How to draw an illustration. How to draw a colorful illustration in Photoshop

I still receive letters with the same consistency asking: "I want to become an illustrator, where to start?", "How can I learn to draw?", "What if I can't draw, do I have a chance to become an illustrator?"

At first glance, the questions are rather strange. You don’t know how to draw, you don’t want to start and try, you don’t even want to learn to draw - which illustrator are you? Why do you need this? But everything is not as simple as it seems at first glance.

Recently, I came across a private higher school in Hamburg, which prepares narrowly focused only illustrators. On the very first pages of "About Me" they inform that an illustrator is a designer who can draw.

It made me laugh because I am a graphic designer and received, without false modesty, a good education. Over the years, we have been tirelessly told that any designer should be able to draw, handle a camera, understand typography, and understand art.

Along with subjects such as typography, we were taught drawing and photography - things that were reflected in my ideas about illustration. I have devoted several sections to the influence of photography on illustration in my book "Profession - Illustrator. Learning to Think Creatively".

The saying that an illustrator is a designer who can draw struck me as very strange. At first, I decided that people were simply not aware of what modern designers were teaching. But then I seem to understand what they are about. Namely, that an illustrator is a professional who possesses a variety of skills and image techniques, which can often be called rather design ones.

Indeed, the modern illustrator is no longer tied to traditional visual techniques: he does not have to work only with paints or pencils on paper. He doesn't even need to be very good at drawing. It is enough to be able to handle paper and scissors, wood and chisel, fabrics and a sewing machine, to be able to draw only at the level of outlines and sketches and at the same time be no less successful and salable illustrator than colleagues working in traditional techniques.

Today I would like to draw your attention to the techniques for performing modern illustrations.

To questions like "Where should a future illustrator start?" I have already answered, and below you can follow the link to my answer. And when asked whether someone will make an illustrator, if he has not learned to draw traditionally, academically, I will say yes. Because if paper and light and shade are not given, you should try yourself in some unconventional technique, if in spite of everything you want to do illustration professionally.

For inspiration, I will show you a beautiful book - a collection of works by illustrators and artists working in non-traditional illustrative techniques.

Book on American Amazon:
Book in German Amazon: Illustration Play: Craving for the Extraordinary

The cover is made on very beautiful, textured paper with real stickers.

And this is what the content looks like - a list of presented illustrators.

Illustrations made with a burner. Author: Genevieve Dionne

Installation illustrations from various materials. Author: Stephanie Dotson

Installation illustrations made of paper and wood. Author: Aj Fosik

Illustrations on old packages, envelopes and more. By Melvin Galapon

Today's article will be devoted to drawing airplanes. We will learn how to draw passenger planes, military and old. We will analyze both complex drawing methods and simple ones.

So, get your pencils, eraser and paper ready, we're getting started.

The simplest drawings

Let's start with children's drawings. Of course, adults can draw such drawings, but in this article we want to pay more attention to more complex works.

These examples are very simple and do not require a step-by-step explanation, so watch and draw :)

Passenger plane

Let's start with complex airplanes, namely the complex way of drawing a passenger airplane. However, we are sure that you can master this tutorial and learn how to draw cool!

Such planes are most often encountered in everyday life. The beauty of drawing them is that when painting a landscape, you may not want to detail them too much. He flies far in the sky and is hard to see. But now we will figure out how to depict them up close.

We will work on the drawing in stages. Below is a picture and if something is not clear to you at some stage, you can look at the final result and figure it out.

Stage 1
We will work from general to specific, so we sketch out the contours with a pencil. Select a pencil that is not too bold and do not press very hard on it, as we will have to erase some lines in the future.

So, we sketch out a large oval, draw one line along the entire length of the oval (the line of the airplane windows). At the very end we draw two lines - the tail, and under the large oval we draw a small one - the right engine.

Stage 2
We have a sketch, now it's time to detail it. Draw the nose and tail of our iron bird and connect them with a line from above.

Stage 3
We work on the lower part of the tail and depict the engines that are located under the wings.

Stage 4
We represent the left wing above the engine. We will not depict the right wing, since it is not visible from this angle.

Stage 5
Our drawing is almost ready, it remains to add small details such as doors, windows and lines on the tail.

6 stage
Excellent! We are all set! Color and add a background if desired.

Second example of a passenger plane

For clarity, we will give one more example from a slightly different angle.

We sketch out the main part, tail and wings.

Working on the form.

Orange line of windows.

Engines and tail.

Now the wings.

Portholes.

And now we take paints or felt-tip pens and paint.

If you feel strong, then you can add chiaroscuro.

Old plane

Let's work on the older versions of the flying birds, namely the maize.

