Here is the latest Bloomsday artwork. This ad concept envisions Bloomsday as a musical. I haven’t yet finalized the ad layout, so there is no text yet. I think the artwork stands by itself fairly well.
Shiny, Happy Bloomsday People!
I’m trying to work more and more from actual reference photos, but with this ad I didn’t have any reference photos to work with (and I don’t have any friends willing to hold such goofy poses), so I modeled some characters in Poser and used them as references.
Poser is an interesting application. It allows me to manipulate and “pose” characters (usually people, but there are animals and other types of models as well). I can add and adjust all lighting aspects, so it’s almost like setting up my own reference photo shoot. The only drawback is that it’s a real hassle to clothe the characters, and once clothes are added, they look too fake to be of any use as reference. My solution is to use the poser characters without clothes, and find other reference photos to help with clothing and fabric. Once I have a scene that I like, I export an image, print it out, and use it as a reference for my digital painting.
By using a combination of reference photos and Poser images, I have enough source material for my drawing that I’m able to achieve fairly accurate representations of the human form. For example, here’s a closeup of the singers:
Remember, Kid: "Good reference images make for good artwork."
While the benefits of Poser are clear, there are some drawbacks. Hands and feet, for starters. I’ve never been happy with the way Poser handles hands and feet. They never seem lifelike. Feet are usually not so much of a problem, since they’re usually hidden in shoes. The hands are another issue entirely. I have to spend a lot of time redrawing them until the result looks believable. I’m still learning the finer aspects of hand drawing. As an interesting side note, if you look closely, you’ll see that my characters left hands always look better than their right hands. That’s because, being right handed, I can hold up my left hand as a model and draw it, but for some reason I’m unable to flip the features when drawing the right hand. It’s a mental thing, I guess.
I’ll post the ad once it’s finalized.
Steve Merryman has been a graphic designer for over thirty years. He got his start in the pre-historic age of waxers and non-photo blue pens doing paste-ups of weekly newspaper inserts for Sears. These days, he puts his vast experience to use as a designer, illustrator, dog-walker, CEO, and janitor of his very own design agency.
