HI-FI's "Unofficial User Guide" iBook

Brian and Kristy Miller are the founders of Hi-Fi Colour Design. They color major comic book titles as well as paint artwork for toy makers, movie studios and games companies. They just released a new iBook "SketchBook Pro for iPad - The Unofficial User Guide".

We asked Brian to tell us more about this iBook and the inspiration behind creating it.

Brian Miller: 

SketchBook Pro for iPad - The Unofficial User Guide is designed for anyone who wants to start creating with their iPad yet maybe they are unsure how to use all of the tools and features found within SketchBook Pro for iPad. The goal of the book is to make it easy for anyone to start creating with SketchBook Pro for iPad from the moment it's first downloaded and launched. Kristy and I lead new users though the software interface and introduce the tools and innovative features of SketchBook Pro for iPad in a way that is easy and fun for users of all ages.

Some of the content is interactive allowing you to tap and see more information about tools and settings, swipe step-by-step through image galleries showing you how to make and save your favorite colors and brushes, even watch embedded video revealing power user tips. There and entire sections for saving and sharing your artwork so all your friends can see what you have created using SketchBook Pro for iPad. 

Last year, we debuted How to Paint Comics Books with the iPad at Comic-Con International (aka San Diego Comic-Con) to a standing room only crowd. The panel was packed with people excited about creating artwork with the iPad but not sure where to start, what apps to use, and there were many questions. Some people would say, "someday the iPad will be ready to create professional artwork but not today" and we could show them actual Marvel book covers that were painted using the iPad. I think that opened a lot of minds as to what is possible using the iPad and SketchBook Pro for iPad.

The iBook includes interactive elements.

SketchBook Pro for iPad was the first app to offer seamless integration with Adobe Photoshop on my Mac which is a must for me at the team of creators at Hi-Fi. I'm a big believer of using devices that allow me to focus more of my time being creative and less trying to figure out how to make things work. I call my iPad my mobile art studio because I can create anywhere at anytime from sketches I want to capture in real time to bigger projects like posters and cover illustrations. 

My productivity and creativity have exploded using the iPad because I don't have to wait until I get back to my desktop to work out my creative ideas. I can do it where and when the inspiration strikes. I just open SketchBook Pro for iPad create a quick sketch and I know the essence of what I envisioned is captured.

A perfect example is a vintage style travel poster I recently created to help raise funds for an archaeological excavation in the land of frankincense. I walked around the excavation site drawing sketches of the ruins, captured some photos of local camels and scenery and then sat down and sketched out the concept for the illustration, all using the iPad.

Check out "SketchBook Pro for iPad - The Unofficial User Guide iBook" today. 

7th Voyage

Published by Red Stylo Media, 7th Voyage is an upcoming graphic novel by writer Enrica Jang and artist Matthew J. Fletcher.

SketchBook Team: How did you get your creative start?

Enrica:  I was a writer and comics fan finishing grad school when I scored an internship at Marvel. I launched my first series, AZTECA, with a fellow intern: a story about a vigilante serial killer in Mexico (kind of Dexter meets Machete). While promoting AZTECA, at conventions and signings, I kept meeting other comics creators whose work and talent I admired. Eventually I formed a publishing company, Red Stylo Media, and put together The Poe Twisted Anthology: a collection of thirteen original comics inspired by Edgar Allan Poe. The next year we put together an even bigger collection called Shakespeare Shaken with thirty-two artists! Now, with 7th Voyage, this is my opportunity to feature some of my own writing again.

Matthew:  I have been drawing as far back as I can remember…  Stories of King Arthur, Robin Hood, Medieval Europe, and the entire spectrum of Mythology were really what inspired me in my youth.  Well, that and Star Wars.  If mythology was my passion, then Star Wars was my religion.  So, naturally, growing up I wanted to be an artist and an astronaut.  After a short stint in the Young Astronaut’s Club, I abandoned all hope of traveling in space and concentrated on scribbling with pencil on paper.  I took my talents on the road - exhibiting at comic book conventions, drawing commissions, and picking up contract work as a freelance artist, until last year when my first comic book story was published in Shakespeare Shaken.  Since then I have worked on a few sketch card sets: Classic Mythology and Spellcasters for Perna Studios, andThe Walking Dead, Series II, for Cryptozoic. 

