Realistic Vector Motorcycle Portraits
Every semester, in my Illustrator classes, my students always want to know how I create the Motorcycle Portraits I am known for. I often give them a brief explanation, but I have never really sat down and described the process in detail…until now. My approach to getting a “realistic” look in my work is a bit tedious, but I think you will agree that the end results are well worth it. Enjoy!
1. Using the Proper Equipment
Another question I get a lot from my students is, “What kind of computer should I buy to become a great illustrator?” My response is simple: I tell them that the question they should start off with is, “What kind of camera should I get to capture my reference images?” Stop stealing all your references from Google!!!
A computer is only as good as the techniques and steps you put it through to generate your images. A computer does not necessarily make you a good artist. YOU are the artist…the computer is just the medium for your art. You have to start out with a unique vision and a good eye for composition. I don’t have any top of the line equipment. I shoot all my reference images with a simple, point-and-shoot, 8 Megapixel Kodak Digital Camera. I work in Illustrator CS4 on a 19 inch iMac. That’s all I really need.
2. Getting the Reference Shot
I draw whatever captures my attention. I typically find the motorcycles on display at outdoor shows and events. I came across this particular Indian Motorcycle at a car show in Beverly Hills. It was just parked up against the sidewalk among a bunch of other bikes, but this one caught my eye!
When I take my reference shots, I take as many different angles as I can. I will be the first one to admit that I am NOT a photographer, I am an illustrator. I never know which shot is going to work until I get home. Most of them, to be honest, don’t come out well at all. For this bike, I shot about 25 different views. I only liked two of them when I downloaded the images. The other ones just didn’t do it for me, so this is the final image I decided to work with.
3. Setting Up the Illustrator File
One rule I always tell my students is: In order to trace, Choose File Menu and Place. Then I tell them to set up their scans as Templates so they can draw, or trace, over them.
I don’t follow my own advice! When it comes to my personal work, I don’t like working over a dimmed template layer because I like to focus in on all the amazing details of a motorcycle’s assembly. I place my reference shot into my Illustrator file, but I do not set the layer as a template. It is easier for me to work on top of the saturated image. Sure, it makes it a little more difficult to see my line work, but I have learned to live with that. I am stubborn and stuck in my ways, what more can I say?
4. Start With the Big Shapes
A motorcycle is made up of so many elements put together. So, to start out, I create the larger elements first, as you can see here. I draw the basic outline of an object when I begin. Details will come later in the “Dividing” process.
5. The “Divide” Pathfinder
Now that I have a few larger objects to focus on, I zoom in for the detailed work to begin. And, when I talk about details, I am referring to the way I see color breaking down into multiple, smaller shapes. As I have shown here, I work on a series of individual paths that cross over the larger shape that I started with. In this case, I have focused on the seat of the motorcycle. I have also dimmed the scan so you can see things better in this demonstration.
With a few lines started, I then select the larger seat shape and one of the lines that is crossing over it. On the Pathfinders Panel, I Click the Divide Pathfinder and then Ungroup the results. Now I am left with two medium sized shapes – the resulting shapes of the larger seat object that has now been literally divided into pieces!
I can then move on with more lines, cutting the medium sized shapes into smaller and smaller pieces for colors in the next step.
6. Working In Sections
After some of the larger objects have been divided down into the smaller shapes, I apply colors to see how it is all coming along. For my work, I select one of the smaller pieces and use the Eyedropper Tool to sample color directly from the underlying photo. If I don’t like the color I get, I tweak it with the Colors Panel. I tend to do that quite a bit!
7. The Progress
Here are some more “Work In Progress” shots as I have continued the Dividing and Coloring process to bring this work to completion.
The Final Results
So, there you go! 100,000 + anchor points and over 400 Layers later, and there she is! And, keep in mind, this process works the same for me, regardless if I am working on another motorcycle, or a dog, or a portrait of a person. I like the Stylized Realism I get with this creative process I have developed and I would love to see what you come up with in your own explorations. Good Luck!
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Wow that looks amazing, I will have to give this a try. Did you do all this with the pen tool?
Yes, I work exclusively with the Pen Tool… I do not use the Pencil Tool or any Gradients whatsoever. I like the graphic look I get by limiting myself in my own approach to my illustration work. – Chris.
Beautiful work, what makes you use this method over say the mesh tool?
That’s really great. Tuts like this have been missing from here lately. Good job!
How many hours would you say go into something like this? Great tutorial and great work.
WOW! Amazingly attractive work!
