Vectors - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

LoganSnake · 02-05-2007, 04:14 PM

I'm a graphic design major and this semester I'm taking an Illustrator class. I'll be posting here projects that I am assigned. I have never used any vector based program nor have I ever worked with vectors prior to starting this class three weeks ago.

Here's my first completed project.

Halx · 02-05-2007, 05:03 PM

I love vector art... this is a great example. Everything is so sharp and vibrant. Keep it coming.

Mister Coaster · 02-06-2007, 06:13 AM

For a first project, thats very good.

If I may point a critical eye to a few things...
Palm Trees: It looks as if you path has crossed over itself on the ends of 2 of the leaves. This can be easily fixed with the white selection arrow and adjusting one handle or the other.
Sun Reflection: Most of the edges are straight, and the corners are hard angles. It would look a lot better if you converted them to curves.

I know getting the hang of smooth curves is tough at first. Keep going!

ngdawg · 02-06-2007, 09:32 AM

I love it-in its simplicity, it still conveys mood. The gradient sunset is gorgeous-if you wanted to smooth out the points, 'round edges' works, too, but I think it works as it is because it's not a harsh gradient.
Illustrator is great-I've forgotten most of what I learned in class, however, about the tools, but its possibilities are endless. And now that I have the Wacom, it's even more fun!
Keep up the excellent work.

LoganSnake · 02-06-2007, 11:42 AM

Thanks, MC. I've smoothed out the reflection and fixed the palm tree leaves. Looks a lot better.

And thanks to the rest for comments.

LoganSnake · 02-26-2007, 08:07 AM

Small project this time. She gave us some words and we were supposed to do two simple, black and white compound path designs using those words.

Here's what I came up with.

Mister Coaster · 02-27-2007, 08:31 AM

Constructive Criticism ahead...

Grass:
Because the blades of grass are overlapping each other as well as the text, the resultng compound path is extremely complexed and visually disracting. However, if this is your desired effect, then so be it. I know how to fix this if you want, requires the use of one of the Pathfinder tools, not sure if your instructor wants you playing with tools that she hasn't introduced. (select all blades of grass, go to the Pathfinder pallete and click Combine, then expand. Combine makes them one single shape, expand removes all interroir, overlapping paths, leaving only a solid shape) Then go to the text and create the compound path.
Also, the illustration of the shoe/leg is a bit weak, its also the only element that is as tall as it is, I'd eliminate it and leave the soccer ball, then make the ball a bit larger so it is even with the height of the text.

Tiger:
Only one of the 3 slashes has been utalized in the compound path, I think using all 3 would look better. Also, with the paws, pick one and reflect it so they both don't look like left paws. (object > transform > reflect)

LoganSnake · 02-27-2007, 04:29 PM

Yes, I couldn't figure out a way to flatten all the grass blades paths into one large path. Funny you should mention the Pathfinder tools as we have just went over them today in class, after the assignment was due. And yeah, she lowers the grade if we use the tools that we haven't gone over in class yet.

Good eye on the two left paws. I overlooked that minor detail completely. Unfortuanately I've already submitted the assignment prior to reading your post.

I'll be updating as I do more stuff.

Mister Coaster · 02-28-2007, 07:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LoganSnake

And yeah, she lowers the grade if we use the tools that we haven't gone over in class yet.

Thats what I figured. My instructors were the same way. Keep posting and I'll keep giving you pointers.

LoganSnake · 03-19-2007, 03:13 PM

My latest project.

We were supposed to pick a scene from a book and illustrate it. If you guys can guess which book this is from, I guess I did it right.

Critiques are very welcome. Making this was a pain.

Viking185 · 03-20-2007, 10:14 AM

ummm...christine? *I can't remember the name..hangs head* from Mr. King

LoganSnake · 03-20-2007, 10:27 AM

Yup, that's the one!

LoganSnake · 03-22-2007, 08:53 AM

Nobody else?

Mister Coaster · 03-24-2007, 02:04 PM

Been on vaccation... sorry.

OK, overall composition and "story"... very well done. I could tell instantly that this was Christene. I like the angle of the whole thing that translates a sence of action or danger.

Things that could translate a bit better....
The runner... looks like he's not running for his life, more like he's jogging in the park. A more extreme pose would work better. Burne Hogarth (although I'm not a BIG fan of his style) is good at capturing action and and urgency in poses, check out his work, he has a book called Dynamic Figure Drawing (or similar) that would be worth looking at. The way you have lit the figure is good, don't change that.

The brick wall... the single gradient isn't working for me. I'd color each brick individually (still going from a light to dark) but enough to see individual variences in bricks.

Night sky... Go 90% black, not blue against a 100% black skyline.

