Having explored the work styles and approaches, Yaroslava says that with long-term practice, both traditional and digital artists work out their own routine and the number of creative stages. In this post, she shares her process which mostly has 5 steps. Here it’s presented by the example of her fresh artwork reflecting the theme of the Winter Olympic Games.

Stage 1: Sketching by Hand

The first stage is devoted to the search of composition, dimensions, characters and their interactions. It is done by hand sketching. If this sketch isn’t going to be shown to clients, don’t try to go deep into all the details – strive for the level of fidelity clear for you personally and save the ideas.

Stage 2: Turning a Traditional Sketch into Digital

The second stage transforms the idea from traditional to digital drawing. Yaroslava uses the scanned or photographed sketch as a base in the Adobe Illustrator. Then she starts to outline the sketch using Pen Tool if lines are strict and Curvative Tool in case of smooth lines. At this stage, she draws the main dimensions without details as well as moves bodies and structures in search of a nice composition. This is the phase when the frame of the illustration is created.

Stage 3: Color Choice

The third stage is all about color. The designer has to make the decision about color palette and combinations. In this particular illustration, the choice was not so hard: she decided to apply the colors of the symbolic Olympic rings. Each of them was used as the basis for a particular ring with the character inscribed into it.

Stage 4: Dimensions and Details

The next stage is devoted to working out details and adding volume. The dimensions and shapes are getting clearer and sharper.

Stage 5. Textures and Dynamics

At the final stage, the designer adds the textures. They breathe in life into the visual images. In this illustration, textures allowed for setting the effect of speed, dynamics as well as visual prompts of the winter season.

In most cases, the designer adds textures with masks. She creates a mask and copies there a black-and-white gradient of the element to which the texture is applied. Then she applies the Grain effect. The other variant is painting inside the mask with the texture brush of white, black or gray color depending on the needed effect.

In the end, she scales the illustration, makes a reflection for the holistic view and adds small alterations if they are needed. The illustration is ready!

Final Tip

During the illustration process, the designer follows the principle to cover all the illustration at every particular stage. All the parts of illustration have to be equally worked-out at the level required by the specific stage before moving to the next step. This approach helps to avoid the situation when some parts are developed in the slightest details while the others feature the lack of patience and persistence. Harmony and consistency are the artist’s best friends.

Check the earlier article to see more illustrations by Yaroslava and read a bunch of useful tips for graphic designers.

Useful Case Studies

For graphic designers interested to see more practical case studies with creative flows, we have collected the set of articles.

Moonworkers. Digital Illustrations on Film Production
Quisine. Branding Design for Food Delivery Service
Dicey. Logo and Mascot Design for Party Game
MYWONY. Storytelling with Brand Intro Design
Florence App. Illustrations for Healthcare Service
Tubik in Paris. Design Process for Narrative Illustration
LunnScape. Identity Design for a Landscape Company
Binned. Brand Identity Design for Cleaning Service
Reborn. Identity Design for a Restaurant
Andre. Corporate Branding Design for Landscape Firm

Originally published in Tubik Blog

Сообщение Illustration Case Study: Step-by-Step Process for Winter Olympics Artwork появились сначала на Design4Users.

Famous tennis player Roger Federer once said: “When I think of the Olympics, I only think of good things. I think of what a great event it is and what it has done for me and my career, and changed my personal life, too“, in that way expressing personal experience echoing the experience of many others. Olympics unite people all over the world, and this massive collective energy transforms into diverse and often stunning artistic forms.

Today, we have decided to start our exploration of the issue of design for the Olympics with a collection of diverse digital art presentations made by designers from different corners of the world. Although the shots present various design approaches, styles, and techniques, what they do have in common is that they all were inspired by the theme of the Olympic Games in Rio, which is in full play at the moment. So, ready, steady, go!

Official logo design of Rio 2016 by Tátil Design de Ideias

Rio 2016 by TUBIK

ADWEEK Infographic by Steve Wolf

Rio Olympics 2016 by RADIO

NBC Olympics Rio 2016 // Trollbäck + Company by Mitch Monson

Google doodles Rio 2016 by Leo Natsume

Rio 2016: BBc´s Olympic by Rafael Martin C.

Rio 2016 by spovv

Artwork – Olympic Games Rio 2016 by José Augusto Hykavy

Medal Moves by Tomasz Usyk

Stay tuned, guys! The next posts will unveil more about the history of design for the Olympics in particular and sports in general. New design stories and collections are coming soon!

For more inspiration, check the sets of other posts from our D4U Gallery, where we gather impressive creatives to share their art with you, for example:

• people illustration gallery
• urban art illustrations
• Procreate illustration tutorials
• logo animation examples
• realistic 3D portraits
• impressive packaging designs
• dog illustrations
• childhood illustrations
• 3D illustrations
• book cover designs
• sunny digital artworks

Сообщение Olympic Spirit. Designs Inspired by Rio 2016 появились сначала на Design4Users.