Trumpeters

A reworking of an older illustration for my portfolio.

Originally, I entered the older version (at the bottom) of this illustration for the 2009 St Kilda Festival image competition but it didn't win. I was never quite happy with the picture. I was (and still am!) learning how to get my ideas over in the digital media and didn't get the finish I was looking for.

One of the aspects I love of digital media is the ability to layer. Layering is a big part of both my illustration and fine art work. I liked quite a few things about the original picture, but I felt like it needed more.

After much development, I got the final illustration:


Trumpeters
Photoshop CS3 and Corel Painter IX, 33 x 26 cm @ 400 dpi


You can see the development of the image below. First is the original pencil drawing, done in blue pencil on cartridge paper:




Next, is the original illustration that I entered. After scanning the pencils in, I worked in colours, highlights and shadows on top. It's much plainer and lacking spark - not enough excitement, especially for the theme. You can see in the new one I added more elements to generate party atmosphere and cleaned up my line work with digital inks.




Here are the background rays. I initially made it even but I liked the jagged uncertainty of this one. Later on I combined a few versions of this, including one with a halftone gradient which you can see in the final illustration.