FLASH :: FLEX :: ILLUSTRATION :: ANIMATION
Illustrating In Illustrator 101 Part 2 of 5 – taterboy
January 5th, 2009 | Filed under: Digital Art, Tips
Construction
Wether I am illustrating an imaginary device or something I use everyday, it is good to understand how the object is or should be constructed. Other information like functionality, and how these objects are interacted with are very important in making our illustrations more convincing.
Questions you could ask yourself are how much heft and mass does this object possess, What kids of materials are used to build this object? How does this information effect how light reflects/refracts off the object. These evaluations help us understand how the details should be rendered.
The object could be steel, but is it built assembled with welds, bolts or both? The object could be made from concrete, Styrofoam, wood, glass or plastic molds. Each material is assembled differently with different types of joints. The time when an object is built also will give us a clue as to the type of assembly would have been used. We should carry that information or hints of that information into our illustration.
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Illustrating In Illustrator 101 part 1 of 5 – taterboy
October 13th, 2008 | Filed under: Digital Art, Tips
Sketches & Guides
This series will cover the basics of illustrating with Adobe Illustrator from start to finish, geared more toward novice Illustrator users with a few intermediate tips along the way. Some of the principles discussed are applicable to most illustration programs and illustration in general.
This collection of posts will be based on a philosophy of illustrating Quick, Clean and Correct. Discussing time saving tips, preparing your artwork so that it can be easily used by others for web and print, and how to achieve consistent results based on your style. Everyone who reads this post has their own unique illustration style. I am in no way trying to convert people to my personal style, but hope that what is shown here can be incorporated to refine that style and produce beautiful graphics in a more efficient way.
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iPhone Interface Artwork (Vector) – taterboy
June 20th, 2008 | Filed under: Design, Digital Art
There is a huge buzz around the new iPhone SDK, at least in some circles. Here is a collection of a few iPhone interface objects, in vector (Illustrator CS3), for anyone wanting to design an interface for the iPhone or an iPhone look-a-like app.
Illustrator Tip #11… – taterboy
June 18th, 2008 | Filed under: Design, Digital Art
…and The Most Important:
Learn as many keyboard shortcuts you can. This is not an illustrator only tip. As with any app that you work in and expect to be proficient at, you should learn the key-board short cuts. In the manuals that come with the box, there is normally shortcut charts. If you did the download, you can find them online. Most Adobe apps have the ability to re-assign key-board short cuts as well. I would suggest against it, unless it is necessary, because if you ever go to work at a different location, or have to show someone something on a different computer, it helps if the shortcuts are the same. Some reasons we have had to change shortcuts in the past are, In Illustrator CS2 and previous, The shortcut for switching between the hollow and solid arrow selection tools, was Command + Tab (Ctrl + Tab on PC). On a mac, all the way back to OS 8, would instead toggle the application switcher. So instead of getting the hollow arrow selection tool, you would get a web browser or other open app instead.
In Photoshop CS2 and before, Command + Option + D (Ctrl + Alt + D on PC)was the short - cut for Feather Selection. On a Mac since the introduction on the dock, that shortcut was used to toggle the dock to appear and disappear. Both of these shortcuts were easily fixed by customizing the shortcuts to require and extra Key. That way Command + Option + Tab to toggle the selection Arrows in Illustrator and Command + Option + Shift + D to get the Feather section dialog box.
I believe Illustrator CS3 now comes pre-modified? (I seriously can not remember if I had to change that or not and I can not find any documentation on the Toggle Selection Arrow short cut as it this post). But Photoshop CS3 has done away with the Feather Selection dialog box and replaced it with Refine Edge which is Command + Option + R (Ctrl + Alt + R on PC).
Here is a resource for keyboard shortcuts. They are not complete, but in a easier format to print.
http://www.keyxl.com/
Also for Photoshop Only Shortcuts :
http://www.photoshopsupport.com/tutorials/jennifer/keyboard-shortcuts.html
Flash:
http://www.adobe.com/go/tn_12105
Official Adobe help docs:
http://livedocs.adobe.com/en_US/Illustrator/13.0/WS714a382cdf7d304e7e07d0100196cbc5f-642a.html
http://livedocs.adobe.com/en_US/Photoshop/10.0/WSfd1234e1c4b69f30ea53e41001031ab64-76b9.html
http://livedocs.adobe.com/flash/9.0/UsingFlash/WS4B6E7EC1-81C9-4d9d-96C0-9C01EB96E1FA.html
10 Adobe Illustrator Tips – taterboy
June 16th, 2008 | Filed under: Design, Digital Art
With the nature of vectors being smaller than bitmap images in file size, I typically try to illustrate everything I do for Flash in Illustrator first. I love Illustrator as an illustration tool. Although Flash has made some great progress it’s illustration tool set, it just does not come close to the power and features of Illustrator. I also find Illustrator really fast for laying out design projects and more illustrative graphics then modeling and detailing in photoshop. Like any relationship, my affection for illustrator is not without frustration and we have to learn to accept some of the faults, if you can pardon my Dr. Phil type metaphor, to make it work. So here are some workarounds for some illustrator issues and a couple tips to help you work better with this great tool.