Corn trucks were used absolutely everywhere, in war, for rural purposes, for transporting people. Therefore, by painting on a machine gun on the nose, you will get a military plane, painting on sprayers from below, an agricultural one.

We will draw the most common one. Let's get started!

First, let's sketch out the wings and main body. If you look at it from above, you get a cross.

Blades, tail and stripe in front of the wings. Pay attention to this strip, it is round, because the body of our corn bean is round. This is very important, in this way the volume in the drawing is conveyed.

We represent the wheels and connect the upper and lower parts of the wings.

Now we draw the cockpit and proceed to the most important thing, the patterns on the body. Bright corn plants look very beautiful. You can redraw our pattern or come up with some of your own.

So, we are all set. Now select the brighter colors and paint.

It turned out not super complicated in execution, but a beautiful drawing :)

Military aircraft

Let's start drawing military equipment, namely fighters. Compared to previous flying birds, this bird bites :) It is much smaller, faster and more maneuverable.

The easiest way to draw fighters, and indeed any technique, is to draw exactly from the side. Below are two simple examples.

Fighter # 1
Let's try to draw a more complex drawing than the examples above?

Making a sketch, you should get a sharp shape with two triangles at the end.

We begin to detail our sketch. We are working on the cockpit and the left wing, the right wing is not visible from this angle.

We bring to mind all the elements that we have already drawn.

Paint on a strip on the nose of the plane. Please note that it must be rounded, so, as we said earlier, we transfer the volume of the picture.

Also, we add rockets under the wing, we have a military fighter.

Well, at the final stage, you can add some numbers or inscriptions and color. Also, if you want, you can draw an angry face with teeth on the nose, this is often done on military aircraft.

Fighter # 2
Let's briefly analyze the second example, from a different angle and in a different, so to speak, pose.

Making a simple sketch.

Finalizing the shapes of our sketch.

Working on the front.

Add small details.

And finally we paint.

Video lessons

In this fashion illustration tutorial, you will learn how to draw proportional face for fashion sketchat. With this simple and very handy technique, you can greatly improve your face drawing skills. Let's dive into the lesson.

Materials used:

• Mechanical Pencil (0.5);
• Ruler;
• Markers of 3 colors (for skin toning).
  You can choose both expensive and cheaper sets:
  - expensive Copic, a set of 12 colors;
  - an inexpensive version of Bianyo (there are 12/24/36 color sets);
  - budget version of Manga 12 colors.

First, you will need to draw a 3 × 5 cm frame. For my sketches, I use a 1.5 × 2.5 cm rectangle. You can draw the head larger or smaller. Just remember that 3 × 5 is the ratio of width to length.

Take a look at the image below. I divided the rectangle with two lines: vertically and horizontally. Then I divided the lower part into 3 equal parts. Now follow the instructions in the picture below.

EXERCISE: To practice, draw nine rectangular frames and sketches of faces on them. Pick a celebrity and try drawing her face using this technique. Share your best results in the comments below.

FASHION-FACE ILLUSTRATION: VIDEO-INSTRUCTION

In the video below, I used a different frame size but applied the same technique. Therefore, ignore the dimensions and follow the instructions to draw the European, Asian and black model.

In this article, I will go into more detail about markers and other materials that I use in my fashion illustrations.

In the video below, I explain how to make a very dark skin tone using a cocoa marker. However, usually when I paint a dark skinned model, I use Cinnamon for the highlights and Burnt Sienna for the shadow. You can watch this video later :)

Here is a video of a sketch of an Asian type of female face.

Of course, these three models are just examples. You can play with facial features and skin tones and draw an endless number of different faces.

This article shows how the size, shape, and even the position of your eyes can affect the mood and style of your sketch.

This tutorial will help you learn how to paint a 2D illustration using standard Photoshop brushes. We will go through all the stages of creating an illustration, from sketch to background, gradually working through, drawing all the details. You can successfully apply all these methods for other illustrations, as well as in the design of other kinds of projects, such as logos, for example - drawing and painting skills always come in handy. For this illustration, the author used Photoshop CS3 and Wacom Graphire 3.

1. Sketch

I started with a sketch. Having defined the shapes, I paid attention to the color scheme, highlighting the main and background colors. To do this, try to imagine the picture as accurately as possible. On a blank sheet of Photoshop, I sketched out color spots. I don't like working on a flat filled canvas - color transitions help to give the right mood to the work. I added a general background fill. You see, a lot of green grass came out - a good old song comes to mind about "... we dream of grass, grass near the house ..." Try to imagine yourself in such a place: that oak tree grows near the house, which you often climbed in childhood ...

