The product of a .05 mm pen and cheap Target markers (scroll to the end)

Jul 14, 2017 2:52 AM

Start with some blobs

Fill in some blobs

I'm Batman

Finish the blobs

Color the blobs. The final product is only 8 inches tall

55 painstaking hours later and it's finally a vector image

Edit: (I think this is how you do edits?) Thanks, y'all! This was definitely a good way to start my Friday!!

To clarify, the 55 hours thing involved multitasking (Netflix) while I re-drew every little line. The final piece was made in Illustrator so I had to redraw each line. I tried doing it with a pen, but the lines kept trying to "fix" themselves, so I couldn't get the curves exactly like the original. I ended up doing this with a mouse (drop key points in a curve then adjust the handles at each point).

I tried to do an image trace/live trace, but I couldn't get it exact enough. I tried adjusting the contrast in Photoshop to make the lines bolder, but the biggest problem was that the original piece was too small and I couldn't get a good picture of it. I tend to draw things small scale like these (http://imgur.com/gallery/gbBVH which are all on post-it notes).

Hermoso!!!

8 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

at first I was like "don't tell me what to do" but then I was like "Niiiiiccccceeeeee!"

8 years ago | Likes 149 Dislikes 0

I think you have a fundemental misunderstanding of what a cat is, but otherwise pretty good. 5/7, would take drugs again.

8 years ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

8 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

Really epic and cool

8 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

Step 2, drop acid

8 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

Wow, this was a really amazing bit of work. Nice job, @OP!

8 years ago | Likes 5 Dislikes 0

At first I was like 'why are you surprised that you can draw with a pen and some markers?' Then I was like 'oh cause you have skill' +1

8 years ago | Likes 20 Dislikes 0

If you were going to trace it in illustrator why in gods name did you color it first?

8 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

8 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

Is anyone gonna tell @op that we have software for this stuff?

8 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

@op can I share this to my cat loving friend?

8 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

totally!

8 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

Upvoted because it's a cat and it's cool. Also, I can't do that. I'm lucky I draw a paycheck let alone something as complicated as this!

8 years ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

8 years ago | Likes 15 Dislikes 0

Congratulations on your small psychedelic cat.

8 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

"The final product is only 8 inches" what a show off!

8 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

Scroll to the end? http://imgur.com/NYVTI3c

8 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

I actually loved the simplicity of the first step.

8 years ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

@OP do you have a vector of the black and white sketch? I'd love to turn this into a wood etch using our laser cutter!

8 years ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 1

I do, actually! Do you think you'd be able to send a wood etch to California?

8 years ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

I'm sure we can work something out... I am quite literally on the other side of the planet though :-P

8 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

I use a 0.07 pencil

8 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

they make those??

8 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

No, they come from the magical world of memes, populated by the almighty lemon cow.

8 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

That's amazing!

8 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

If you don't already have one, get a tablet. It'll make your life so much better. And a SAI painter. It’s relatively cheap and 1/2

8 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

Will do absolute wonders for you. 2/2

8 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

I have a Surface on the way!

8 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

Hot damn that's cool! I am a poor artist so I have a simple Intuos

8 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

It's a company laptop that just conveniently is a tablet. I wish I could afford one on my own. This is why I normally stick to post-it notes

8 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

0.5 mm

8 years ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

They are named 0.05 mm, after the first contact they do not stay 0.05 :D

8 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

TIL about 0.05 mm pens

8 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

.05 mm - I promise

8 years ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

damn TIL

8 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

get a drawing pad, and do the vectors directly.

8 years ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

my Bamboo died two weeks before I started this D:

8 years ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

want my bamboo? my pen is broken, but the pad works.

8 years ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

I have a new Surface in the mail but thanks for offering! You can probably get a pretty on ebay if you want to sell it!

8 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

ebay doesn't sell where i live. i'm envious for the surface, m$ doesn't sell that in the old country.

8 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

Ok retard coming through: What is a vector image?

8 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

It's a lossless image (you can make it hyooooge without it getting pixelated) usually made in a program like Adobe Illustrator.

8 years ago | Likes 4 Dislikes 0

A vector image can be resized as much as you want without losing quality.

8 years ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 0

Instead of pixel color, vector images store information about objects such as the length, thickness and curvature of a line. Hence the ...

8 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

ability to zoom in indefinitely without a loss of quality. Photos are pixel graphics, whereas digital drawings are usually vector graphics.

8 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

It's a bit similar to 3D graphic formats that store the corner points of geometric polygons and fill them with color or texture, only in 2D.

8 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

Another example are modern fonts that can be rendered in any size. Each character is a vector graphic & describes the outline of the letter.

8 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

The character on the right shows how vector information is encoded:

8 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

FIFTY AND FIVE HOURS!!? Ever tried "live trace"-functionality?

8 years ago | Likes 74 Dislikes 0

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[deleted]

8 years ago (deleted Dec 23, 2018 3:41 PM) | Likes 0 Dislikes 0

Well, try it. It might save you 55 hours.

8 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

Live trace always comes out sloppy

8 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

Not necessarily. There's a lot of settings to mess around with and you can help it by turning the image b/w and increase the contrast

8 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

Didn't work well. Trust me, I tried

8 years ago | Likes 39 Dislikes 0

Not an artist at all so pardon my ignorance but wouldn't it have been easier to start in illustrator if the goal was digital art?

8 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

Illustrator is not intended for sketching and drawing. It's almost always so that you sketch first, and then vectorise.

8 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

I didn't originally plan on the digital part. Some of my friends convinced me to do it after I finished the hand-drawn piece

8 years ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

live trace and a "random colour" script. took about 10 minutes? http://imgur.com/VqtQEQI

8 years ago | Likes 6 Dislikes 0

downside is that the lines aren't as crisp but I like it!

8 years ago | Likes 4 Dislikes 0

You can fix that with some fiddling with the preferences and then some minor clean up. :)

8 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

I would try next time scanning it when it's black and white, and then increasing the contrast in photoshop, and then lice tracing it.

8 years ago | Likes 15 Dislikes 0

Good thought!!

8 years ago | Likes 12 Dislikes 1

Yeah that is pretty much it. Live tracing is an art in itself, but when you managed it it will save you roughly 55 hours. :)

8 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

Lice tracing.

8 years ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

8 years ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0