in the details as I go...as you should when inking your own work really. (ok so maybe this is pretty obvious...but for some reason I would always try to draw like I do on paper...with a thin line for sketching)
So I gave this a go, and it actually seems to be working so far. The lines in the above image are all digital, and I think they are probably as good as my pencil stuff. Plus it feels pretty good on the line by line fun-factor basis.
I did this one a few weeks ago, and now I am running into some issues with how to do larger more complex images in this style (lines with painted background) but that has more to do with the painting than the lines. So all good.
I have also been keeping a journal of screenshots each day which I will start posting now and then.
(In lieu of actual tutorials :x)
Reader Comments (21)
This is really beautiful. I love your work Tim.
Great stuff Tim! Love the design. The line work is really well done.
wow i love it yo!
This is just plain breath taking! It's gotta be one of my favorite pieces by you! I love the color and the simplicity of the background
Wow ...this is so cool , I love her neck and her feet...Bravo.
Just discovered your work, love it!
The problem in Photoshop with lines that get lost when you zoom out depends mainly in the percentage that you are using: you can jump from 12,5% to 25% to 50% and to 100% and the visualizing will always be good. The problem comes when you use other intermediate values: you can lose some lines.
In any case, congratulations for your great work! I like it a lot. And we share that same great admiration for Big John Buscema!
It looks great, and also there is a bunch of new updates!!!!
Is interesting to read your comments on the photoshop sketches,
for higher speed with the brushstrokes you can increase the spacing.
and for a little more precision you can put a sheet of paper
on top of the tablet and tape it, will give you some resistance.
btw the last sketch on august 27 is awesome
as always the design of your characters is great
love her ears and horns.
awesome work!
I can't wait for more of this... it looks really really good. I like her claws...
The lines looks great. They don´t feel like digital, they look pretty natural.
In case you want to try inks I recently have been playing with the Painter X ones and there´s much to enjoy. ;)
Good luck with the writting!
regarder stp
http://michaelconan.over-blog.com/
Hy
Hmmm... First, i'm from Brazil and... i don't know write right in english, but, please sorry.
I'm a admirer of you work, he's really fantastic... I like play RPG and i'm learning to Draw some things. It becomes all more interesting.
But the question is; what program you uses to paint? I use Photoshop and the colors, they are some plastic, i don't know if you can understand me, but, anyway...
If you will be with time, visit and comment my blog:
www.des3nhos.blogspot.com
I like so much your work, very awesome!
Thanks!
Just stumbled across your site, but I'll start with this here. I have to say I admire your looseness of lines. The quality of it all seems almost carefree.
Hey Tim
thanks for the link man!! - ill hook you up on my blog :)
great to catch up last night and check out your book in person
loving all your new sketches here!! - ill keep checking back
i just discover your blog , very nice drawing .Nice job .Scuse me for my english , i 'm french .
bye geo
Veri nice blog you have here,i like you sketches ....
always liked your work man! post more!
vas VOIR mon blog une video de moi
explique ma demarche humaine
peut tu demander a tous de la regarder afin de comprendre
mon blog
http://michaelconan.over-blog.com/
Beautiful!
Lots of atmosphere and I love your color choices.
i am a huge fan and i love this piece. your colors are soo unique. very inspiring!! thanks
If you can, try the new Photoshop CS4 with the advanced open GL. This will let you zoom at any level and get a nice looking line. You can also rotate the canvas, like in painter. I'm sure I don't have to tell you why this is great when working with a wacom. Any way, I'm a real big fan of your work and I just wanted to thank you for a little insight into your process. Congrats my friend! :)