2. Setting up brushes

We will add details with a brush. For this illustration, I am using only standard Photoshop brushes. If you want, you can download others and work with them. Let's set them up for work. Here are the brushes I'll be using:

3. Choice of color

Let's define the primary colors we will work with. Here is my palette for this illustration. As usual, I want to draw something brighter. For the background, I chose shades of yellow and blue. The rest of the colors are for the landscape. Save your palette as a separate file. And while you draw, keep it open close at hand.

4. We work on objects

I decided to remove the old car, which at first stood near the house. It doesn't look so good there. The car is not required in this illustration. So, I erased the car, and drew my oak - and you can draw another tree. To do this, I applied the main spots of paint with a hard round brush, and then schematically painted the details with the same brush, but in a smaller size. You also need to create a separate layer for the grass and draw it in general terms too.

5. Meadow

We continue to draw the grass in more detail, using both a small hard brush and smoothing the transitions with a soft one. Later I can change the grass, add flowers - red, blue or yellow. I don't think about it yet, but the green of the grass will definitely come in handy in this illustration.

6. Working with the palette

When choosing a color, I usually do this:

7. Wood

See how I draw wooden fence boards. In this tutorial, I am not drawing different types of wood, there are only 2 types - for the door and for the fence.

8. Canvas size

A large canvas is needed for high-quality rendering of details. If you see that the size you have chosen is clearly not enough, at this stage you can still increase it. For our work, we need a canvas of at least 2000 or 2600 pixels.

9. Drawing with a small brush

Draw the details with a small brush. Take a look at how I work with the roof detail:

10. Grass

Now I will create a couple of new layers of grass. I again fill the areas with the main color, and then work out the shadows with its shades. I also draw bunches of grass in separate layers. Why paint the grass in different layers? In order to make it easier to make changes that you will later have to make. It is much easier to fix mistakes if the main elements of the work are on separate layers. In addition, somewhere you can save time and effort by duplicating successful layers of grass blades in different places of work.
How to draw grass, you ask? Just take a brush, pick color and paint a blade of grass. Then change the color - and draw the next one, like my example. And so many times.

11. Clouds

It's time to start detailing the clouds. In order to draw the cloud, I marked its shape in a separate layer and then set the layer to overlay mode to achieve the effect you see in this picture.
My sky consists of two layers: in one - the primary colors, and in the other - all the bright places and gaps. Try to achieve harmony by changing the shape of the brush and painting the clouds with different strokes.

We need to set shadows and lights. When in doubt, look at the cloud pictures. Take a look at Google to check the different types and shapes of clouds.

12. Clouds

I also want to add bright sunlight and lightning-like gaps in the clouds. After going through several options, I settled on the following. The light spots are still pretty rough so far, but I'll finish with them later. Note that each of the elements is on a separate layer, which allowed me to quickly select them and easily perform all the manipulations with shades, brightness, etc. : Ctrl + click on the desired object selects the corresponding layer, and Ctrl + click on the preview of this layer in the layers panel gives us a selection in the form of a layer object.

13. Adjustments Settings

That's what's really important. By choosing the appropriate shade, you can change the whole atmosphere of the illustration. I am now changing the colors in Color Balance. Then I'll tweak the brightness and contrast. As you can see, the result is obvious.

13. Summing up

Merge all layers into one. You can add the final touch - apply a Smart Sharpen filter to the resulting image to sharpen the details. This is very helpful in bringing out small details like highlights.
Time to Close Photoshop Hope you enjoyed it!

Hatice Bayramoglu has translated this lesson for you by the attendant. We will be glad if you risk bragging about your results)) Success in your studies!

Comments

1. DeVeL
   December 9, 2011 at 06:20 PM

   Somehow not quite a lesson. Rather, just a making of, and not the most detailed.

2. Islam
   December 17, 2011 at 06:53 PM

   But I think you can still call it a lesson, just follow the logic and everything will be ok.))

3. Vladislav
   March 25, 2015 at 04:53 PM

   I am a project manager at the Children and Parents Against Cancer Charitable Foundation. www.deti-lipetska.ru

   Our foundation starts publishing a newspaper where I want to publish my fairy tale. Here is a link to the first three chapters:

   lipetskblog.ru/blogs/blog...ste-glava-tretya

   The tale is unusual, because it is written for children who have fallen under the heavy millstones of a serious and painful illness. Therefore, the tale is a little sad, but with a powerful life motivation.

   We need illustrations! But since we have a charitable foundation and the newspaper is free, I ask you to show complicity and offer your illustrations for free. We, in turn, will definitely indicate this in each printed chapter of the tale. Thanks!..

