Friday, October 16, 2009

Swim Against Death

Adobe Illustrator CS2
A moment frozen in time (Illustration Friday meme). I can't believe how long it's been since I posted last. For the most part I'm happy with how this turned out.

Close-up of chained swimmer.
I created the main body of the chains, turned it into a pattern brush, then drew them on a path with the brush tool. The bubbles are one bubble turned into a scatter brush and the path drawn with the brush tool.
Close-up of monster fish.
Used a bunch of different blends for the details on his face. I created the tentacle texture using the pencil tool with a thick stroke. I turned the stroke into outlines, copied and pasted a copy on top which I made lighter, and moved it around a little until it looked like raised ridges. I then masked them into the shape of the tentacles. Close-up of water bug master.
Used a water bug for reference, but changed things up a little. I wanted some sort of sci-fi device on the bug to indicate it's in control of the little robot creatures, but I don't like the thing I made. I'll have to come up with something better later.
Close-up of bubble woman.
The chain going around the bubble is four different brushes, a dark, middle, light, and green for behind the bubble. I cheesed how the the chain goes behind the bubble, so it doesn't really look right if you look too close, where it goes from gold to green. I'll fix that eventually. Also, sometimes a pattern on a path may look squished if your path is short, or look stretched out if your path stops just short of the pattern replicating.
There's way more detail on her than what I needed, since she's supposed to be somewhat in the background, but once I got started...

19 comments:

Amy C said...

wow this is incredible, so much detail and such a crazy and interesting scene. Love the colors too.

patty said...

wow andrey.. your work is so dynamic.. the colors are rich and detailed... great work!

patty said...

oops.. i can't type.. sorry.. i MEANT ANDREW!..

Shirley said...

How did I miss this!?!! Wow, your work is wonderful. This is so detailed and has amazing depth. Great work!!I shall peruse your blog now. : )
Thanks for your kind comments and for letting me know of your work, too!

Tomás Serrano said...

How many time without news from you! It´s a fantastic illustration! I like too your brilliant caricatures.

trowbridge chronicles said...

Great work. It's obvious how much time you put into your illustrations. I noticed by looking through your blog that you're Alliance. So are we. The Tacoma Alliance Church in Tacoma, WA.

LittleMissMachete said...

I love the whole mood of this! Great work.

valerie walsh said...

your art is amazing!!!

Andrew W. Moir said...

Wow! Thanks for all the great comments. I'm glad you all like my work. You all are excellent artists! :)

Patthebuny: Andrey--Andrew... it all works for me. I knew who you meant. :)

Tomas: I'll try to be a little more regular, but life gets in the way sometimes. ;p

Bron: Actually, we've talked about us both being in the Christian and Missionary Alliance in a couple blog messages way back when. We have a man in our church from Washington. I'll have to ask him if he's been to the Tacoma church. :)

thefridayfrog said...

HOLEY MONKEYS! THIS IS ALL IN AI CS2? wow...i am vector-speechless. you weild those layers and transparencies like a true magician, andrew!

the light is really something!

and thanks so much for the visits, too! ")

Andrew W. Moir said...

Thefridayfrog: Thank you for the mighty compliments. :) Yes, all in Illustrator. Mostly gradients and blends, with some use of transparencies. :)

justdoodleit said...

Fantastic stuff and full of fascinating details. Also, the vector nature of it all makes me appreciate the hours you'd have put into this one. Thanks for stopping by my blog :)

Meagan said...

Nice action piece!

Pencil Pocket said...

Lovely work with so much detail. Very impressive, and I enjoyed reading all the insider info!

Romina said...

Wow!!! Fantastic work!!! It's so detailed and complex. I love it! :D

Andrew W. Moir said...

Thanks for stopping by and letting me know what you think, I appreciate your feedback. :)

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Andrew W. Moir said...

Thank you both for your nice comments. :)