Thanks for the comments folks! I would love to hear from more people out there. So, here’s my answers to a couple of the questions so far:
1. Did I do this all with the Pen Tool? YES. That’s why my website is called http://www.pentoolart.com.
2. Why this method over using the Mesh Tool? Well, I have a couple of answers for that one. First, I am just not good with the Mesh Tool. I admit it… I CAN’T use it very well at all. Second, I want to stay away from any type of color blending possible. EVERYTHING in my work is made up of flat color shapes. I really, really like the overall Graphic Look that results from using only flat colors. It gives my work the “Stylized Realism” that I want to be known for.
Any other comments or questions, just let me know… I love to talk about this stuff all day long.
- Chris.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!!!!!
Wows!
amazing,…. but i don’t know why you’d do it just to reproduce what the photo gives you.
it must take forever!!
Dan, I get that question alot!
I like the creative process in illustrating the motorcycle subjects I work on. In my process, I tend to take away and sometimes even add in more details than what I see in the reference shot I work from.
And, if you go to my website and check out my later, more recent work, all my pieces are now left in a “Work in Progress” state so people who view my work can better understand what is going on, especially if they don’t work digitally like we do.
Check out my later pieces… you will see what I am talking about. – Chris.
Nice explanation!
Only thing….never heard of a 19″ iMac
SORRY! My buddy just informed me it is a 20 inch iMac…. whatever! I just know it works! ha ha ha – Chris.
Hi Chris, how many hours did you spent for this?
This is so realistic. I love this kind of art.
Unfortunately, I never keep anything like a time sheet for my personal work like this.
I never really get a lot of time to work on my illustration projects with my busy teaching schedule.
I get an hour here, then 2 days will go by and I haven’t had the time to sit and draw, then I will get 4 hours on a weeknight, then a week goes by, then I will get a half hour here and there… SO, I never bothered to keep track, but it does take quite a while as you can see from the images. But, I wouldn’t be doing it if I didn’t love it so darn much! – Chris.
This is absolutely amazing! So many fine details. Must have taken you many hours to complete. Brillant!
Awesome Work! Lotta patience!
Wow, simply amazing! I’d get lost in the shapes and lines. Is that one reason there are so many layers? Do you use any other tools, like blend modes or transparencies? How long did this particular piece take to complete? What do you think is the biggest challenge in creating an image in this style? Do you use a drawing tablet at all, or just the mouse? (Hey, you asked for questions!)
Thank you for writing this article, and I really like seeing your workspace. It just proves that you don’t need the most high end equipment or studio to create stunning work.
Wow Kathy, you were right, I did ask for questions!
OK, so here I go:
1. YES, I tend to get a little lost in the details myself, so when I start to get that feeling like, “uh-oh”, I just create a New Layer and move on from there and all is fine.
2. NO. I don’t use any other tools other than the Pen Tool. Absolutely NO Blending Modes and never any Transparencies… All flat colored shapes.
3. How long did this one take? At least a MONTH and a HALF. And that’s only because I don’t get much time to sit down and work on it for hours on end… I get an hour here, then an hour the next day, then 6 hours on a Saturday. I gotta take care of work first and pay the bills, then comes the drawing time for me.
4. The biggest challenge to working in this style for me? Breaking down the continuous tone nature of what we see with the naked eye into a series of shapes to determine the breakdown on details in terms of only using flat colors… I love that challenge, so that’s why I love doing this type of work. It gives my work a look that I call “Stylized Realism”.
5. NO Drawing Tablets… I have been working in Adobe Illustrator since Version 3.0, so I am pretty set in my ways…. Just a mouse for me, thank you very much!
Thanks for the discussion Kathy!
How do you set-up the scan as a template ?
Do you use the Pen Tool exclusively, or do you also draw with the Pencil Tool ?
Dwight,
I set up a blank Illustrator file, then I Choose File Menu – Place.
I then go out and select the photo reference image and Place it into the Illustrator file as a linked file. SO, it is very important to remind you that I always start out with a Job Folder for each project I work on.
By Placing the file, instead of Embedding it, it keeps the file size down. After all, when I am done, I don’t keep the photo reference in the final artwork anyway, so there is no need to embed the image that I am working from.
AND, YES… I use the Pen Tool exclusively. That is why my website is called: http://www.pentoolart.com
- Chris.
great tutorial, very impressive!
