Tag Archives: Tutorials

Digital Comics

Posted on September 27, 2010 by Dani

Mstf on the Ipad

A Call to Comic Creators!

My iPad is way too empty. :(

I love my iPad, and I’ve got to say, it is the PERFECT device for reading digital comics. However, I’m having trouble finding the kind of content that I want to read, and that’s frustrating.

I’ve been experimenting with selling digital comics in my store. I want to see more comic creators jumping on board to do the same thing because 1) most of favorite comics are independently made webcomics, and I want more stuff for my iPad and 2) there are some serious problems with how digital comics are created and sold, and I think this is the first step toward fixing them.

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Posted in Miscellaneous, Thoughts & Advice | Tagged , , , , | 30 Comments

How to Make Your Portfolio iPhone-Compatible

Posted on May 9, 2009 by Dani

Iphone 01

When speaking about artists’ websites, an art director recently made a comment that caught my attention – he is annoyed when he can’t view them on his iPhone.

The comment was half-joke, half-serious, but it brought up an important point. You never know what potential clients are out there, and what they are using to view your work.

And so I went home and made an iPhone version of my web portfolio.

Why make an iPhone website? Is it necessary?

No, I don’t think every artist should go and make an iPhone portfolio right this minute. Quite frankly, I don’t expect a lot of visitors to my mobile site. However, I DO think artists should keep these ideas in mind. The use of iPhones and other mobile phones is on the rise, and artists should always be thinking of ways to make it easier for clients to access their work. At the very least, avoid flash and multi-media rich websites that don’t work on mobile platforms.

It was a fun experiment and it didn’t take long to create at all. I know it will make at least one art director happy, so that alone is worth it.

So if you have the know-how and a little bit of time, I say it’s worth the extra bit of effort. It might not matter to most of your clients – but it might mean the world to the few who happen to be on an iPhone.

Here is an in-depth review of how I put the site together.

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Posted in Tips & Tricks, Tutorials | Tagged | 26 Comments

Painting a Spot Illustration, Part 2: Using Clipping Masks

Posted on April 6, 2009 by Dani

Leprechaun15

This is the second part in a series of tutorials. You can read part one here.

When creating a spot illustration, I often create the overall vignette shape first, before I add any other colors or details. To do this, I make a clipping mask layer.

Also check out one of my older posts, Using Masks to Create a Spot Illustration, which reviews some similar methods and ideas I will use here.

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Posted in Tutorials | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Painting a Spot Illustration, Part 1: The Line Drawing

Posted on March 23, 2009 by Dani

Leprechaun01

I created this illustration in a uStream broadcast earlier this month. You can view the archived video here.

I will be creating a series of posts explaining the making of this illustration in-depth. For part 1, here is how I prepared my line drawing for painting in Photoshop.

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Posted in Tutorials | Tagged , | 14 Comments

How to Make a Textured T-Shirt Graphic

Posted on October 10, 2008 by Dani

Bat

In my latest experiment, I recently opened up an account on a site called Zazzle, which allows you to order custom products featuring your own artwork. So far, I’ve been having a lot of fun experimenting with creating some simple, graphic characters for some t-shirts. Here is a little behind-the-scenes look into the making of this cute bat character.

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Posted in Tutorials | Tagged , | 6 Comments

How to Draw Children

Posted on November 14, 2007 by Dani

Kids

At first, drawing children doesn’t seem like that much of a challenge. I mean, you take so many figure drawing courses in art school and you start to think you can draw pretty good. And if you’re good at drawing adults, drawing kids should be pretty easy, right? Well, after you’ve tried dozens and dozens of times, and all you come up with are a bunch of freaky midget creatures, you start to realize how wrong you were.

I realized this shortly after I graduated from school and decided to go into children’s publishing. My first assignments were, I admit, less than stellar. But I’ve learned a few things along the way, so I thought I would share some tips with you all.

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Posted in Tutorials | Tagged | 18 Comments

Make Your Own Sketchbook

Posted on September 19, 2007 by Dani

Sketchbooks

Have you ever had trouble finding just the right sketchbook? Maybe you can’t find the right kind of paper, or they are just too darn expensive. Well, it’s probably easier than you think to make one of your own, and everything you need might already be lying around your house.

Why Make Your Own Sketchbooks?

  • Use your favorite paper. Why settle for the same old white paper when you can use toned, textured, heavy weight, watercolor, or lined paper instead? Or, this is a great way to get rid of all those half-used sketchpads you know you’ve got tucked away somewhere.

  • It’s cheap. Since most of your materials consist mostly of scraps, paper, and glue, this project is pretty easy on the wallet.

  • Style points. No more boring black sketchbooks! Choosing the colors and patterns to use for your sketchbook is half the fun. I once made a sketchbook that was entirely pink, just for the heck of it.

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Posted in Tutorials | Tagged , | 36 Comments