Digital Painting NarrativeCari Roughley

SketchesI had two ideas and decided to go with the ginkgo leaves instead of the blue belly lizard.

Digital DevelopmentWhen I realized I could use a photo, I searched the internet for ginkgo leaves and trees. I saved individual leaves, clusters, and single branches of ginkgo. I used Photoshop to pull the leaves from the background.I placed the psd file into Illustrator and played with live trace (after watching the tutorial). I tried a few adjust-ments, changing the color maximum and blur levels. I then had to figure out how to change the color of the leaf. I was horrified to think I would have to select each individual area and change the colors separately. I found a few tutorials online and discovered the Edit Color function in Illustrator. I started playing with that, but still didn’t like how the leaves were looking and I couldn’t get a nice layout that I was happy with. I then tried the entire process with another image, but still didn’t like how it was turning out. I finally used the third image.

Color PalettesI tried using various colors, including reds, blues, and purples, but ended up going with green and orange.

This is the photo I ended up using for my final presentation.

Design NarrativeThe project required three paintings comprised of two monochromatic paintings and the third a duotone using the colors from the first two. Once I settled on the green and orange colors, I selected and modified the chomatic color schemes in Illustrator. The third drawing was created by taking eyedropper samples from the first two and coloring the selected areas.

The leaf originally did not have a long stem, so I extended the stems in Illustrator. I also re-sized the leaves to give visual depth and balance. I wanted movement and variation between the frames, so I chose the dark background in the green frame and a light background in the orange frame. I kept the arrangement of tones in the leaves consistent for a smooth flow (going from dark in the center to light on the edges).

I tried a vertical alignment, but didn’t think if flowed as nicely as the horizontal alignment.

The final result turned out more like a screenprint than I had originally planned. When I converted the leaf in LIve trace, it switched my direction from a realistic design to a more modern design. I chose the colors to give it a retro/funky feel.

Digital Development (con’t)I forgot to take a bunch of screen shots during my progress. I spent a lot of time with colors and composition and got wrapped up in it. I did visit the Kuler site and created a few monochromatic color schemes. Originally I was working with a leaf that had more curve and detail in it, but I just couldn’t get a layout that I liked. I went with a more angular leaf and came up with a layout that I liked fairly quickly.