Sherry Jackson as Andreas – Women of Star Trek The Original Series Illustration

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I finally got this Andreas (Sherry Jackson) drawing up. It usually takes a little bit of time to get a drawing ready for display. I need to spray the drawing with fixative, scan the drawing, then cleanup the scan in Photoshop. So anyhow, here she is. Not a whole lot like Sherry Jackson. But you can’t miss her in that costume. Andreas is the first in my Women of Star Trek illustration series.

For my second drawing, I will be drawing Magda, played by Susan Denberg. She is from the Star Trek Original Series episode “Mudd’s Women.” Doing a little research, Susan Denberg actually appeared in Playboy, as miss August all the way back in 1966. You can see it here if you like: Susan Denberg Playmate August 1966. Warning, nudity.


I’ve got a pose for Magda, and here is the start of the drawing. I tend to start with the face. I think most people do too. I figure the face is the hardest and most important part, and if I am going to screw it up, might as well do it early so I can start over.

I really dig the hair on her. It’s a whole lot sexier than what we have today in my opinion. With this kind of cool hairstyle, I actually don’t mind drawing the hair. Fun stuff.

Klingon Suzie Plakson Illustration – Using a Mask in Photoshop for Artistic Look

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I had an urge to do quick sketch of a Klingon women (don’t ask why), so I decide to draw Klingon Ambassador K’Ehleyr played by Suzie Plakson. Well, the sketch turned out horrible! It usually happens when I try to draw too fast. It ends up with the dark tones being too dark everywhere. With erasing and redrawing, it just turns into a mess. You really can’t erase too much on paper because it takes away the grain or tooth of the paper. Drawing on it then becomes slippery and you end up with shading blotches. So anyhow, I was at the point of tossing it into the trash until I gave it my last effort of salvaging it by taking it into Photoshop for some color.

The color turned out okay but rather boring. I wanted to make it more stylized and artistic, so I simply used a mask to blend the two together. It is a quick process in Photoshop and works quite well. Here’s how it went.

 

Artistic look by painting a mask in Photoshop

Once you have your sketch painted, just put the painted layer on top of the sketch layer. Then create a mask for the painted layer. In the mask, everything you paint white will show the painted layer, black will make it transparent and show the bottom sketch layer. Any shades of grey will be a blend between the two. Nothing really special here, just your basic mask.

I do like to use this method because it is very flexible and it allows you create a nice blended look without modifying either of the original layers. Keep painting the mask until you get something you like. Now a very important shortcut key to use in this process is the shortcut key X. The X allows you to switch your current brush color selection from Foreground to Background and vice versa. Since you are painting the mask, Photoshop automatically sets the two values to black and white. You need to switch back and forth quickly because you will notice that you will be painting with blacks and whites constantly to get the artistic blend that you want.

Click on the image above to see my Photoshop layers. In the final image, I did add some whites to give it more of a visual pop. That layer is not shown, but you get the idea. Hope you find this helpful. Please share any comments or work-flows of your own in the comment section below. Thanks, -Wei

Make 3D Prints at Home with MakerBot Replicator!

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I was reading the current issue of Fast Company on my Kindle and came across an article about this MakerBot Replicator. For about $1800, you can have your own 3d printer! After going through the website, this replicator looks like a consumer grade 3D printer. The current model can print at about a size of a loaf of bread, which is quite large. The resolution seems rather low though. You’ll need a lot of sanding to get it smooth. It uses ABS plastic which is an inexpensive material. Buyers seems to be using this as a tool to just have fun with. They are making everyday objects, like toothbrush holders, camera lens hood, gears, little toy figurines, etc.

I would be interested in this for outputting my 3D statues. Again, the resolution seems low, and it would be a sanding nightmare to make a clean prototype. If that is even possible with their current resolution. But it would be fun to be able to instantly have a 3D mock-up print of your model. I would love to use this to make cool toys for my kids, like little toy robots! It just opens up a whole new world of possibilities.

Click on the image above and it will take you to their MakerBot site. You can check it out yourself. Their front page has a good intro video by their co-founder and CEO Bre Pettis. He’s got this mad genius look.

Andrea (Sherry Jackson) – Women of Star Trek TOS – Illustration In Progress

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This drawing seems to be coming along. I have added some elements to this drawing that I did not anticipate at the start. So I figure I will share with you my thought process as it developed.

I was originally attracted to this pose for her because it shows off her unique and sexy uniform. But one of the issues I had was her right arm being rather dull just hanging there. So I played with the suspenders on the back and decided to have it detached and free flowing. This allowed me to use one of the suspenders to break up the arm. Then I was able to break it up even more by showing some mechanical parts in her arm. She is an android after-all. Now I think I have all the elements I need to make this one into a decent drawing.

This is a process in drawing that I really enjoy because it is spontaneous. These elements would not have been part of the final drawing had there not been these problems. I find the process of problem solving is what ultimately makes it a better drawing for me. I suppose you can come up with different comps prior to starting. That would work too. For me, I like the spontaneity of it. Once I have an initial idea that I like, I will dive right in, then figure things out as I go. Fun stuff.

Good Hair and Squinting Your Eyes During Shading

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I am back at rendering hair again. I suppose you can’t avoid it if you want to draw a pretty face. As I am drawing Andrea (Sherry Jackson, doesn’t look like her yet) from Star Trek TOS, or any other drawing, I am always squinting my eyes when shading. So I figure this would be a good time to briefly touch on this subject.

The reason for squinting your eyes when shading is to assist you in seeing the values of your shading. In a way, you are ‘zooming out’ of the drawing to get a overall or bird’s eye view of your drawing. I find this extremely important for hair rendering. By squinting, I am able to see the overall flow of the hair, and it is the overall flow that is crucial in rendering good looking hair. Not just for the hair itself, but for the whole drawing.

The hair is very dynamic and you can use the flow to guide the viewer’s eye to wherever you want it. In the drawing, If you look at the curl right under her jaw, that curl helps to stop your eyes from going down further. Then the strand next to it curls toward the face, forcing your eyes to swing back to her face.

In my opinion, most of the time the hair rendering does not need to be overly complicated or hyper realistic. It just needs a good dynamic flow. It does take some planning. Just start with the major strands. Once you like how it flows, keep working in more minor strands to make it believable. Beware of putting in too much details on the hair, as it might attract too much attention and draw the viewer from your main focus. Unless your drawing is all about the hair. So as much as I find it painful to rendering the hair sometimes, a little grunt work really does make the difference. We will see how it turns out when I am done with this Andrea drawing.