Process Post 5: Sky Sharks

Step 1: Loose sketch.  In this phase I use green in Photoshop to layout the loose composition. Creating a new layer I use red to trace over the rough sketch.

Step 2: Finalize sketch and add bookplate.  In this stage I turn the red lineart greyscale by using the hue/sat in Photoshop.  I also add in the bookplate as a placeholder so I know how much space to leave in the final art.

Step 3: Color Mockup.  In this stage I shift the hue once more to the proposed color. I've added in the background and mocked in where the binding would be placed to make sure no vital art is covered.

Step 4: Final illustration.  In the final stage I use my rough sketch from the previous phase and I trace over it in Photoshop.  Unlike the sketch phases which were all about composition and blocking in this phase I am trying to add detail, depth, and volume to the scene.

Process Post 4: Deep Stretch

When the team at Michael Roger, the publishers behind Decomposition Books, reached out to me to do a Scubadiving / Yoga mashup I was all over it.  What follows is the creative process from concept to finished print.

*Special thanks to Eric and Jacob Held for the Art Direction

1.) Concept sketches: After talking through the key poses I worked up a few concepts that offered a variety of framing devices. In this phase I'll typically flip the drawing horizontally back and forth the check the compositional balance.

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2.)Lineart: Once I had an approved concept sketch I moved on to create the lineart in Photoshop CC on my Surface Pro 3. Each diver and individual element was created as it's own layer in Photoshop for ease of manipulation.  When I illustrate I typically doing my sketching in green and my lineart on a layer above in red.  This helps me separate the two visually.  And I just turn the sketch layer off once I'm done but I always keep it so I can reference back to it.

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3.) Toning and Color: Once the lineart had been approved I drew in the shadows and created a toned inkwash using the Kyle Webster watercolor brushes. I then turned the wash layer into a halftone bitmap to create a zipatone look. Following that I overlayed the multiple layers and began to experiment with some hue and level adjustment layers to add color.

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4.)Print: Although we experimented with color it was ultimately decided to go greyscale with the print.  The trade dress was added and the cover went to print.  Below are some samples from the print itself.

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