Color and Texture

So after a bit of experimenting I have arrived at a stylistic conclusion, which I’m actually pretty stoked about.

Little Dave 2.0

I got off to a rough start initially with the whole watercolor thing because many of the examples and tutorials I found were working from a scan of an actual photograph. Or the illustration was totally original but the artists technique was so far removed from the look I was trying to achieve it just left me frustrated. All in all this little adventure was a highly beneficial learning experience. I ended up taking a little of what I learned from various other styles and mashed it with a few of my own preferences. I went to the ‘”Effects” menu in illustrator after having a bit of trouble trying to communicate color entirely by using brush strokes, fills or layering transparent polygons. What resulted was the use of an effect called “Texturizer” employing the “Canvas” setting which is the default for this effect. I then went back to my Vectips brushes to add shadows and highlights. Lastly I used the layered polygon technique to give dimension the brown carpet Little Dave is standing on. I’m still perfecting my technique but overall I’m pleased with the results of this endeavor. I don’t think I’ll be needing to do any painting by hand!