Art: Baby is so shiny - SPN_Heatwave entry

[blythechild]

Title: Baby is so shiny
Artist: blythechild
Characters: Sam & Dean Winchester, and of course, Baby
Rating: 14A for wincest, a suggestive final panel, and general shirtlessness - nothing here is explicit but I'm gonna say don't look at it at work just to be safe
Medium: pen and ink, Photoshop & Illustrator CS6

Artist's Note: I hate summer. I mean, I really

Comments

[amberdreams]

This is beautiful! I love the glowing golds and oranges! I think my fave is Sam taking his shirt off, love the composition as well as the glorious subject matter *grin*

I have yet to work out how to vectorise something. Or, indeed, draw nice clean lines in PS. One day I might have an epiphany similar to yours... LOL

All I can say is, this was time well spent.

[blythechild]

Thanks! I'll admit: I'm a bit chuffed with myself about this one :D And OMFG, I love drawing a shirtless Sam!

I can't draw/paint in any digital program. EVERYTHING gets hand drawn first. PS and AI are just tools to make shit look shiny to me. Once I drew/scanned/level-corrected my original drawing in PS and saved as a jpeg, THIS is how I vectorized the linework:

1. Open file in Illustrator (must be LARGE)
2. Go to Object > Image Trace > Make and Expand
3. Go to Object > Ungroup
4. Click off canvas then select background and delete
5. Select all elements together (use the black arrow tool and draw an invisible box around everything) and the Object > Group
6. Press Ctrl C in Illustrator
7. Open PSD file, press Ctrl V to paste, select "Smart Object" when the pop-up window appears
8. Resize as needed

It's a great trick to know, but as I said, the image needs to be large and you will lose some finer detail in the process.

[amberdreams]

I only have PS6, no Illustrator. I did download a trial version of Affinity and might purchase it, I'm not sure yet, as I've not really made the best use of the trial.

[blythechild]

I have the Affinity beta as well, but like you, haven't spent much time trying it yet. Given the price point and the annoyance of Adobe's subscription model, I think I'll buy it regardless of how much I use it because it's always good to have options. But I use this sort of software for my business clients as well, so...

[firesign10]

Beautiful!!! I loved this!

[blythechild]

Thank you ♥

[emmatheslayer]

awesome work

[blythechild]

Thank you, blossom ♥

[equally_dour]

so very pretty!

[blythechild]

Thank you very much ♥ It's hard not to achieve pretty when drawing fit, shirtless men ;)

[madebyme_x]

Such a beautiful piece! I love the warmth of your colours, with the yellows and oranges, and those gorgeous boys.

Very summery and happy making! Thank you for sharing :)

[blythechild]

Oh! I'm so happy to hear that this is "happy-making" XD Because that's not my forte at all.

Thank you for checking in and telling me what you thought ♥