[Rattmouth]

These are a couple of marker/colored pencil renerings that I did before the holidays as gifts to my parents. The self portrait was for my Dad, and the cactus was for my Mom.




These are actually only 4 x 5 in. each. And scans of this medium never look good for some reason. But regardless, my parents liked them. So mission accomplished.

Thanks,
Matt Routh
aka Rattmouth

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| | | |make something| | | | www.rattmouth.com

[This message has been edited by Rattmouth (edited January 06, 2001).]

[Tinusch]

AWESOME. I love those. I have a lot of trouble getting solid colors with colored pencils. Do you have any tips/tutorials or anything for that? I tried using a marker to lay down the base color and then using colored pencils to modify it, but it's impossible to get a good skintone like that...

Anyway, awesome pics.

[Tree Merchant]

Holy sh!t.

I need a drool bucket for all this liquid pouring from my mouth lately... amazing.

[Zaphod]

I have to agree with Tinuch. I like them.
And also, I have the same problem. I tried with markers and dry pastel pencils. But without any extrodinary results. If you do know any tutorials, it would help me to.

I got this "Marker Magic" book, wich seems pretty good, that I'm going to read. But I haven't gotten around to do it yet.

/magnus

[Bilbo]

Both are excellent! i like the portrait better than the cactus- the composition is much better on this one. (and human objects are always more interesting than plants, imho).
as the guys said, you have a pretty solid technique- i'd really appreciate some tips- how do you create hilights? how do you layer the colors? etc. :P

[marc_taro]

sharp work. You going into advertising? There is good money in storyboard drawing...

[Rattmouth]

Thanks for all the kind words, folks.

My technique on this was pretty simple. I had lots of photo references for both pictures. I sketched the image lightly (in my sketchbook), then cleaned it up and darkened selective lines. Then, I scanned this image into my computer, and did a Level Adjustment to eliminate the white. Then I cut a sheet of brown midtone paper to an exact 8 1/2 x 11 in. Then I printed the images onto this paper. The trick to this is to reduce the opacity so the image is as light as possible (and still visible enough to draw by). Then I blocked out the basic colors with Prismacolor markers. And just embellished that with Prismacolor colored pencils. I would really only recommend using Prismacolor pencils, they are by far the best and most workable of all brands that I have used. If you can avoid it, never use the cheap ones.

It certainly is tougher when you start with a colored paper. ALWAYS have a scrap piece that you test out your colors on (be they markers or pencils). The skin tone was a tough one, but I just guessed and checked (on my scrap paper) until I got it right. Plus, I put some color-jump from the mountains into the skin tone to help balance it. Also, always spray a fixative on your drawings when they are finished. The colored pencils will fade in about a year or so.

Individually....
Tinusch: One thing that I do for getting smoother colors is to use chalk pastels with the pencils. Just take a piece of toilet paper (folded up for firmness) or cotton and rub it across a pastel chalk, to get some color on it. Then just rub that on top of your colored pencil stuff. You can get some neat fading effects like that. You can also add warmness and coolness. Or, of course, just use it to smooth out your colors. The pastels can be erased, too.

Tree Merchant:
We all drool in this forum. It's hard to imagine how any of these people who post here can still have large egos after constantly being humbled. But to tell the truth, vanity is insecurity (incognito). Personally, I am all out of drool.

Zaphod:
Two of the BEST books are by Yoshiharu Shimizu.

Creative Marker Techniques http://shop.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=4M7O9K4JUM&mscssid=SBD6NSK1XX7X9GRR48SFGPNCSQKXFN90&isbn=476610580X

Quck & Easy Solutions to Marker Techniques http://search.borders.com/fcgi-bin/db2www/search/search.d2w/Details?&mediaType=Book&prodID=4522272

If you ever see either of them (especially CMT), buy them immediately. They are fairly rare and extremely valuable. $40 (U.S.) each.

Bilbo:
Highlights mainly depend on the color that you are coloring on. One thing that is great about the Prismacolors is that the white pencil just lightens whatever color that it is coloring on. If you use the white pencil on blue marker/pencil, then it goes to light blue. The more you lay down, the whiter it gets. But the down side is that the lighter colors don't show up as well on the darker colors. But if you're penciling on solid black, you can use the silver pencil and it will show up with high contrast. Mainly, you just gotta practice with them until you get comfortable.

Marc_taro:
I am currently unemployed --insert sad smiley face here--. I worked as an illustrator at a dotcom, and got laid off (along with everyone else in the Art Department). I would love to get into storyboarding or concept art, I just don't have any connections. If you (or anyone) have any leads, then please email them to me at [email protected]

I'm tired of being broke, and I am not above begging.

Hope this all helps out.

Be good,
Matt


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| | | |make something| | | |
www.rattmouth.com

[jasonN]

I really like the self portrait and your colours in both pics are really strong and bold Great stuff!

EDIT: by the way, I agree with Marc Taro, these pics and the style you've used would be great for advertising and design. I could even imagine the cactus design on the back of a t-shirt or something!


[This message has been edited by jasonN (edited January 06, 2001).]