As for the car itself, very well done. Great work there, you'll only get better. And like already mentioned, the composition works well, don't change that.

LoganSnake · 04-15-2007, 06:24 AM

Update. Skipping one project, here is my latest one.

We began covering the Mesh tool two weeks ago and the project requirements asked for three insects on the scene. The scene did not have to be detailed, since the focus is on the bugs and our grasp of the Mesh tool. The only requirements were that bugs had to be more than 75% mesh and the overall size had to be over 2 inches in any direction (antennae and legs not counting).

So, here's my contribution. This project took me in excess of 15 hours to complete. The Wasp beetle taking the most time, clocking at 6 hours.

Below are the completed project as well as individual bug close-ups for detail.

I did the butterfly first, and because of that it looks the worst of the three. The wasp beetle was the second insect I did, and by that time I had a much better control over my mesh lines. The dragonfly was last, but I did not spend as much time on it as I did on the wasp beetle, so it doesn't look quite as detailed, methinks.

Critiques are welcome.

Mister Coaster · 04-15-2007, 02:14 PM

Considering the details of the assignment... very well done. That tool has a big learning curve, and as you mention, the more you use it, the easier it gets. The wasp beetle looks great.

LoganSnake · 04-15-2007, 02:31 PM

For our final project, the class has voted to do portraits. I plan on doing it with the Mesh tool as I have seen what you do with mesh.

Do I expect to achieve that level quality? Not at all, but I damn well am going to try.

fightnight · 04-22-2007, 06:11 PM

This all seems pretty interesting... I'm not experienced at all with vector art, never actually heard of it, but it appears you can do some pretty amazing stuff with it. Great stuff.

LoganSnake · 04-25-2007, 01:24 PM

Indeed, you can. I was shocked to hell when I've found out that I could do some photorealistic stuff with it. Before, I thought vectors were only used for flat graphics like the one in the first post.

LoganSnake · 05-03-2007, 10:53 AM

Well, this is my final project. I've learned quite a lot in the past 16 weeks and here are the results. For our final project, we had to do portraits of a person of our choosing. Can anyone guess who this is? That will at least tell me if I hit the likeness with the shadows at all.

The hair will be redone in the near future and the final piece, at the suggestion of my instructor, will be submitted to the student gallery at my college. Awesome.

Full:

Face detail:

Jetée · 05-03-2007, 07:14 PM

Someone famous is the given, but I am having a hard time pinpointing a name; could it be that girl from Heroes?

I'm really bad at this.

Willravel · 05-03-2007, 07:16 PM

My first thought went to Joan Osborne, who sang "What if God was One of Us?"

Jetée · 05-03-2007, 07:29 PM

I forgot to mention that your final project for vector art is GREAT!
It is very life-like, and if you stare at it long enough, I could swear I was looking at a still photograph. That is some progression you have made LoganSnake. You should be very proud of your final results.
I am still in awe of what can be made from simple vectors. I wonder what a true professional can make of it. Perhaps you will someday rise to that rank.
But your 16 weeks of learning surely doesn't detract from your ability to astound us all.

.....And i still don't know who that could be. Looks familiar though, if that helps me or you.

LoganSnake · 05-03-2007, 07:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jetstream

I forgot to mention that your final project for vector art is GREAT!
It is very life-like, and if you stare at it long enough, I could swear I was looking at a still photograph. That is some progression you have made LoganSnake. You should be very proud of your final results.
I am still in awe of what can be made from simple vectors. I wonder what a true professional can make of it. Perhaps you will someday rise to that rank.
But your 16 weeks of learning surely doesn't detract from your ability to astound us all.

.....And i still don't know who that could be. Looks familiar though, if that helps me or you.

A professional could make one of these: http://basangpanaginip.blogspot.com/...ector-art.html

Those pictures have close to 100 hours invested into them, while mine only took around 30. I'm sure if I spent more time with it, I could make it even more realistic.

Also, that's Claire.

Thanks for the compliments.

Mister Coaster · 05-04-2007, 11:29 AM

Very impressive, you have certianly come a long way in your Illustrator Skillz!

02-05-2007, 04:14 PM	#1 (permalink)
LoganSnake We work alone Location: Cake Town	Vectors I'm a graphic design major and this semester I'm taking an Illustrator class. I'll be posting here projects that I am assigned. I have never used any vector based program nor have I ever worked with vectors prior to starting this class three weeks ago. Here's my first completed project. __________________ Maturity is knowing you were an idiot in the past. Wisdom is knowing that you'll be an idiot in the future. Common sense is knowing that you should try not to be an idiot now. - J. Jacques Last edited by LoganSnake; 02-05-2007 at 04:29 PM..