   Email us [email protected]

   Katya Answer:
   November 5, 2018 at 5:52 pm

   I can try) \u003d)

Leave a reply

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You will see how I create a concept sketch, a background, and then gradually improve the image by drawing out the details. By the way, you can easily apply the techniques shown in this tutorial to create your illustrations, logos and other projects! Drawing lessons always seem easier following these tutorials, but if you think that you are not drawing well enough, then it will never be superfluous to just try, since the purpose of such lessons, one way or another, is to improve your skills! I am sure that those of you who cannot create large-scale drawings can start with quick sketches like this.

I used the following tools:
- Photoshop CS3
- Wacom Graphire 3 USB Tablet (Blue)

Step 1: I started with a sketch. Then I painted the surface of the ground. Here, as you can see in the finished drawing, there is a lot of green grass and it reminds me of an old song: "Green Green Grass by the House". So try to imagine something like that. Perhaps there is an old oak tree not far from a small house, under the shade of which you loved to play as a child. As soon as I decided on the scene, I began to think about the colors: the main and background shades. Here I tried to imagine a clear image. I started painting on a blank background and added some colors. I don't like to work with pictures, the background of which is simple and inexpressive. Adding different colors maintains interest in the image and also helps to achieve the desired mood.

Step 2: I added details with a small diameter brush. For these illustrations I only use the default brushes in Photoshop. You can download other brushes if you like. Here are the brushes I used for this illustration. In my drawing, I will only use standard brushes. Before you start drawing, you need to customize your brushes.

Step 3: Now you need to choose the primary colors for your composition. And here are my colors for this illustration. As usual, I want to create a very vivid drawing. For the background, I chose yellow and blue shades. All other colors are for the environment. Open another file and save your colors. And keep this new file always open while you draw.

Click on the picture to see the image in full size and 100% quality.

Step 4: I decided to remove the old car that was parked at the house. She, however, does not fit here at all. This car does not match with the rest of the design. So I had to erase the car and draw an old oak tree instead, you might want to draw some other tree. I made a rough sketch in color with a round, hard brush with a large diameter, and then roughly painted the details with the same brush only with a smaller diameter. I also created a new layer for the grass and made a rough sketch.

Step 5: Then I started painting the green grass in more detail with a small hard round brush, and with a soft round brush I smoothed the image ... but later I can change that, for example, there may appear reddish-blue or yellow flowers. But at the moment, I think that green grass is just what you need.

Step 6: When I am looking for a suitable color, I do this:

Step 7: Now pay attention to how I draw the wood. In this tutorial, I am not showing many types of wood. There are only two types presented here: one for the door, and the second for the fence.

Step 8: Now let me resize the canvas. As you can see, if you want to get a drawing with a lot of detail, then you will have to work on a large canvas (approximately 2000 or 2600 pixels).

Step 9: Add details using a small brush. Here, notice how I draw the details of the roof.

Click on the picture to see the image in full size and 100% quality.

Step 10A: In the next steps, I'm going to create some more layers for the green grass. The reason for creating multiple layers is that you will need to adjust the drawing later. It is much easier to correct mistakes if the main elements of your drawing are separate objects. I roughly painted the drawing with a large, hard, round brush, and then added details with the same brush, but with a smaller diameter. I also created a new layer for the hair and made a rough sketch. Returning to the question of how to draw grass. Just click on the brush icon, choose a different color and paint as shown in my sketches. Then just repeat the same action.

Step 11: Now it's time to start detailing the clouds. While painting the clouds, I gave the shape with white on separate layers and then changed the layer's blend mode to Overlay so that this effect was visible in the drawing. And I only used two layers for the clouds. One color is used as a base color and the other is used to brighten the background. Try to find a balance by combining different brush shapes and try painting clouds with different strokes. You also need to define light and shadow. Photos of the real sky will help you in this matter. Just search Google for different cloud shapes.

Step 12A: I also wanted to add some bright sunlight and other details like the flash of lightning. After several attempts, I settled on the one shown in my drawing. At this point it looked rough enough, but I'll come back to that later. I should also note that each element of the picture was on a separate layer, which allowed me to quickly select the desired object and easily change the colors. Press Command + Click (on Mac) or Control + Click (on Windows) on the layer thumbnail in the "Layers" palette in order to select the opacity.

Step 13: Settings. It is very important. You can choose the color you want and thus change the whole atmosphere. Now I am using Color Balance. After that I changed the brightness and contrast. You will notice how the lighting effect changes.

conclusions:

Now it's time to close Photoshop. I hope you enjoyed it! As a finishing touch, I add a Smart Sharpen filter to the flat art in order to get sharper, sharper lines. This helps bring out small details such as highlights. I hope you enjoyed reading this tutorial.

Click on the picture to see the image in full size and 100% quality.