All Star Illustration Break Down 2021.

Julia Hegetusch · 15 Dec 2021, 20:24

Hi Norman, first of all congratulations on winning, I really love your illustration. Thats so great that you are sharing your process here on the forum. I think this is really helpful to alot of people. I really struggle with getting a clear concept and it is so interesting to see how you get to your final story. Although I do get the impression that it suddenly appeared in your head. But you didnt go for the first idea, instead gave the right idea time to appear. I tend to settle to fast and then ad in to much unimportant stuff.
Greetings

Jeremy Ross · 15 Dec 2021, 23:20

Thanks for sharing your process @norman-morana! I really love this piece and happy for you!

Definitely inspired!

xin li · 15 Dec 2021, 23:44

love this piece @Norman-Morana

carlianne · 15 Dec 2021, 23:56

@norman-morana a great process and a great Illustration

Norman Morana · 16 Dec 2021, 00:30

Thank you @asyas_illos ! Happy to share

Norman Morana · 16 Dec 2021, 00:36

Hi, @moana-maureen Coming up with a good concept can take some practice. Doing the mind map brainstorm can help give you some ideas and push you into directions you might not have thought of. I tend to have a lot of partial ideas going around in my head, so it helps me to put them on paper so I don't have to worry about them or forget the good ones. It takes practice though.

One of the things I ask people when asking for feed back on my concept is "What do you think is going on here?"

Thank you, and I wish you luck along your journey!

Norman Morana · 16 Dec 2021, 00:40

@jeremy-ross Thank you! I appreciate that!

Norman Morana · 16 Dec 2021, 01:06

Thank you @xin-li and @carlianne !!

LauraA · 16 Dec 2021, 11:23

@norman-morana Woah, this is so cool! The first part is especially useful for me, as you have a very divergent imagination and it's fun to see how your ideas develop. I think a star sheriff who keeps the planets in order could have been fun, too! (But like you say, a scene with many elements would a little difficult to portray in one composition.)

I have one question: In your post, you talk about a version on the left with noise and a version on the right without noise. The images posted vertically, though. Are you referring to the next to last and then to the last complete images, or to something else? I also notice that there are also faded lamp posts in the last image.

And lastly, dang it! I need a wife! I think that's where I've gone wrong, as in my experience husbands aren't of much use in critiquing !

Jonas Zavacky · 16 Dec 2021, 12:58

@norman-morana You did a lot of work and it shows. Gj and congrats on the win!

joosterwijk · 16 Dec 2021, 14:06

@norman-morana Wow, very helpful! Thanks. And great piece of course.

Frogpunzel · 16 Dec 2021, 17:20

@norman-morana Thank you for sharing this. I love seeing the process of getting to a finished project, it makes it even better!

AustinShurtliff · 16 Dec 2021, 17:58

@Norman-Morana this is really such a great piece! Thanks for sharing all this great info about your process!

Heather Boyd · 16 Dec 2021, 19:08

@norman-morana said in All Star Illustration Break Down 2021.:

It was a lot of info to get in one illustration, so it wasn't a route I felt I could go down effectively.

This is golden! I struggle with trying to cram in so much, all the while keeping things simple.

I find it interesting that you start the colour, colour, colour before refining your drawing, that's cool.

The noise is an interesting technique. When your work is large I can't tell, one side noise the other side not. But in the close up I can see.

Norman Morana · 16 Dec 2021, 19:23

Hi @lauraa sorry, the layout of the post might be bit confusing. I like to go image, text, image, text. The noise example is in the close up shot of the giants head and upper body. I have noise only on half of the image. It might be hard to tell, but that's not a bad thing. I want the noise to be something you feel, not necessarily see.

In the last two images I wanted to show how I do some small tweaks. Such as the added light posts, glow to the basket, and glow toned down on the people. Those edits being done a day or so later.

I hope that helps clear things up

Norman Morana · 16 Dec 2021, 19:39

@heather-boyd

I like to think of myself as a lazy illustrator. If I don't have to draw something to tell the story, I won't lol. In this case, I've been experimenting with not refining my drawing until the very end. I was noticing that I would spend a lot of time on the drawing phase, then once I started adding in all my textures, I'd end up not needing most of my line work. So I've been trying out doing line work last and only where the image needs it. I've been liking the affect so far. Plus I'm zoomed out when drawing, the way most people view the piece.

About the noise, you're right. It's something I want people to feel but not see. If the noise was missing from the image when zoomed out, you'd be able to tell. I think it would be too clean.

I'm glad you and other people are finding this helpful!

TessaW · 16 Dec 2021, 19:48

I really love seeing and hearing about people's process, so thanks for sharing! Congratulations on the big win!!!

Heather Boyd · 16 Dec 2021, 20:50

@norman-morana You have an eye for the noise. But thanks anyways, if I keep staring I'll go blind.

I need to work on what absolutely needs to go in, goes in and then if room the odd other thing or two. I'll try to remember laziness can still produce good work, what strange irony. lols

Thanks,

LauraA · 17 Dec 2021, 14:55

@norman-morana Ah, now I totally see it! I love the addition of the light posts, by the way. It almost looks like they're getting lost in fog.

Thanks for doing this. I love your work!

aurelia · 17 Dec 2021, 15:42

@norman-morana said in All Star Illustration Break Down 2021.:

Through almost all of the processes I'm zoomed out on the canvas and rarely ever zoom in to draw anything.

Congratulations on winning the All-Star!! Your work is always so amazing! Your imagination is at another level. And thank you for sharing your process. I've learnt quite a lot of good tips.

I heard a lot the teachers saying not to zoom in too much.

It's funny. I thought I didn't have this problem. Until I really paid attention to the size of my piece in the recording. It's like 20% zoom in Photoshop.

I probably zoomed in around 70%-80% while painting. Can I ask how zoomed out are you when painting yours? Is 20-30% a good number?