02-05-2007, 05:03 PM	#2 (permalink)
Halx Please touch this. Owner/Admin Location: Manhattan	I love vector art... this is a great example. Everything is so sharp and vibrant. Keep it coming. __________________ You have found this post informative. -The Administrator [Don't Feed The Animals]

02-06-2007, 06:13 AM	#3 (permalink)
Mister Coaster Big & Brassy Location: The "Canyon"	For a first project, thats very good. If I may point a critical eye to a few things... Palm Trees: It looks as if you path has crossed over itself on the ends of 2 of the leaves. This can be easily fixed with the white selection arrow and adjusting one handle or the other. Sun Reflection: Most of the edges are straight, and the corners are hard angles. It would look a lot better if you converted them to curves. I know getting the hang of smooth curves is tough at first. Keep going! __________________ If you have any poo... fling it NOW!

02-06-2007, 09:32 AM	#4 (permalink)
ngdawg peekaboo Location: on the back, bitch	I love it-in its simplicity, it still conveys mood. The gradient sunset is gorgeous-if you wanted to smooth out the points, 'round edges' works, too, but I think it works as it is because it's not a harsh gradient. Illustrator is great-I've forgotten most of what I learned in class, however, about the tools, but its possibilities are endless. And now that I have the Wacom, it's even more fun! Keep up the excellent work. __________________ Don't blame me. I didn't vote for either of'em.

02-06-2007, 11:42 AM	#5 (permalink)
LoganSnake We work alone Location: Cake Town	Thanks, MC. I've smoothed out the reflection and fixed the palm tree leaves. Looks a lot better. And thanks to the rest for comments. __________________ Maturity is knowing you were an idiot in the past. Wisdom is knowing that you'll be an idiot in the future. Common sense is knowing that you should try not to be an idiot now. - J. Jacques

02-26-2007, 08:07 AM	#6 (permalink)
LoganSnake We work alone Location: Cake Town	Small project this time. She gave us some words and we were supposed to do two simple, black and white compound path designs using those words. Here's what I came up with. __________________ Maturity is knowing you were an idiot in the past. Wisdom is knowing that you'll be an idiot in the future. Common sense is knowing that you should try not to be an idiot now. - J. Jacques

02-27-2007, 08:31 AM	#7 (permalink)
Mister Coaster Big & Brassy Location: The "Canyon"	Constructive Criticism ahead... Grass: Because the blades of grass are overlapping each other as well as the text, the resultng compound path is extremely complexed and visually disracting. However, if this is your desired effect, then so be it. I know how to fix this if you want, requires the use of one of the Pathfinder tools, not sure if your instructor wants you playing with tools that she hasn't introduced. (select all blades of grass, go to the Pathfinder pallete and click Combine, then expand. Combine makes them one single shape, expand removes all interroir, overlapping paths, leaving only a solid shape) Then go to the text and create the compound path. Also, the illustration of the shoe/leg is a bit weak, its also the only element that is as tall as it is, I'd eliminate it and leave the soccer ball, then make the ball a bit larger so it is even with the height of the text. Tiger: Only one of the 3 slashes has been utalized in the compound path, I think using all 3 would look better. Also, with the paws, pick one and reflect it so they both don't look like left paws. (object > transform > reflect) __________________ If you have any poo... fling it NOW!

02-27-2007, 04:29 PM	#8 (permalink)
LoganSnake We work alone Location: Cake Town	Yes, I couldn't figure out a way to flatten all the grass blades paths into one large path. Funny you should mention the Pathfinder tools as we have just went over them today in class, after the assignment was due. And yeah, she lowers the grade if we use the tools that we haven't gone over in class yet. Good eye on the two left paws. I overlooked that minor detail completely. Unfortuanately I've already submitted the assignment prior to reading your post. I'll be updating as I do more stuff. __________________ Maturity is knowing you were an idiot in the past. Wisdom is knowing that you'll be an idiot in the future. Common sense is knowing that you should try not to be an idiot now. - J. Jacques

03-20-2007, 10:14 AM	#11 (permalink)
Viking185 Upright Location: Sol...third planet from 0...nice little blue one can't miss it	very nice... ummm...christine? I can't remember the name..hangs head from Mr. King __________________ There are 10 kinds of people in this world...those that understand binary and those that don't

03-20-2007, 10:27 AM	#12 (permalink)
LoganSnake We work alone Location: Cake Town	Yup, that's the one! __________________ Maturity is knowing you were an idiot in the past. Wisdom is knowing that you'll be an idiot in the future. Common sense is knowing that you should try not to be an idiot now. - J. Jacques

03-22-2007, 08:53 AM	#13 (permalink)
LoganSnake We work alone Location: Cake Town	Nobody else? __________________ Maturity is knowing you were an idiot in the past. Wisdom is knowing that you'll be an idiot in the future. Common sense is knowing that you should try not to be an idiot now. - J. Jacques

