Stitching together scanned images
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My book 'The Garden Witch' is done with watercolour and ink, but it was stitched together by scanning images and then clone stamping them to stitch it together in Procreate.
This way I got to pick all the best sketches and mix them together to create final pages. I was afraid my drawings would lose their loose energy if I was pressured to not make a mistake on a huge drawing done in ink (with no pencil underneath).
I learned this way of working from Lee Gatlin. He told me he does this and it was a huge eureka moment for me. He draws extra hands/heads/whatever on the sides of his illustrations because he may want to switch it out.
----------------------------------Here's a bit of an extreme example that turned out to be the cover of the book. I had doodled a face that stunk, then I drew one I loved -way too close to the stinker. I couldn't do the whole body there, it would get confusing. So I cut her in half and decided to stitch her together later and edit out the stinker face.
Then I drew the rats, I drew some other pieces on other paper, and scanned the images. I stuck them all together with the clone stamping tool (and cut and paste) in Procreate. I coloured the sky blue in Procreate, but other than that the paints are real watercolour( i think, can't remember exactly).
If you work traditionally, this is a fun way to make digital tricks work in your favour.
I really wanted the book to be super loose, and this meant I could doodle quickly and then pick and choose all the best bits.
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Here's one that all parts were on one page, much easier to work with. I draw on big paper, and my scanner is the biggest I could get at the time.
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@kylebeaudette mate, it's mint seeing behind the scenes. I'm glad you're showing the process, and how messy it can be. Artists can sometimes assume that all other illustrators have a super sleek process. Your work is amazing and you'd never guess a lot of it is mushed together in this way. I'm currently reworking my style because I have a tenancy to render everything, and your stuff is super inspiring. You definitely give people the confidence to make what THEY want to make.
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@MarcRobinson thanks! Most of my stuff is not stitched together, but I did it this way for the book.
Usually I just follow whatever happens when I'm drawing.And yeah, I feel ppl need to loosen up and get scribbly
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@kylebeaudette Very neat! Flexibility is so important with any kind of professional work. It's great that you found a process that allows for mistakes and tweaks!
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@kylebeaudette
Thanks for taking the time to shows all this. Can’t wait to see the book! Long time fan! -
Here's another one.
I think this was the first one I tried, to see if it was a way of working that I'd enjoy. I loved the result, and was super happy with how simple the process was. Success!
I should also explain the simplistic nature of my artstyle, and what I'm going for when trying to piece together ink sketches.
I am specifically chasing the loose, energetic feeling of the illustrators i loved growing up. Quentin Blake, Tim Burton, and anyone else that allowed their final images to be...scribbly. Today I also admire Ronald Searle, Lee Gatlin, Graham Annabelle, Kate Beaton, and William Steig.
Many ppl look at my art and think I'm simply ripping off Quentin Blake. True enough! But I'm alllso ripping off all these others, and adding my own stink to the whole melange.
I never liked digital art because I couldn't get it to have texture. Many can, but I didn't want to put in the time when I'm getting the result I'm after by working traditional.So this digital stitchery is the best use of those tools for me, and it was a way of working I hadn't thought of until it was brought to my attention.
Please feel free to post any ways you mix digital and traditional in this thread
I'm eager to learn more! -
Thank you for sharing your process and I just love love love your characters' expressions. They have just the right amount of silly quirky mischief. Whenever I draw teeth, people tell me to take them out. But I think teeth are part of the humor and fun. BTW your characters on the average show more teeth than Blake's.
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Hi @kylebeaudette , thanks for sharing these tips!!! I’ve been drawing a lot more in my sketchbook, actually- exclusively, and cutting paper and using glue and plastic and all sorts of materials.
Personally, have discovered that I dislike sketching digitally because I love making mistakes.
I’m lucky to have The Garden Witch in my home library and look forward to your next books!
Just for giggles, here’s a drawing I did on a whiteboard at the office using your style
When people said, I LOVE IT!! I referred them to You and suggested they purchase your book!!
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@Jeremy-Ross AMAZING!
thank you Jeremy!!Yes, making mistakes is so important in developing creativity. Feels so wrong to hit 'undo'
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@kylebeaudette thanks for sharing! I'm new to illustration and am really curious about different ways of combining traditional and digital processes. Your process is very cool!
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Your illustrations are just wonderful! I love the spontaneous lines.
I have been trying to layer my traditional art and collage on Procreate. Since I am new to all this I have a few questions. Do you work in the original size (or are the drawings losing quality if you make them bigger on Procreate?
And my scanner is so bad, can you recommend a scanner?
Thank you so much for sharing.
