Free Running in Computer Arts Projects

Computers Arts Projects Issue 95 is the 'Freelance Survival Kit', and if you head to page 54 you'll find a double-page illustration of mine, followed by a tutorial. First up, the illustration, but the thing to bear in mind is that it's all about bringing adobe acrobat files to life. So, the contemporary 'acrobatics' (geddit?!) of free running seemed like a perfect fit for the theme, and would of course let me have some fun.





Once I'd got a composition that was going to lead the eye around the page, and leave enough room for the intro text, I really wanted to make sure that the characters were drawn as loosely as possible. The calligraphy brushes in Painter were perfect for this, and once they were done I was just going back and forth from Painter and Photoshop. By keeping the buildings fairly abstract it meant I could place the figures where I wanted, and then kind of 'bend' the buildings around them, in a vaguely cubist sense.



So to the tutorial itself. In the context of a 'Freelance Survival Kit', an explanation of how to create an acrobat-based newsletter, featuring animation and video, seemed to be the most practical application of the techniques I needed to cover. Presenting it as if it were from an illustration collective meant I could have some fun setting up a fake brand. And thus the Kookie Monsters came into being!



Thanks to Alex Amelines for letting me use his lovely Tim Burton illustration in there too.



And finally, at the end of all that you'll find a one-page profile on me. Which was nice of them to include. Will try and take sharper photos of the issue as soon as I get chance - it's been incredibly grey this weekend!