Month: October 2009

Illustration Friday: “Frozen”

| Eliza Stein

Frozen

I made this drawing in Inkscape, using only the Pen tool (Bezier curves) to trace over an old sketch (see below) and add color. Inkscape is one of the great open-source graphics programs out there, along with GIMP and Blender. It’s easy to learn the basic tools, especially if you’ve used Illustrator or done anything with vector graphics before. I could go on forever about Inkscape… see for yourself:

http://www.inkscape.org

There are also some great tutorials out there, which I’ll post later…

Frozen Sketch

Original sketch, plain ol’ ink.

Illustration Friday: “Germs”

| Eliza Stein
Formication
Formication

30-minute digital sketch

Formication is the sensation that there are insects or “bugs” crawling on or under the skin. It can be caused by drugs, mental problems, or both. It’s a lot like what I’ve heard from the small number of germophobes I’ve had a chance to talk to: they see the germs as little bugs everywhere, especially on “hotspots” like doorknobs. That’s one psychosomatic vision I don’t have to deal with, thankfully. Instead, I like to spend my time imagining what it’s like to have it! That’s why this week’s IF word just felt mundane: I already waste too much time drawing bugs, microbes, and assorted tiny creatures that we prefer not to think about because we can’t see them, yet they outnumber us at least a billion to one.

But Halloween is coming up, and I already feel especially creepy-crawly. Here is my photo that the sketch was based on:

Formication (original photo)
Formication (original photo)

This is the blurriest picture from a series of 20 or 30 that I took as concept stills for a stop-motion animation that I’m starting. I like making digital sketches from blurry photos because then I don’t feel as tight when I try to draw freehand with a mouse.

Here’s the same photo in reverse (I think it’s creepier):

Formication (in reverse)
Formication (in reverse)