Photoshop Quickie

Quick demo on matte vs gloss clichés.

sketchatoy sixteen from sketchatoy on Vimeo.

Plush Rendering Take Two

sketchatoy twelve from sketchatoy on Vimeo.

As mentioned is sketchatoy ten, there are many, many, ways to render plush. I'm currently working on a little side project and I needed to do a concept rendering to use in a pitch so I saw it as the perfect opportunity for a long over due tutorial!

This technique is very similar but instead of using the grass brush to create your texture, I am using an actual photograph of a texture (in this case fleece) and then using a grass brush eraser to define my edges.

Here is a link to the actual image I used so you can all follow along and experiment for yourselves. Remember, my character is wood so he's all brown hues, but you can make that texture any color you want! So have fun and if any of you do experiment send the results my way and I will post them.

Plush Penguin

Sketchatoy Ten from sketchatoy on Vimeo.

It's finally here! So how do you render up plush in Photoshop? Well, there are many ways and this is just one of them but it's a great technique. It's fast, easy, and there's no customizing/creating brushes or finding textures online.

This tutorial was done by another designer and he did a great job! I wanted him to do it since he was the person who showed me and I truly appreciate the help. It's always best to have multiple angles and learn different techniques since there is always more than one way of doing something.

If any of you have an idea for a tutorial or would like to create your own and share it, please e-mail me at sketchatoy@gmail.com and I'll see if it's postable!

Speaker Holes

sketchatoy nine from sketchatoy on Vimeo.

So I know that with toys music and sounds is used quite often. So here's a quick tutorial on how to add a some speaker holes quickly to your Photoshop rendering. Enjoy.

Semi-realistic Photoshop Rendering

sketchatoy seven from sketchatoy on Vimeo.

This tutorial is a long one I know but I tried to pack it full of tips! I’ve gathered several tricks that I have learned from friends and colleagues over the years and joined them with a few of my own. I know the product is ugly but I designed it on the spot so please concentrate on the content and less on the design.

Also, you may remember a post a while back on rendering plush in Photoshop. I posted a rendering I did of the duck sketch but I’ve been waiting for my friend to do the tutorial since he was the one who taught me the trick! So please stay tuned for more tutorials in Photoshop rendering and some in Illustrator.

Quick Photoshop Techniques

sketchatoy six from sketchatoy on Vimeo.

Here's a tutorial on adding some color and value to a sketch to get a quick rendering. The video is actual time so without concentrating on talking and explaining this should take no more than 10min to add Photoshop. (Sketch approx 5min) This is a great way to express your sketches in a little more depth and prepare some variations for a final presentation rendering. This was a request by a reader so I hope it helps! Also please leave comments on any tricks you all may have when adding color quickly in Photoshop.

This technique is going from a thumbnail (approx 1inch) to a loose rendering. I will do another tutorial using a tighter sketch and then an in depth "photo realistic" rendering. So please check back!

Marker Rendering

sketchatoy four from sketchatoy on Vimeo.

Prepared this semi short video for you. This is the markering technique I use around the second or third phase of a project. I will post up another marker tutorial to show how I use them in the ideation phase. Please enjoy and I hope you can pick up a few tricks.

Line Work
Prismacolor black
Papermate felt tip
Pilot Precise V5 Rolling Ball (extra fine)

Markers
Prismacolor cool grey 30 % / 70% / light umber / light walnut
Tria pantone 121 / 264 / 297 / 374

What's Next?

Next there will be a "How to Render Plush in Photoshop" tutorial. I'm not sure if I will be doing this or another designer, however the image there is an example of the technique I've learned. So stay tuned!