Mrs. Christman Tree

[Patrik]

Yesterday, a friend of mine asked me if could make a christmas card for her. Nothing cliche, it had to be original.

After a good nights sleep, I came up with the idea of a woman dressed as a christmas tree. Or atleast sort of.

The card wasn't done entirely in xara. It was created in three steps. The first was a rough sketch which I then scanned in. In xara, I redrew the the sketch and made improvements. Once the line drawing was finished. I exported it to photoshop for coloring and the finishing touches.

Below is the original drawing I created using an ordinary pen on sketching paper. Though it was very rough and contained very little detail, it did have the right flow I was looking for. I didn't feel like creating a more perfect sketch so I descided to go with this one and scanned it in.

[Patrik]

Yesterday, a friend of mine asked me if could make a christmas card for her. Nothing cliche, it had to be original.

After a good nights sleep, I came up with the idea of a woman dressed as a christmas tree. Or atleast sort of.

The card wasn't done entirely in xara. It was created in three steps. The first was a rough sketch which I then scanned in. In xara, I redrew the the sketch and made improvements. Once the line drawing was finished. I exported it to photoshop for coloring and the finishing touches.

Below is the original drawing I created using an ordinary pen on sketching paper. Though it was very rough and contained very little detail, it did have the right flow I was looking for. I didn't feel like creating a more perfect sketch so I descided to go with this one and scanned it in.

[Ross Macintosh]

and wonderful idea. I hope you're going to post the finished design as well. It will be interesting to see how you developed it from the sketch.

Regards, Ross

<a href=http://www.designstop.com/>DesignStop.Com</a>

[Patrik]

Once I scanned it in, I imported it into Xara. Locked that layer and created a new layer where I would retrace the sketch.

I use the shape editor tool to do this by quickly drawing straight lines and then going back to deform the lines into curves so they match the original drawing.

The most important detail left out in the sketches where the hands so I had to draw those from scratch. Basicly, this is just a question of placing your own hand in a particular pose, observing it, and then trying to recreate it on screen. Ofcourse, it's possible that I may make it sound easier then it really is depending on your own experiences.

The star at the top of her hat was created using the quick shape tool with curved corners. I didn't want it to look as extreem as in the sketch.

Once the basic lines where set, the next part was to enhance the flow of the image. That was done by creating extra lines and then using the blend tool to create even more lines in her dress, her hat and hair.

The last thing left to do was to add the calligraphic pen strokes to some of the lines. This is probably my most favorite feature in Xara.

Though I could have colored it in in Xara, I descided to do the rest in photoshop.

[This message was edited by Patrik on December 19, 2002 at 20:53.]

[Patrik]

The image was exported in different parts (for example: the main drawing, the white decorative stripes, the bracelets and background).

In Photoshop, I'll select a blending mode for the layer of my main drawing. In this case "multiply"
The great thing is, I can now create layers underneath it and paint all the colors in without having to effect my main drawing. Each color gets it's own layer. Makes it easier to change it or add filters to specific areas later on.

Once the image was ready, it was time for the final details. I went back to xara, and using the quickshape tool, created a star. Copied it to photoshop and used it to create brushes in different sizes. After that, it was simply a question of clicking to create the sparkle effects.
Colors where readjusted, a filter or two added and the card was ready. I'm happy to say that my friend was very pleased. [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]

Merry Christmas and a happy new year everybody,
Patrik


No Entry

[This message was edited by Patrik on December 19, 2002 at 20:47.]

[Steve Newport]

terrific design and execution! Really like it, I think I'd even have to pay a friend for that one. Great job

Steve Newport

-My Gallery-

-Featured Artist 2002-

[Christine Farrelly]

A very elegant lady. Your friend is very lucky. I hope one day you will try creating it entirely in XaraX.

Christine

[Egg Bramhill]

and excellent tour of it's production.(Welcome to the forums by the way). I also find your web site very intregueing. I'll have to explore it some more (all uninvited of course)
Egg

[Madalynne]

I've Always had problmes doing figures. I just cannot get over how nice they look when done. They are just beyond me at this point.

Nice Form and Nice Job!!

Madalynne Crowe

www.hondamod2.com

[gwpriester]

Great drawing and great card Patrick, and welcome to the Xara Gallery conference by the way.

I am not sure if you know this, but if you select your scanned black and white bitmap you can right click on a screen palette color to change the line (darker) colors and left click on a screen palette color to change the background (lighter colors).

No need to go into Photoshop to do this.

Gary

Gary Priester

Moderator Person

<a href="http://www.gwpriester.com">
www.gwpriester.com </a>


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