Help emulating a technique?

**Tallis** · 15 March 2016, 12:26 PM

Hello! It seems I only show up here when someone dies. Had another family friend pass away and want to prepare a dedication "mixed media" piece (mixed as in all digital, but with scanned elements of scratches, sprays of paint etc, all woven in.

I'm having trouble with composting- layers, objects, blending transparencies and bitmap fills to create a cohesive whole.

Here are the reference samples I'm trying to work against:

http://axcy.deviantart.com/art/Little-Bird-346005991
http://axcy.deviantart.com/art/Robot-Boy-WP-207389863
http://axcy.deviantart.com/art/Miss-Murder-32107151

Now, I posted eons ago that, as a starting point, I'm using Big Franks mini tutorial here:

http://www.talkgraphics.com/showthre...aitphoto/page2

And then adding vector scratches, splashes, equalized for color, etc. But it looks like pedestrian junk. There's no cohesion.

Anyone have some updated ideas and resources where I can get the hang of properly compositing colors, swatches of watercolor, scratches, sprays, and the main "big franked" elements (faces) to achieve this?

I have the basics, the beginning, the end point, but I lack the formal art training to see what the middle process is like (how the 'sausage is made', essentially, in creatively layering elements to look like a pleasing cohesive whole in the end)

Apologies for essentially updating an earlier post, but a lot of time has passed, and there may be some new blood and new ideas here, no? Xara-specific workflow? Youtube link? Couple more "big frank" type tutorials? Compositing tricks to take me further toward my goal?

PS: here's another artist whose style is somewhat similar:
http://neo-innov.deviantart.com/art/...pt-4-178061580

Really appreciate any group input and brainstorming

**gwpriester** · 15 March 2016, 01:36 PM

Probably the best suggestion I can give you is create a collage and paint with gouache because that is how these images were painted. Other than that just just the brush tool and varying degrees of transparency. Maybe start with a scanned pencil drawing and then add transparent overlays.

**Acorn** · 15 March 2016, 06:18 PM

I am sorry for you but yours is such a big ask.
You have to sit down and experiment a technique at a time and save off each and every method to build up a bank of methods.
You cannot be spontaneous and I'm sure your source artists weren't either. Why not praise them and then ask how they did it?

You have to become a designer, not a copyist.

Acorn

**Tallis** · 15 March 2016, 07:23 PM

Gary, thanks. Will look.

**Tallis** · 15 March 2016, 07:33 PM

Acorn: I don't know why this is such a big ask- I made sure to temper my request with disclaimers to indicate that I know it's complicated, and I'm not looking for someone to do the work for me. All I need is to diligently piece together 100 ideas and intermediate compositing steps and methods, and I'm trying to collect those. I thought that's what these discussions are about- ideas about how to use tools and a compilation of tricks and shortcuts to get certain results.

I've reached out already. Interestingly enough, some artists don't wish to exactly divulge their methods, or they sometimes don't clearly communicate what they do, as it's so unspoken and innate; a physical process is sometimes tough to verbalize.

**Acorn** · 15 March 2016, 08:05 PM

Originally Posted by Tallis

Acorn: I don't know why this is such a big ask- I made sure to temper my request with disclaimers to indicate that I know it's complicated, and I'm not looking for someone to do the work for me. All I need is to diligently piece together 100 ideas and intermediate compositing steps and methods, and I'm trying to collect those. I thought that's what these discussions are about- ideas about how to use tools and a compilation of tricks and shortcuts to get certain results.

I've reached out already. Interestingly enough, some artists don't wish to exactly divulge their methods, or they sometimes don't clearly communicate what they do, as it's so unspoken and innate; a physical process is sometimes tough to verbalize.

OK, fine. Can you isolate a portrait from its surroundings? Can you place images on layers and apply different transparencies? Can you feather objects and fade one into another? These are five of your techniques. These alone could be combined in 120 different orders. It is a monumental task that only you can learn through practice. The only shortcut is to look at tutorials and pull out what works for your needs. It cannot be pushed out to you as a bag of tricks - it becomes your bag and what you care to save in it.

You advised an end goal, the source artists' works. You did not offer up your starting material. Have you your portraits, scratches scanned and ready? If these items are scans and photographs, you are not working in mixed media.

Acorn

**haakoo** · 15 March 2016, 08:08 PM

https://www.google.com/search?q=doub...sure tutorials

Hans

**Acorn** · 15 March 2016, 08:15 PM

Originally Posted by haakoo

https://www.google.com/search?q=doub...sure tutorials
Hans

Hans, your link needs to be https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=do...sure+tutorials.
Acorn

**haakoo** · 15 March 2016, 08:36 PM

Seems to work for me but I hope the OP finds what he/she's looking for :-)

Hans

**Tallis** · 15 March 2016, 10:27 PM

Originally Posted by haakoo

https://www.google.com/search?q=doub...sure tutorials

Hans

Thank you Hans, never thought of that angle! Thanks for the link. I've been struggling with placing scratches and faces, or part of faces/shadows, superimposing them, but it never made sense. I know we need a focus, like a main face, or even the focus is diffusion, where colors and textures are the focus, and objects become disperse, etherial. But I hadn't thought of it in terms of a double exposure. Simple! But not to me before I thought of it (learned it)! :-)