Threadless T-Shirts - Profile for grypesagon - I need help with my technique.

grypesagon aka Griffin is a 28.7 year old boy, has been a member since January 29, 2007, has scored 2224 submissions, giving an average score of 1.84.

URL: http://www.grypesagon.com
AIM: grypesagon

Aug 02 '07 by grypesagon

16 Comments

Watch this

I need help with my technique.

If you look through my past submissions you'll see I've experimented with a wide variety of techniques for trying to work within threadless' color limitations.

I've tried freehand, pen tool, draw/scan/color, draw/color/scan, illustrator, photoshop, painter. I've tried everything I can think of. I'm missing some fundamental component that I can't kin.

That's my original digital illustration for this concept.

http://www.threadless.com/critique/6459/Celestial_Surgery

This is my new attempt at a translation into Threadless acceptable format.

grypesagon on Aug 02 '07 at 1:13am

bump

grypesagon on Aug 02 '07 at 8:40am

biggety bump?

grypesagon on Aug 02 '07 at 10:06am

sigh

grypesagon on Aug 02 '07 at 10:26am

once again

fatheed on Aug 02 '07 at 10:28am

I like the original, but it's lost in translation. You haven't recaptured the detail of the first one and it's hard to make out whats going on.

grypesagon on Aug 02 '07 at 10:30am

Any ideas on how to recapture the detail? Is there something I could do that I'm not doing?

sectionbb on Aug 02 '07 at 10:37am

add a 5th color?

canadianbeaver on Aug 02 '07 at 10:38am

I am afraid I do not understand what is going on in this illustration.

grypesagon on Aug 02 '07 at 10:44am

I'm not expecting anyone to follow the story. I need to revise my TECHNIQUE. I have a level of aptitude when it comes to drawing, painting, digital illustration, design. However I seem to lack the ability to create something aesthetically pleasing when my colors are so drastically limited. I'm not grasping some idea or function or technique. I need help with that. I chose an image that won't make any sense to people so I could get people to focus on the aesthetic alone.

KBShakedown on Aug 02 '07 at 10:58am

The first thing that popped out at me was that, in the 4 color illustration, your color scheme is boring. Since you have a such a limited amount of colors to work with, you'd better choose each one well.

Also, even though I don't particularly like the drawing, I can tell that you enjoyed creating the first one and you put a decent effort into it. That's all lost on the second version, where it just looks rushed, lacks character and generally lacks visible effort. Especially on parts like the amorphous blob that is supposed to be the ground and the highlights(?) on the tree.

canadianbeaver on Aug 02 '07 at 10:58am

I said the way to do better with the illustration is to better master the tools in photoshop. The layering of hand filled page scans is crude and inaccurate.

What you could also do is try and introduce patterns, by taking the layers into single documents, black, apply filters to them and make them more sensitive so they are not flat.

Then, put them back in and color them.

This is what I have done here...

Reverse Psychology - Threadless, Best T-shirts Ever

And so the bricks have some texture and dimension. I am no photoshop genius, so you can do it.

grypesagon on Aug 02 '07 at 11:06am

I thought there was some sort of print issue with that level of detail?

grypesagon on Aug 02 '07 at 11:07am

KBS - Thanks. I'll have to reflect on those points.

7 days later

grypesagon on Aug 09 '07 at 3:10pm

update bump

pyr4lis on Aug 09 '07 at 3:55pm

well in the revised threadless sub there are two things that look weird because they're missing... #1 is there is no "Sky" in the threadless version.. #2 your little dinosaur seems to be missing his teeth :P (his lack of arms is alot more noticable in the threadless version that in your original)

I'm not sure how to fix it though! I have similar problems where I sketch something out and finish it in a non-digital medium (ie: paint) then when I try to translate it to a threadless design I always fall flat on my face.

2 days later

grypesagon on Aug 12 '07 at 2:34pm

good point. I didn't realize i forgot the teeth. Hmmm. I already subbed this though. I'll have to keep better tabs in the future.

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www.grypesagon.com

I’m a digital illustrator and designer that creates images and layouts for practically anyone. I operate out of Boston, MA.

I'm autodidacticly polymathic (look it up). As a result I tend to keep very busy. At any given point I have a number of active hobbies, studies and projects. I'm currently moving towards taking my hobby of digital illustration and making it my profession. I like learning about people, studying the combinations of patterns that make each person who they are. I like understanding how things work.

I'm happy with my life. I'm making good progress and I'm making it on my terms.

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