 

SketchBook Team: How did you come together for 7th Voyage ?

Enrica: My company had just put out an open call for artists and writers for Shakespeare Shaken. Matt and I met at a convention and I mentioned the project to him.

I said, “Hamlet.” He said, “Robots!” and somehow a story was born.

Over the next few months, I worked with Matt and his story partner, Seth Mullins, on this wacky combination of kings, ghosts, robots and tentacles that miraculously came together into an amazing short comic. It was such a success, I asked Matt if he’d like to collaborate on another, bigger project with me. 

SketchBook Team: What speaks most to you about the story of 7th Voyage?

Matthew: While it’s true that Rica offered me the story, the WHOLE truth is that there were actually two projects up in the air and Rica was leaning toward putting me on the other. But once I read the script for 7th Voyage I knew I had to have it. As a history buff, there were elements that were so intriguing to me already, but then when I started reading the story, I noticed how the history of it is really just a backdrop for these amazingly complex characters and relationships.

Enrica: 7th Voyage is a story I owe to my father. He introduced the conspiracy theory that it was the Chinese who may have discovered America long before Europeans, but China destroyed records of the great voyages when the Emperor died. The main character of our book, Zheng He, is basically China’s own Christopher Columbus. I’m fascinated by the idea that this epic voyage could have changed the course of history but was instead locked away and almost lost because of national politics. 

SketchBook Team: Matthew, can you tell us a little bit more about your artistic process?

 Matthew: Growing up, illustration technology simply did not exist so it was a lot of pencil and ink, and then later – paint…watercolor primarily. Eventually, I gave into temptation and purchased my first Wacom tablet...and my world changed forever. 

One day, at Wizard World Chicago, we were sitting next to Skottie Young and he had a handful of copies of Sketchbook Pro that he was giving away.  For the first time I had found an illustration program that FELT like drawing.  From then on I started incorporating Sketchbook Pro into most of my finished pieces. 

In terms of method and technique…I think it varies depending on the project I am working on. The story I did for Shakespeare Shaken was all traditional - Morning Glory flat lead pencil and Pentel brush pen. For 7th Voyage however, I am going all-Sketchbook Pro.  I am using the Android App for layouts on my tablet and doing the finished drawings using my Cintiq 12. 

Whether it was just for layouts, or for fully finished pieces, black & white or color pieces, Sketchbook Pro became an art tool that I could not live without. 

SketchBook Team: When can we get our hands on 7th Voyage?

Enrica: The book will be released in two parts. We’re making a mad dash to get a teaser ready for San Diego Comic Con in July, and then the trade paperback for Part I will be printed and debut at New York Comic Con this September. Depending on its success and reception, we’re hoping to have Part II ready for Chinese New Year in 2014!

Want more about 7th Voyage? Stay tuned for for more tutorials from Matt.

Check out the Red Stylo Media homepage and offical Facebook. For more of Matthew J. Fletcher’s work, check out his website.

Heroes Con 2013

The SketchBook team will be in Charlotte, North Carolina.  For anyone attending Heroes Con, come visit us near at booth 822/912, right by Artist Alley!

We will have the range of Wacom Cintiqs in play and Epson R2000s set up to print the live art that will be created from the line up of guest artists making special appearances.

June 6 - Setting up the SketchBook booth!To learn more, visit www.heroesonline.com/heroescon/

Featured artist - Chuan Zhong

In March, the Spectrum jury convened to vote on the submitted artwork for Spectrum 20. One of the selected pieces was by Chuan Zhong, an established artist based in Shanghai. Chuan Zhong recently added SketchBook Pro to his digital toolset, which was used exclusively to produce his final submission.  

IN HIS OWN WORDS

I have always loved drawing since my childhood and learned graphic arts in 1996. From 1998 onward, I really began to focus on traditional drawing including sketching and coloring. In university, I was exposed to CG painting and discovered my interest in fantasy and magic. Since then, I’ve contributed to many projects for many companies, and yet, I still have a dream of becoming a concept designer for movies.  

