Well, at present I am happy with the painting I have put into the figure in Photoshop. I have added a simple pattern to his jumper and think it suits the type of character that we have here.
I am now going to go back to sketch stage in Corel Painter and finish off the sketch of the sun and then go through a similar process in Photoshop using the brushes and making some masks to create a feeling of shape and character. Once the sun is done I will move on the the clouds and the birds…..not sure if I will leave the background as white at present, but I think its probable – I love white backgrounds: keeps things simple and punches the character out at you.
Tags: cartoon, character design tips, children's illustration, graphic, humour, illustrator for hire, Photoshop techniques
Phil Brown 
January 29, 2010 at 2:09 pm |
Hi julie. Thanks for your message and kind comments. I must admit that I have a bit of a split personality when it comes to my illustration work. Your question is a good one though, and important:
I worked as an illustrator for a few years using the pen and ink style you can see at http://www.philbrownillustration.com This got me known by some art directors and the work was fairly steady. Then I developed some character based work you can see at goodinfection.com and I secured some work from this too. Some ADs know me as two disctinct styles, some don’t. In the end, they don’t care, as long as they know you are reliable and professional, you can send them new work in any style you like once you have done some establishing work.
At present, I a working on a new style (see the cats and the bodybuilding image) which is quick and fun and works for me. I plan to put up a new website of this work once I get enough images together.
The blog is my playground.
So, my answer to your question is this: if you have different styles, market them as different in different campaigns, but remember that it takes more effort and time to do this!