KevsBlog

Last year I did the illustrations for this Christian childrens’ book that has just been published.  For more information and to purchase go to ChristianBook.com: http://www.christianbook.com/searching-gods-love-pat-holt/9781414114712/pd/114711?item_code=WW&netp_id=687155&event=ESRCN&view=covers

This was a question I recently received via email:

Q:   Can you tell me what process is good to use to get some fine color like yours in my work?

A: Basically, this is what I do:

All linework is inked on Vellum Bristol board.

The artwork is scanned as a black and white bitmap at 600 dpi.

In Photoshop I work in RGB and color the image with anti-aliasing turned off. Up close the artwork will have very clearly defined pixelation along the black lines but that will be unnoticable when printed or reduced for web use.

I generally work in a single layer as much as possible but sometimes do a shading layer or add layers for special effects.

Most blending is done with the brush tool using a round setting. I don’t go much for odd-shaped brushes.

I do test prints to see if my colors are coming out the way I want. Red, green and blue seem to have the most variation from screen to print and almost always look much darker when printed.
That’s it. A lot of it is just trial and error and figuring out what works best for you.