Workshops

Photoshop
DRAW AND PAINT
A HYBRID SPECIES
Ed Binkley blends human anatomy and insect features to illustrate
a curious fruit fly complete with human gestures and expressions
reating a blended human and creative opportunities as they present challenging our perception of the natural

Ed Binkley
C insect is one of my favourite
things to do, so I’m honoured
to be invited to demonstrate
themselves to you.
There are plenty of examples of great
artists who explore these cross-species
order or the traditional food chain.
Here we’ll look at some of the
challenges, technical and narrative, such
LOCATION: US my approach for ImagineFX here. inventions. Arthur Rackham, Edmund a combination presents. I’ll demonstrate
Depicting animals with human Dulac and contemporary illustrators some setup and organisational practices,
A teacher and
artist, Ed’s characteristics (anthropomorphism), Olga Dugina and Chris Beatrice are some techniques I use to create the
work has from your imagination can be fun, and masters of anthropomorphised woodland illusion of depth, lighting and texture,
appeared in creating believable anatomy from two creatures – birds, insects and a variety of and we’ll explore the unending, fun
14 issues of
Spectrum: The Best in
very different species is a fascinating small mammals who’ve taken on human question: how much human and how
Contemporary Fantastic challenge. But there are surprising features and personalities. The work of much insect?
Art, and includes a similarities across species that can be Travis Louie, HR Giger and a generation The illustration’s background is not
Gold Award and four
other nominations.
played with, and you’ll find you can of concept artists has gone in a different part of this workshop, but the objects in it
www.edbinkley.com take advantage of fascinating mixtures direction, not only devising creepy were created using nearly identical
by allowing happy accidents and other hybrids from multiple species, but techniques demonstrated here.
GET YOUR
RESOURCES
See page 6 now!

ty
Quick Opaci
change
Number keys
er keys
Single numb
h Opacity
change Brus
in 10 per cent
increments.

Clipped layers
Clipped layers are ideal
when working with solid
silhouettes. Add a new
layer above the sil,
then Alt-click the line
between the two layers.
The top layer clips to the
sil. Its contents will only
show within silhouette
Initial figure study Converting to silhouettes
borders. You can clip
numerous layers to the 1 After my art director approves the initial rough, I hire 2 I redraw all the body sections as solid black silhouettes,
sil, as long as they’re
contiguous in the Layer
a model to mimic the pose from the sketch. I know of a female or sils. Then I repose them quickly and free-transform to distort
palette. You can merge model who has the thinner, elongated limbs I need to get me a them toward insect-like proportions, while maintaining familiar
clipped layers, and long way towards the insect form I envision. I work digitally even human shapes. Then I refine the sils to create fully detailed
merge into the silhouette
when ready to commit.
on figure studies so I can easily correct proportion problems, and edges. I usually start an object with silhouettes, then draw lighter
I can even alter the pose later when the model isn’t there. values over the black to create surface form and texture.

70 June 2016
In depth Hybrid species

June 2016 71
 Workshops

Keep on
flipping
Set up a custom
keyboard shortcut (there
isn’t one by default)
for Image>Image
Rotation>Flip Canvas
Horizontal, and then
use it often. Your mind
forgives imbalances and
flaws in a drawing as you
work on it, and a flip
makes the image new
to your brain again.
Strangers will see those
Block in major form Looking for personality
imperfections even
though your eye has
3 Using my figure study as a guide, I block in primary forms 4 I tend to jump fairly quickly to the head and face on most
become accustomed with a dark value (about 70 per cent grey) and a large brush. This creatures, to establish personality. One of my early head sketches
to them. And an
is to establish light/dark divisions and larger human anatomy came out nicely, so I superimpose it here and enhance it on
inexpensive hand-mirror
enables you to see your features. I’m careful not to get pulled into details for now. I’m additional layers. Layers can make you courageous – the worst
work backward in the also beginning to think about possible insect features and that can happen in an experiment is you won’t like it, so you toss
middle of operations,
watching for any accidental hints of them in looser sketching. it and try again. It’s a tremendously free and creative feeling.
such as Free Transform
or Liquify.