My inspiration mainly comes from life and film. In my spare time, I like to travel, always taking lots of pictures. These photos often become the sources of my creations. Movies are another source of inspiration. I love all kinds of movies and study my favorite movie scenes. Since many movie scenes are not realistic, they can give me a lot of ideas. As a side bonus, I also pick up techniques for lighting, composition and design.

Work in progress in SketchBook Pro 6

I created my submission for Spectrum 20 after watching a movie in the cinema. It was a story about a group of prisoners and their hard & long escape from a Siberian camp.  There were scenes depicting how the prisoners passed the time, that there was nothing for them to do except playing cards and telling stories to each other. These simple stories were able to uplift their spirits.  When you think about it, even with access to unlimited amounts of entertainment, many people are still unhappy or unsatisfied.  I found this idea really inspiring and based the piece around it. I wanted to emphasize the facial expressions, aiming to build their character through their emotion. 

For those out there who are still learning, my message to you is this:

 放下包袱，梦还是要追的，加油！(Pursue the dream!)

 See more of Chuan Zhong's work on deviantART: http://chuanzhong.deviantart.com

Spectrum is a collective reponsible for releasing amazing and inspiring art books. Their mission: "To promote the fantastic arts and provide an annual showcase for contemporary artists."

Garlic on iPhone Tutorial

Luis Peso is an artist based in Spain.  He has a wide range of styles and uses a varoetu pf devices for his work including the iPhone.

Check out his work over at his DeviantART.

I like to start by adding a background. No need to worry too much at this point about color, just take it as a base to build your painting. A nice idea is to leave the background in one layer and start painting your subject in a new one, just to be able to modify it later.

Having in mind a traditional approach for this painting, I start building up the shapes from dark values. Notice that I’m not sketching this time, It is way easier (specially on the iPhone) to block some shapes out and be able to refine them as needed instead of having to erase a beautiful sketch.

 

Take it as if you are sculpting instead of drawing. For me, these early steps are so enjoyable since I can get mad with adding tones and see the shapes “grow up” 

 

Since the garlics’ scales have that purple tones, I wanted to emphasize the orangish tones on the cloves. I am constantly moving the HUE slider from orangish tones to more greenish.

 

Keep going with the process, trying to find pink and purple tones in order to start adding light and also working more the cloves’ warm tones. Still not defining too much, just focused on composition and building the shapes. 

I’m using the basic round brush with low opacity so I can control the amount of “pigment” within the strokes. It also helps with interesting color mix. I’m not happy with the background at this point. I tried to change it but the problem is that it is so similar to the tones on the garlics’ cloves. No worries...I’ll come to it later.

In this step I used the pencil to work on the garlic texture plus the bottom part on the left garlic. But the main difference you may notice, compared to the previous step, is that I used the eraser to define the edges, giving it a sense of definition.

 

 I do this a lot: By painting a stroke with low opacity over already painted colors, you can get subtle variations of the original tone you were using. Specially useful for those moments when you’re looking for the same tone but a bit bluish (e.g.) 

I used this brush for the bottom texture. To get the best results from a texture, you need to work a bit on it, in this case with pencil work and eraser to define. 

  

Now it’s time to find a nice brush for both texturing and getting painterly look. It is also great for mixing colors since it is raked and allows underneath colors to be seen through.

 

Time to change the background. See how the garlic suddenly pops up? As said before, the background and the main subjects were “fighting” against each other with their tones. The way to solve it is by analyzing the colors on the painting and,as I have purples and oranges, the “x” color is green (based on a triadic scheme)

All you need to do is play to get a background of your taste. As I wanted this to have a classic look, I harmonized the painting by using different shades of green as well as the color picker to use the background color on the garlics and vice-versa.

Refined textures and colors (specially the garlic’s reddish shadows) and worked on the “ground” in relation with the garlics by, again using garlic’s colors on the ground because light bounces (very subtle in this case) and adds an extra sense of lighting in the scene.

And here’s the final piece. Hope it helped - and thanks for reading! Keep painting and keep it FUN! ;)

 

-Luis Peso