Character Development and Storytelling: Cameo and Caricature
Introduction
For this project, I had to know how to transfer work that I have done on different hardware and software using the Adobe Creative Cloud. I needed to know how to do drawings (a cameo and a caricature) on an iPad using a stylus and Adobe Illustrator Draw and fixing those drawings on Adobe Illustrator. I also needed to print both drawings using Adobe Comp and Adobe Indesign. Last, I had to show the process of doing everything on Behance.
Materials
The materials I used were:
Hardware - iPad, stylus, Mac and/or PC
Software - Adobe Illustrator Draw, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Comp, Adobe Indesign
Platforms - Behance, Adobe Creative Cloud
Creative Process
For the cameo, I needed to know what a cameo was before I tried to draw one. So I looked at different images of a cameo. After looking at different types of cameos, I decided that I would make a cameo that was all black with no lines in it. I just wanted it to focus on the shape of the face so you could tell who that person was without the detail and to keep it simple.
For the caricature, I wanted to make my friend's head big and his body small. I asked him how he wanted to be drawn and he said like the Green Ranger from Power Rangers. So I got him to pose to know how he wanted to be drawn. The way he posed had his hands up front. So I decided that the hands would be big as well. The Green Ranger wears a helmet, so I needed to figure out how to keep his face and the helmet together. I decided that parts of the helmet would be on his face. The Green Ranger also as big shoulder pads I needed to shrink down to keep the head and hands big.
Production
Cameo
The first thing I did was take a photo of my friend on the iPad and logging into my Adobe Creative Cloud account and importing the image into Adobe Illustrator Draw.
Picture of Joe in Adobe Illustrator Draw
Next I created and new layer and I lower the opacity of the photo to draw over it. I used the variable width brush to create an outline of the face. I had to make sure it was a closed path so I could press and hold in the center to fill it in black. The first time I did it, it did not work. But the second time it did.
Joe's face all black
Joe's face without the photo
After that, I created another layer to create the oval shape. I used the shape tool and my fingers to create and position the oval shape around the face. I then created the black outline for the oval using the variable width brush. I also used the eraser tool to clean up the face.
The oval around the face.
To import the cameo to Illustrator, I needed to login to my Creative Cloud on the computer and on Illustrator Draw, send it to Illustrator on the computer and it opened on the computer.
Cameo in Illustrator
Next, I edited and fix the paths on the cameo and I also used the eraser tool to clean it up.
Fixing the cameo
Last, I saved the image as a png file and uploaded it to the Creative Cloud and shared it with Joe.
All files on the Creative Cloud
Final
Caricature
I first took a photo of Joe posing so I know what to draw and imported it to Illustrator Draw.
Photo in Illustrator Draw
I created two layers of the same image. One to draw the head and the other for the body. I resized the image using the transform tool.
Changing the image size
I lowered the opacity of the image for the head and using the variable width brush and pen brush, I drew his face. I used multiple layers for different parts of the face.
Drawing the face
Head and face completed
Next I drew the hands and body using the second image layer. I also used the varible width brush and pen brush.
Hands
Body
Next I put it on Illustrator to clean it up, saved it as a png, and put it on the cloud.
On Illustrator
Final
Next, I put the drawings on Adobe Comp using the Print format. I made sure it was on an A4 Landscape. I put my name on it using a Sans Serif font. Then I sent it to Indesign to fix it and print it.
Drawing on Indesign
All of the images captured on the iPad were sent to the Mac computer using AirDrop on both the iPad and Mac.
Conclusion
I learned that it is easy to transfer files and images from one device to another and from one program to another. I found it hard to draw using the iPad and stylus. I got frustrated when it came to drawing both. Over time I got a bit better at it but I still need to practice it. It is very sensitive to how much pressure you apply to the iPad. You need to figure out how much pressure you need to apply to it. My tip/advice is that you might not get the hang of it at first and it could take time before you get good at it.