RESOURCES

PHOTOSHOP
CUSTOM BRUSHES:
Multi-pass values Human or insect?
MARKER
5 To build form, I work dark-to-medium-to-light, each 6 In the last step I try to stay loose and sketchy, which
value on its own layer, until I arrive at a final light and shadow simultaneously creates texture and lets in occasional accidents.
My standard workhorse structure. I use 70 per cent grey, then 50 per cent, then 30 or 20 This is great, because those accidents of texture and surface form
brush, designed to mimic per cent, sometimes with a final pass of pure white. I clip each can suggest unplanned creative ideas. I frequently scribble and
a felt-tipped marker layer to its underlying silhouette so it stays within the sil shape. then play the Rorschach test – the 1920s ink-blot psychoanalysis
but with pressure-
controlled Opacity.
This approach is nondestructive and editable. trial – to see what feature or texture the scribble suggests to me.

GRUNGE

An all-purpose
texture creator, for a
mottled base texture
that can then be
manipulated further.

SOFT-ADJUST

A soft-effect brush I use

primarily on masks, to
very gradually hide or
show the layer’s content.

VALUE-BLOCK Fine details and texture Layer consolidation

7 Final passes are lighter value and with a small brush, 8 For the sake of efficiency, I merge and consolidate layers
when I dive into whatever level of detail and finish I need. (If once I make a final decision. Art directors vary in terms of their
An early-stage brush I want fine detail in a shadow area, I go with a medium value likelihood to make late changes, so if I’m worried about that
for blocking in primary and its matching lower layer, and a small brush.) I match detail I can always save an increment of my file. But I keep my current
form, light and shadow.
Good for rough sketches.
brush size to resolution: at 300dpi, a 10-pixel brush is 1/30th in-progress file as efficient as possible by using layer groups,
of an inch – tiny. There’s no need for details smaller than that. Smart Objects and merging when possible.

72 June 2016
 In depth Hybrid species

Masking to make repairs

9 The silhouette approach I use also allows for fast, 10 Liquifying the creature
The Liquify filter is a marvellous tool for making minor repairs and shifts in surface
nondestructive repairs, even very late in the illustration. Add features and details. First of all I Marquee-select a local area to work on, then open Liquify
a mask to the sil and draw on the mask to experiment with (Ctrl-Shift-X or Cmd-Shift-X). Once there, navigation and brush size shortcuts are identical
changes (you can Shift-click the mask icon to hide or show its to the main Photoshop viewport. I don’t try to achieve too much in a single Liquify pass,
effect). You can also add a mask to a layer group folder, so the though. I find it’s much better to carry out multiple subtle passes, then use the History palette
entire contents of that group folder will be masked at once. to decide how far I want to commit.

Multitask
lassoing
Lasso+Alt (M
ac)
Lasso+Alt (P
C)
Gives you bo
th worlds:
straight-line
clicks
or freehand.

Avoiding tangents
11 Tangents happen when two edges touch or align without 12 Maintaining depth
Spend some time late in the illustration adjusting values
either overlapping or allowing space between. An overlap tells us along edges, to make sure they lift forward from their immediate
which mass is in front, while an open space relieves our need to background. Darker edges can become lost against a dark
know. Tangents can kill depth and create tension in the viewer’s background, with a resulting loss of depth. It usually doesn’t take
mind because we naturally want to perceive depth clearly. much to achieve that separation, so judge it with your peripheral
Rearrange elements, even body parts, to avoid them. vision (look slightly away) and make the changes gradually.

Organise with
Smart Objects
Smart Objects help to
ensure that complex
illustrations remain
manageable. I created
the fly in a separate
Photoshop file
containing multiple
complex layers and layer
groups, then imported
it (File>Place linked)
into the Master image

13 Drawing hands
Hands are intimidating because of their complexity, and 14 The overall composition
The figure in any illustration is part of the overall
file, where it’s a single
layer. The Smart-Objects
layer can then be
because they are second only to the face in expressing emotion composition, so pose it accordingly and adjust other elements to transformed, flipped and
and mood. A combination of study, practice and good references create a cohesive design. Make sure light direction and intensity layer adjusted while
is the key to graceful hands. Study hand anatomy and gesture so are unified, that the figure isn’t creating any tangents, and that keeping the overall
complexity of the master
you can quickly proportion and pose them. Always find or create negative spaces serve the overall design. Use frequent horizontal file at a minimum.
good, relevant reference images for every hand you illustrate. flips to reveal problems you may have become accustomed to.

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