A tutorial on how to use Photoshop to prepare a digital photograph for making pushpin portraits in limited palettes using indexed color.
Recently in Design Category
A short video on blinking lights, photograph vignettes, color and luminosity.
Also a bit of a test run for my new Camtasia screencasting software and audio-technica AT220 USB microphone.
I needed a gradient from one color to another in the style of a woodcut and realized it was another good opportunity for the hard mix blend mode and custom halftones.
This is just a test. I'll follow up with the finished work later.
For a more convincing woodcut effect I plan to address the edge shape of the regions a bit more by hand.
Mannequin. Ridiculously underexposed with a Nikon D200. Brightened greatly in Lightroom 3 (beta). I thought it looked interesting.
click to enlarge somewhat
It's not very painterly to put black holding lines around objects. That device comes more from the world of illustration and comic books.
There is nothing wrong with illustrations and comic books, though, so in the right settings, black holding lines are very cool. (and yes, I was a Patrick Nagel fan)
I think an improvement on black lines can be dark lines of the same hue as the color they are surrounding. That can be a nice look.
I was struck recently by a twist on the theme I hadn't noticed before: a hybrid between holding lines in some areas and none in others. I think this illustration (above) is pretty effective in conveying depthby using dark holding lines only around selected foreground elements, and pushing the background into the atmosphere by color choice, and by not trying to outline the background objects.
Some programs and plug-ins of interest:
Hypatiasoft - Knotsbag & Seamlessmaker
I bought a vintage Chinese newspaper so that I could scan it for interesting textures.
I have no idea what it says, or what it is called, but the eBay seller told me it was from Hong Kong, 1946.
The peachy paper is actually browner and more subtle in person. I should have toned it down a bit.
Click through to the flickr set for more.
