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OK, I am in serious need of some help here...


justwilliam

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Having learned a lot in the couple of weeks since getting Designer (and having neither experience nor talent with illustration), watching every available video tutorial, and spending time in this forum I embarked on an impossible mission - a project that would allow me to see just how far I could get on my own in creating an illustration. I bit off quite a lot more than I could chew apparently.

 

Attached is a .jpg of my project thus far.  I had originally intended to complete it and post it here for critique on what I might have done better and how I might have accomplished that. Instead I find that I am in over my head and that I should have just chosen a nice primitive flower in a vase kind of project. So, I am asking for a bit of help, advice, or tips on how to proceed.

 

I should explain what I wanted to accomplish with this:  Create and fill geometric shapes, become comfortable with curves using the pen tool, learn gradients and shading, create a 'metal-like' look, create a 'marble-like' look, create realistic reflections, and use shading to create shadows to imply depth.  Here is what I was unable to complete on my own: create hair on the figure which would match the style of her body and go from the plain (temporary) colours on the clock base to a 'marble' look. The reflections I think I will be able to accomplish and I already have the background done (those layers turned off to make this .jpg).

 

So, any suggestions to help me with my 'bad hair day' and 'losing my marbles' (actually never getting them) would be extremely welcome!

 
 

post-15796-0-41731700-1439481257_thumb.jpg

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justwilliam, great start.  Seeing as you are doing this in AD do I assume you want to do everything in vectors?  That's definitely more complicated on some of these desires.  Especially hair, metal and marble.  You're wanting to do the body in marble?  The metal is that the clock face and frame?  

 

If so... For the frame try an fx playing with the 3d and bevel & emboss.  The clock face I'd try a conical gradient centered on the center of the hands.  Or if you are after more of a chrome look check out https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/10038-layer-styles-enthusiasts-read-on/

 

The marble I'd try a white/off-white background then dark areas drawn in the using an fx gaussian blur to make them indistinct.   Assuming the marble is for the body I'd make the appendages separate so I could add a linear gradient to give them some shape with highlights and shadows.

 

Good luck.

iMac (27-inch, Late 2009) with macOS Sierra

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Gear maker,

 

The body and clothes are finished - I did these all with vector shapes as I have not ever used a brush, yet. The base and the clock were also done with vector shapes. The clock itself is also finished. It is the hair portion of her head that I was having difficulty with (if you zoom in you can see how it is unfinished there). The black back of the base will get a simple reflection, but the green, brown, and tan portions of the base I wanted to do with a 'marble' look.

 

For the body and the clothes I simply (yet tediously) made each vector shape and then applied blur and adjusted the opacity to get it to the point where it is at. (the gold was a challenge and one can easily see where I started and where I ended by how much I improved during the process.) The clock was pretty straightforward; simple geometric shapes with shadow and highlight shapes. It was the body that took some tinkering with to try to get a semi-metallic look.

 

For the 'marble' I opened a new Document and played with layers of colour and the blur fx which came out 'meh', so I thought I would try that again and then figure out how to use that separate document as my 'fill (haven't figured that out yet). But I thought maybe someone knew of a simpler way. The hair I have done numerous times but always have deleted those layers as they were less than acceptable to me.

 

I am quite pleased, and maybe somewhat proud even, over how the body, clothes, and clock turned out given that I could barely understand anything on the tutorials two weeks ago and the fact that I simply cannot draw!

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This is looking really good justwilliam.

 

I'd say it's a combination of getting some good reference and using a combination of techniques. I would keep everything vector for now as far as shapes go and add blurs to things as you need to. For the marble this may mean layering shapes of different colours and sizes over top of each other to create a natural random feel. You may even want to lay in a marble photo in these areas masked out with shading and highlights on a layer above.

 

Main thing is to keep going and experiment, keeping everything balanced so not one area is standing out too much. Some shadows below the figure will go a long way towards realism, but done subtly or it may look laboured and unnatural. 

 

Great job so far.

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Thanks for the tips, retrograde, and for the nice compliment.

 

Shadows are in the plan for when I get to that point. (I have already done some shadows behind the hands of the clock - something I felt at the time was nothing less than a stroke of genius, but I suppose anyone else would have done that as a matter of course.)

 

The entire body is a filled outline with lots and lots of small shapes of various colour - then varied amounts of blur and transparency.

 

I think I will try placing a photographic layer with some real marble under my base pieces and then do as you suggested and add layers of colour, then a gradient for depth, then a bit of reflection, then the shadows cast by the figure.

 

The concepts are really quite simple once one knows and understands them and Affinity Designer is truly easy to work in - now if I could just get my hands on some more patience and talent!

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