Intelligent Plant Written on September 21, 2009, by Zack.

After the ink and paint dries, the tape is removed, the piece is scanned into the computer and is adjusted in Photoshop to match vividness of the original, there is still one secret and oft forgotten step in the illustration-creation process: the ruthless criticism. I step back from the piece, take a good long look [...]

Intelligent Plant, part 3: Color Me Bad…ly. Written on September 15, 2009, by Zack.

With the inking complete, I move on to the final stage in the operation: the heavy drinking. NO! Drinking and drawing don’t mix, and is evidenced by the “Progress Report” banner image. No, the third and final stage is watercoloring. In the discounted watercoloring books I procured from my local art store, I learned that [...]

Intelligent Plant, part 2: The Inkning Written on September 1, 2009, by Zack.

After creating a detailed sketch of the illustration (see part 1: The Pencilning), I confound and frustrate my wife by busting out the lightbox, placing a high quality watercolor sheet over the lead-heavy sketchbook page, and tracing another version of the illustration. This serves two purposes: One, transferring the image onto better-quality paper that hasn’t [...]