Saturday, October 6, 2007

Flash vs. Photoshop



***Disclaimer***

The image above was created for my producer Shannon's wedding card. I don't really dig the whole wearing dresses thing.... hahaha :)

ok! now the post.
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So I have been going through a transition lately. I have been working in the digital medium for about 5 years now, and most of that time I have been in Photoshop. I would draw with pencil, scan in, and do some photoshop magic on top.

Lately tho, I have forced myself to start creating things 100% digitally. In photoshop the drawing tool is clumsy and lame. It just looks crappy. Flash on the other hand, does a fantastic job of making line look crisp and clean. And no, drawing digitally still can't achieve soft pencil lines, it does do a great job of making something look inked.

Granted I took this route due to my job; watching my coworker Bob, create masterfully inked comics and images. I figured I would give it a whirl.

It has really been a HUGE time saver. Instead of sketching, redrawing on a lightbox, running to the scanner, scan scan scan, upload to the server, grabbing the file, THEN finally bringing it into photoshop. I now have 2 steps, draw and color. Done. In an environment where things need to be turned around rather quickly, this process is extremely necessary.

Don't get me wrong, I still love drawing with a pencil. There is nothing else like it. Much like how digital paint can never give you the same sensation as painting with watercolors or oils. They are 2 totally different animals. However ALL methods will still eventually result in the same way in the end. So go with what makes you happy! -or with what gives you the least grey hairs, when working under tight deadlines ;)



Bob Ross said it best, "let's go make some happy little trees."


4 comments:

Bob Flynn said...

Flash is a huge time-saver. And instant gratification. I find that my drawings come out crisper---that I can create a line in Flash I don't have the control to do with a brush. You've picked it up pretty quick. But I find I have to work out a complex drawing on paper first...So usually I work in 3 steps: Sketch on paper, scan, ink in flash, color.

Thanks for the shout-out!

Renee Kurilla said...

Ahh..I miss the good old days days of you running around with the lightbox, though...

BUT- I am thoroughly impressed with what you can pull off in Flash. 6 in one, half dozen in the other. The bottom line is, you're a pretty darn good artist! haha

Unknown said...

Can I share two things that have changed my life? The addition of more natural-feel-and-look brushes to Photoshop, and the Wacom Cintiq.

There are some amazingly cool Photoshop brushes around online!! I got a bunch of them through the NAPP membership's web site (Nat'l Assn. of Photoshop Professionals). They can be had for free, though. they're free to NAPP members but I would be happy to share the wealth.

I got a Cintiq last summer. It totally revolutionized my entire digital experience!! I can now sketch directly on the tablet. It's incredibly liberating. It also has cut down on my overall work time, simply because there is less scanning and other steps necessary when using the traditional wacom. I'm not constantly 'fighting' with limitations all the time. I highly recommend it (they're prettty pricey...no sugar-coating that fact..). They are not priced practically economically enough for mass consumption, but once they are, WATCH OUT!!! There'll be a lot of giddy, freakishly happy artists out there!!!

But all these things aside, paper and pencil simply put, are AWESOME - just for the fun and freedom. Also, lines are so much more lovely, natural and free in pencil... I try to keep that feeling when taking the piece into another media and 'finishing' it. That quality can be so easily squashed if not actively on guard to preserve it.

YkOnG \m/In FlAmEs\m/ said...

i also use flash to draw vectors....it is a lot easier and less complex tools than photoshop....
though it has less image editing options i prefer flash for drawing graphics..