Our SVS Virtual Studio FEBRUARY 🙃2021
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@Melissa-Bailey-0 I love the light! That glow and the texture of the watercolor really works with the mood of this image. So warm and wonderful! I love the contrast of the warm & cool colors and that little hint of magic swirling through the air!
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@Tiffany-Thomas YES! SVS and the Three Point Perspective podcast is so helpful. Since I've been working as a freelancer, basically on my own for self-publishing clients and very small publishers, there's not a lot of opportunity to get feedback and much-needed critiques, so that's another reason why recently I've been focusing more on SVS classes and the forum.
And yes ... try out designing digitally first, then printing out the sketch. It really streamlined the process even more for me, and it also adds a cool effect. What I do is alpha lock the drawing layer, colorize the lines, then quickly switch over to Photoshop to lighten the opacity (about 60-80%) and have greater control over printer settings. Printing out the sketch erases the transfer step of tracing out the drawing on a lightboard. Sometimes I refine the sketch with pencils, sometimes just jump into painting. The light ink lines blur just a teeny bit (my printer's ink is water resistant, not waterproof) and the colored lines show through and I love how those unexpected pops of color add a bit more personality to the piece.
Printing out the sketch might not be for you and how you prefer to work, but definitely worth a try!
illustrator - author - smiley person
mbaileyart.com
instagram.com/mbaileyart/ -
@Tiffany-Thomas thanks so much! So nice to get validation from a fellow creative that this was a good way to approach the illustrations.
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@Melissa-Bailey-0 The Three Point Perspective podcast was how I discovered SVS! It's so good!!! I used to stream Netflix shows in the background while I made art and now I just listen to the podcast, lol.
I'm going to definitely try out the printed sketch method, thanks for the tip, I'll let you know how it goes ;).
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@Tiffany-Thomas yes, please do!
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@Melissa-Bailey-0 sure. i would love to share my learning. I am going to check with my client to see if I can share some process video online. Will let you guys know
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@Melissa-Bailey-0 absolutely fun image. love it.
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@Melissa-Bailey-0 This is wonderful! I love everything about this sunset project! Would you mind telling me what weight & press of watercolor paper you're printing on, and what printer you use?
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@xin-li thanks so much! Will keep an eye out for your process video too.
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@Valerie-Light thank you!
️For this project, I'm using Fabriano Artistico soft press, 140 lb. Usually, I use hot press so the texture of the paper doesn't show up heavily in a scan. This is my first time using Fabriano's soft press for a project but I have used it before for one-off pieces and loved it. It's one of my favorite watercolor papers!
The printer/scanner combo I'm currently using is an Epson Workforce 7610, which is no longer being manufactured and is known to be a glitchy printer. However, I took a chance on it because it was all I could afford at the time -- it IS glitchy but when it works, does a nice job of printing and scanning. I'm currently researching other printer and scanner options -- will probably stick with Epson (but get a more reliable model) or go with Canon, as their products get good reviews from art professionals as well.
illustrator - author - smiley person
mbaileyart.com
instagram.com/mbaileyart/ -
@Melissa-Bailey-0 Thanks for the the thorough response! One more question: are you buying the fabriano paper in a printer-friendly size, or cutting down from big sheets?
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@Valerie-Light cutting it down from big sheets. It’s more affordable that way. Because of my lack of large storage in my studio, I order paper as needed from Blick, doing the math and ordering how many sheets I think I’ll need, plus one backup.
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More clouds practice. I got this really cool book full of photo references for artists. Such a great resource for guilt free reproduction.
Also newfound respect for those landscape artists who do a great job with sunsets. Clouds and lights are hard...grrr. -
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Hoping this flows
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@Braden-Hallett your talent shines, as always!
One question though: are these items meant to be what is in his bag? Is there a way to visually communicate that the floating items are in his pack?
illustrator - author - smiley person
mbaileyart.com
instagram.com/mbaileyart/ -
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@Melissa-Bailey-0 That's a good idea! Maybe I'll have the brain-in-a-jar strapped to the outside of the bag
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Sleepless nights means the occasional Patrick Stewart head drawing
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Making progress on my book, Mustard Thinks Twice.
These are 2 page spreads, full bleed. Border and Gutter hidden.