Amazing work! I was and still am in awe when seeing such illustration being made.
impressive outcome.
however, it looks so much like the real thing, i start wondering what’s the point…
Whoa! is all I can say. I guess the photo reference you use has to be huge (pixel-wise) so as to make it easier for you to zoom in and get all those small shapes? I’m curious as to how you approached drawing the speedometer. The numbers look “blurred”. If I were to zoom in, would I actually see numbers or are they just shapes that suggest numbers?
I agree with you that at some point, as you reach that level of realism, you have to pull back a little and let the viewer see some artistic inclinations. Viewers will subconsciously pick that up (at least that is what I think
) I saw some work by an artist named Yukio Miyamoto in one of my Illustrator books of a drawing of a french horn. He used gradients and meshes and the work is incredible, but it’s too realistic for my tastes (the age old question: what’s the point?) Still, I admire the dedication, skill, and mental toughness it takes to create something like that.
Thanks.
BetaRayBill (Big THOR Fan I would guess, right?),
Anyway, to answer to some of your comments…
1. NO. The reference photos I shoot are not large at all…. in fact, I only shot this one with a 7 Megapixel Kodak camera… and a cheap camera at that!
2. If you were to go to my website and check out the ZOOMIFY Page for this particular motorcycle portrait, you could zoom in on the Speedometer and, indeed, see that I did use numbers, not shapes… I just distorted the angle of the numbers to fit with the perspective…
3. YES, I too am very familiar with Yukio Miyamoto’s work! If you think I have an attention to details, I look like a friggin’ amateur to what he can accomplish. But, I agree with your point. If you are going to be THAT REALISTIC, then why not just print a photo?
By limiting myself to only using flat color shapes, no blending, no gradients, no transparencies, no filters, it almost forces me to become a little more creative in my decisions as to what details I am going to focus on and how many shapes I am going to create to describe those details. It forces my work to have a unique, visual “Stylized Realism” look that I am now known for…. And I love that!
Check out more of my work at: http://www.pentoolart.com
Thanks! – Chris.
Chris,
One more question, if you don’t mind.
Do you do a lot of commercial work? I was wondering what a client’s need would be to have you do such realistic work (as an alternative to just using a photograph). I always wondered what people like you (and Miyamoto) do with your incredible talent and how it’s applied to commercial work. I understand a lot of your work may be done merely for the artistry, but it must take up so much of your time I have to think there’s an expectation that there’s some financial reward to be made when it’s finished.
Thanks for responding.
BRB
P.S. Walt Simonson’s Thor, yes.
You know, the majority of my commercial work with this Motorcycle Vector work is for Magazine Covers… I am also the Creative Director for a Motorcycle Culture magazine.
The main reason for this work is just in my role as a fine artist. I sell LIMITED-EDITION Prints of my vector motorcycle illustrations. I ONLY Print 20 Signed and Numbered Prints of each illustration.
Yes, there is a lot of time that goes into each piece, so… commercially, it would not make too much sense to hire me for a single project like one of my portraits. I do them for fine art and limited editions as I mentioned. Magazines hear about me and look through my site and then contact me to use some of my work for their magazine covers. My work also serves as a great way to show off what the Adobe Illustrator application is capable of, so my work has been featured in the CS2, CS3 and CS4 WOW! Books on Illustrator.
To finish up, Yes, there is a financial reward at the end of it all…. when I sell a print, when a magazine pays me for the rights to use my illustration work on their covers, and… the best reward though is just seeing others appreciate my efforts in doing what I love, and what I was born, to do…. Draw!
- Chris.
Thanks for this tutorial! I enjoyed your class (even though I took it a couple years ago) and I still use your techniques today. Your work is definitely still a topic of discussion in the groups of artists I hang out with.
Amy? Amy who? What is your last name?
Thanks for the compliments, but I want to know who I am thanking! ha ha ha.
Keep in touch Amy.
- Chris.
The guys lying! he didn’t use pen tool! its a trace hahahahah!!! Caught you
I’ve never had auto trace work that well for me. I’m pretty sure it’s pen.
hey chris, u rock!!! im glad i took the illustrator class with u…amazing teacher..
hi…. so amazing man… i love vectors,,, look http://www.behance.net/gallery/__perfection600__/488366
It’s an amazing work and I agree with you: flat colours are way better than meshes
you are so crazily!!!!amzing work!!
Excellent Tutorial – thank you
This is not my vision of illustration. Why would you want to exactly duplicate a photograph using a computer? The illustration is not as good. Where is the originality, creativity, expression and technique that an illustrator is suppose to generate? This is not a work of art. The photo would do being the better original of the 2.