Photoshop Workshop Week 2

Week two of Photoshop development:

This week's focus was to add colour and textures to our drawings. We were challenged to construct our own custom brushes using these drawings. I was excited to get back behind the screen and improve my skills in digital art.

I didn't know that creating a custom brush was possible, let alone so easy! In today's session we were guided through this process. I made my parrot drawing into a brush and used it like a stamp to repeat the image in different colours.

This image has really progressed from the initial ink painting that it began life as. Photoshop made it possible for me to produce repeated patterns similar to that of a screen print or two-colour lino print. The two-toned patterns would look great printed onto fabric. I've learned a new skill in Photoshop that I would love to use again, particularly for creating end pages for a children's book.

This process allowed me to overlay multiple colours of the image over one another. The above example demonstrates an attempt at a stereoscopic 3D illusion, but I don't think that this aesthetic matches the subject of my drawing. The parrot is a natural animal which suits earthy colours and textures rather than synthetic effects. How can nature be artificially reproduced in a digital media?

I wanted to use real feather textures to reproduce the natural quality of the subject. I'd already explored different brushes last week, so ventured into digital collage this week in search of a more realistic 'feel'.

I took clippings from several photographs of Macaw parrots and layered these under the line drawing. I loved this process and found it all the fun of traditional collage without the mess! I'd like to use my own photographs next time. 

The result of this digital collage reminds me of the work of Eric Carle. I love collage but had never thought that it would be so effective in Photoshop. Digital collage has the additional benefit of allowing changes to be made to the layering and placing of fragments, which is not possible in traditional collage. Clippings can be re-used and multiple variations can be produced.

All of the textures remain bright and sharp, and the original drawing can be placed on top of the collage to maintain the initial linework.