Drawing and Masking

The next stage of my process is the drawing stage. After taking all the photographs needed and placing them into Photoshop, I divide the main image into sections that are then printed out and used as guides for the final drawings. Having the photographs visible in the printed guides allows me to use them as a reference. The visual references enable me to create final drawings that are tailored to fit exactly with the photographic elements of the main image. The cohesiveness of the drawn and photographed portions of the main image are made possible by the use of a light table and the sequence of the stages of my process. 

After all the final drawings are made, I then scan them all into Photoshop. Thus begins the next masking stage. All photographed and drawn elements are masked. For the non-photoshop savvy this term means hiding all unwanted areas around the object you are working on. As with the drawn knights shown here, the white area surrounding them is hidden so only the knights themselves are visible. The masking process can be long and tedious work, but I choose do this so I can then still have control until the very last stage of my process to reposition elements to my liking. Digital painting and correction is the next and final stage and will be covered in my next post.

 Although the Inception  hype train may now be an old hat, I will still say it--an amazing movie, definitely made of a quality like I have not seen in a long time.

The Ugly Stage

The sketch from my previous blog has now entered stage two. This stage is otherwise known as the "ugly stage," or to be more correct the "ugly stages" since stages three and four are not that pretty either. I photographed the model in several parts. The selected dress was longer than I had hoped so the legs and dress were shot separately. The final image will have a shortened dress in a layer on top of the more bare legs underneath giving the illusion of being one. The model's head was also shot separately. The pose and angle of the head in comparison to her body was humanly impossible; this element will also be attended to in the last stage.  I was finally able to make it to the beach and shoot some great looking skies after the Fourth of July tourist crowd died down. I also shot some pictures of rocks to be used behind the knights and some metallic objects that will become textures for the knights' armor and swords. Stage three will include drawing the knights, additional rocks, grass, barbed wire obstacles, hair, and tree. 
I will be ending today's blog off subject. Besides drawing knights and swords in the next few days, I will also be viewing Inception. The movie has received great reviews so far and I am hoping it will live up to my ever increasing expectations. It has been awhile since I have seen one of those really really good flicks. Time is past due.

Welcome to the Aaron M Kober Illustration Blog!

Hello and thank you for visiting my new blog. My name is Aaron Kober, and I am an illustrator. My art is a combination of drawing, photography, installation, sculpture, and digital art. The photo-composite style that I work with was inspired by years and years of watching cinema. I enjoy the narrative qualities found in film, and I try to set up my illustrations as if they were a movie still.

The purpose of this blog will be to introduce the process that I use when creating my illustrations. The first piece I will be working on is the untitled sketch shown to the left. The initial sketch is the most important step in my process. The sketch itself will act as a blue print for the rest of the illustration elements. Most characters and objects in this illustration will be drawn or photographed separately. The first step will be to photograph the model, rocks, and random objects for textures.

Also I will be introducing some other fun projects that I am currently working on. The first being What the F movie? WTF movie? celebrates that moment of channel changing or room entering when one sees a scene of a movie totally out of context, and in that one glorious moment makes a viewer say something along the lines of "WTF is this??" The first movie will be Witness starring Harrison Ford and bad guy Danny Glover. The other project that I will be introducing is Fairly Comic. Fairly Comic will take fairy tales and turn them into vintage comic covers. This project may take place in the more distant future. Thank you again for visiting.