Saturday, May 19, 2007



SIGNS
is the the theme of Illustration Friday this week. For whatever reason, upon seeing the theme, protest signs flew into my head and had to be exorcised by being drawn out. I am still digitally semi-illiterate: this is pen on paper, colored with Prismacolor pencil, and then scanned in and cleaned up a bit in Photoshop. My color penciling scans terribly: it looks like moth-eaten tweed! I'm getting better at fixing it in Photoshop, but any ideas on how to correct this in the scanning stage are very welcome.

Micron pen on paper, Prismacolor pencil, Photoshop "neatening"

33 comments:

amber said...

cute concept. scan at a higher resolution or try selecting the "illustration" filter if your scanner has that option. i was wondering how your prismacolor came out so smooth and digital looking... lol. also, try scanning at a larger size and then scaling it down in photoshop. any other questions... send me a question at my blog.

andrea said...

Funny I should read this during a break from attempting to colour a pen-and-ink drawing in Photoshop! Not doing too well, either. Argh.

This looks successful to me -- and I love the idea! Nice work.

studio lolo said...

Looks great to me, Bea! I don't know anything about digital stuff, but I love your work no matter the medium:)

bookbabie said...

I was just looking at pens for the computer, I'd like to start doing some drawing in photoshop, cute illo:)

claudine hellmuth said...

lol! this is great!

imwithsully said...

Very cute illustration. You may have your scanner on the default settings. If so, you'll have to tweak the scanner settings to work for color correction. If not, you can always color correct in photoshop later by using the "image>adjustments>curves" tool... and then the "image>adjustments>color balance" and "image>adjustments>hue/saturation" tools till it looks correct. But, keep in mind, you will have to adjust your monitor settings before that under color correct lighting. It looks different from monitor to monitor. What looks like moth-eaten tweed to you, may look lovely on my Mac. In fact, it does. :)

Diane Duda said...

Very clever and cute. I hate when people put paper in their mouth...gives me the willies. But, other than that, I Love it. :)

emilayusof said...

It's great, Nancy! Don't worry about the scanning coz your illo looks fine to me! The kids are adorable especially the baby!

platitudinal said...

Oh, these kids are simply adorable --- with adorable pout, and adorable smile! Charming picture :)

Jack Snider said...

Funny! I like the expressions.

(I've had, in the past, a similar problem with scanning colored pencil. I just played with the scanner settings as has been mentioned.)

laura said...

well, i think this is adorable. i have no clue how photoshop works, don't even have it. but i like your illo. :o)

Designing Fairy said...

I like it!

Catalina Alvarez said...

I like it!
Cata.

Ginger*:) said...

Nancy this is wonderful... and so are all your beautiful paintings.

Steve Mitchell said...

Fun concept. This is great. Scanners tend to exaggerate mediums like colored pencil sometimes. But if there is an auto exposure feature enabled you may want that off and adjust it yourself in PS.

jennifergrayolson said...

Love it!! Adorable!!

Linda said...

ahah funny expressions!

Kstyles said...

Hehe this is very cute!!! your work is great. Guess what... TAG, you're it.(If you haven't already been tagged) It's an IF thing where you post 7 interesting things about yourself and tag 7 more people. I hope you don't mind.

Nina Seven N7 said...

your illo looks great on my computer. love the concept, great take on the theme. (thanks for your comment on my blog!)

Lars said...

very impressive stuff .. not least still lives and landscapes!
Lars
http://treeleaves.wordpress.com

Tracy said...

I love this and the color looks wonderful! Keep up the good work! (It also reminds me of when I was little and my neighbor always tried to copy everything I did. I remember writing in my diary, "Copycats are brats!" She ended up being my best friend!)

Mônica said...

Great idea, Nancy, and very nicely done. I really like the expression on their faces, the baby in particular looks adorable!
Funny you should mention problems with scanning images, I have a hard time doing it as well. It was helpful to read some of the suggestions you got.
By the way, do you speak Portuguese? I've been meaning to ask you, since you sometimes post on my blog in Portuguese. :-)

JO said...

Love the expressions. I'm glad you put the scanner question out there, I'm having a hard time making my drawing look right, I have almost given up on colored pencil alone. Also thanks for your comments on by blog. Yes, we are so blessed!

mike r baker said...

Very cute, very well done. You draw so wonderfully. You have such a distinct and lovely style in your illos, and a distinct and lovely style in your paintings - like you wwere two different people - and yet the same charm comes through each so that I know that Nancy did that! Great work!

° said...

wonderfully simple and cute

janie said...

lovely work and I like your sense of humour. I had this problem with my younger brother, it was always..."me aswell..me aswell" we used to call him Mr.Aswell.

Focus_ret said...

Personally I like the texture that colored pencils give. Drawing on very smooth paper in the first place can decrease the textured effect, though, if flat color is your goal.

Richard Franklin said...

Nicely done Nancy! I love your still lifes as well.
Some suggestions for your "problem":
scan at a higher resolution, don't use any image sharpening options, make sure the image is in anti-alias mode.
Personally, I like accidental textures and colour shifts - very often the result improves the original image.
Cheers,
Richard.

Greg Hartman said...

Nice work nancy! I couldn't tell there was any problem and the texture left on the wall is great looking. Cute kids and I love the flush of their cheeks and her knees.

Hello! said...

How cute! I love the concept and colors. The kids are simple but very very expressive, the baby is my favourite.
I was also very impressed by your paintings. Your entry for Neighbor was terrific!! :)

Kathleen Rietz said...

Reminds me of me and my little sister when we were little. She wanted to be me, and I wanted her to scram. Now we are buddies!

Unknown said...

hahah brillliant !

Unknown said...

Sooo cute!