03-24-2007, 02:04 PM	#14 (permalink)
Mister Coaster Big & Brassy Location: The "Canyon"	Been on vaccation... sorry. OK, overall composition and "story"... very well done. I could tell instantly that this was Christene. I like the angle of the whole thing that translates a sence of action or danger. Things that could translate a bit better.... The runner... looks like he's not running for his life, more like he's jogging in the park. A more extreme pose would work better. Burne Hogarth (although I'm not a BIG fan of his style) is good at capturing action and and urgency in poses, check out his work, he has a book called Dynamic Figure Drawing (or similar) that would be worth looking at. The way you have lit the figure is good, don't change that. The brick wall... the single gradient isn't working for me. I'd color each brick individually (still going from a light to dark) but enough to see individual variences in bricks. Night sky... Go 90% black, not blue against a 100% black skyline. As for the car itself, very well done. Great work there, you'll only get better. And like already mentioned, the composition works well, don't change that. __________________ If you have any poo... fling it NOW!

04-15-2007, 02:14 PM	#16 (permalink)
Mister Coaster Big & Brassy Location: The "Canyon"	Considering the details of the assignment... very well done. That tool has a big learning curve, and as you mention, the more you use it, the easier it gets. The wasp beetle looks great. __________________ If you have any poo... fling it NOW!

04-15-2007, 02:31 PM	#17 (permalink)
LoganSnake We work alone Location: Cake Town	For our final project, the class has voted to do portraits. I plan on doing it with the Mesh tool as I have seen what you do with mesh. Do I expect to achieve that level quality? Not at all, but I damn well am going to try. __________________ Maturity is knowing you were an idiot in the past. Wisdom is knowing that you'll be an idiot in the future. Common sense is knowing that you should try not to be an idiot now. - J. Jacques

04-22-2007, 06:11 PM	#18 (permalink)
fightnight Insane Location: The lovely Northeast	This all seems pretty interesting... I'm not experienced at all with vector art, never actually heard of it, but it appears you can do some pretty amazing stuff with it. Great stuff.

04-25-2007, 01:24 PM	#19 (permalink)
LoganSnake We work alone Location: Cake Town	Indeed, you can. I was shocked to hell when I've found out that I could do some photorealistic stuff with it. Before, I thought vectors were only used for flat graphics like the one in the first post. __________________ Maturity is knowing you were an idiot in the past. Wisdom is knowing that you'll be an idiot in the future. Common sense is knowing that you should try not to be an idiot now. - J. Jacques

05-03-2007, 10:53 AM	#20 (permalink)
LoganSnake We work alone Location: Cake Town	Well, this is my final project. I've learned quite a lot in the past 16 weeks and here are the results. For our final project, we had to do portraits of a person of our choosing. Can anyone guess who this is? That will at least tell me if I hit the likeness with the shadows at all. The hair will be redone in the near future and the final piece, at the suggestion of my instructor, will be submitted to the student gallery at my college. Awesome. Full: Face detail: __________________ Maturity is knowing you were an idiot in the past. Wisdom is knowing that you'll be an idiot in the future. Common sense is knowing that you should try not to be an idiot now. - J. Jacques

05-03-2007, 07:14 PM	#21 (permalink)
Jetée The Reforms Location: Rarely, if ever, here or there, but always in transition	Someone famous is the given, but I am having a hard time pinpointing a name; could it be that girl from Heroes? I'm really bad at this. __________________ As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world (that is the myth of the Atomic Age) as in being able to remake ourselves. —Mohandas K. Gandhi

05-03-2007, 07:16 PM	#22 (permalink)
Willravel ... a sort of licensed troubleshooter.	My first thought went to Joan Osborne, who sang "What if God was One of Us?"

05-03-2007, 07:29 PM	#23 (permalink)
Jetée The Reforms Location: Rarely, if ever, here or there, but always in transition	I forgot to mention that your final project for vector art is GREAT! It is very life-like, and if you stare at it long enough, I could swear I was looking at a still photograph. That is some progression you have made LoganSnake. You should be very proud of your final results. I am still in awe of what can be made from simple vectors. I wonder what a true professional can make of it. Perhaps you will someday rise to that rank. But your 16 weeks of learning surely doesn't detract from your ability to astound us all. .....And i still don't know who that could be. Looks familiar though, if that helps me or you. __________________ As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world (that is the myth of the Atomic Age) as in being able to remake ourselves. —Mohandas K. Gandhi

05-04-2007, 11:29 AM	#25 (permalink)
Mister Coaster Big & Brassy Location: The "Canyon"	Very impressive, you have certianly come a long way in your Illustrator Skillz! __________________ If you have any poo... fling it NOW!