Haitian Woman and newborn

Early illustration from my newspaper days

I had been working at the Deseret News for about one year when I decided to try my hand at creating an artistic illustration using a pressure sensitive device. This wasn't entirely new to me, I had already owned a Logitech pen tablet for several years already and had produced several personal works with it. For this I decided to take an image which had already been published, draw a sketch on paper, scan the sketch into the computer, then render out a digital painting from the original reference.

Ultimately this was an attempt to show the management at Deseret News (In late 2010, right after a major layoff of a huge portion of the staff) that I had the chops to do illustration work. After creating this and showing it around, no one seemed too interested in the more traditional look. Which is fine. In the years that followed the Deseret News, like every other surviving Newspaper publication, would water down everything with their physical content. Currently you can subscribe to the, vastly reduced newspaper, and have it delivered in your mailbox. But about 99% of us just hit the internet on our mobile devices.

Effective cutouts using Photoshop

Hello!
The following tutorial should help anyone looking to improve their ability to cut out images in photoshop. Having worked as a graphic designer and layout artist for over 10 years now, I have seen every level of cutout from crappy rough edges to the superbly flawless. When done right, and incorporated into a composition thoughtfully, cutouts can add pop and interest to final imagery.

Images to cut

I will be using the following 2 examples. The one on the left represents the minority of all photos that most designers will work with. It is high contrast and therefore very easy to work with and cut out. It is the type of image we all wish we could work with all the time.

The second image represents the majority of images that, in reality, we will work with most of the time. This would be considered more difficult and requires a bit more patience and skill to cut out.

Photo on left from Shutterstock.com. Photo on right from Deseret News by Jeffrey D. Allred.

Using the 'Select and Mask...' option

Lets get started with the easy photo of the Mom and girl. After opening activate the lasso (L) tool in the tools palette. Once selected the 'Select and Mask...' option will show up in the options bar at the top of the screen.

Select and mask interface

Once you click on 'Select and mask...' a new interface will fill your screen. This work space' sole purpose is to help you make the best selection for your image, as quickly as possible.

Grandma and child illustration

I've picked up a little more illustration work with my job at Deseret News. This one ended up being for online only. If you would like to read the story, written by Daphne Chen, associated with this illustration, here is a link. The story revolves around our nation and state's ever-growing population problem stemming from low birth rates. Here comes the demographic winter.

About this illustration

The writer provided me with a stock image. I took this into Illustrator and created many many vector shapes. It is a paint-by-numbers approach, but I like the simplified results derived from it. Obviously there is some creativity in making decisions about placement and color of shapes. For example, there is always additional creative judgement that needs to be made with human faces. Shapes and shadows on faces are almost never cut and dry. In the case of the grandma, especially, I had to alter some shapes and colors to make her look less creepy.

Below you can see the result before taking it into Photoshop.

The emotional payoff

Below is a detail showing in greater detail the shapes of the figures. All in all the work in illustrator represents between 2 and 3 hours.

My feelings as I go through this meticulous work could be comparable to coloring in an adult coloring page, with all its hundreds if not thousands of cells. For some reason it is relaxing, calming and rewarding on some fundamental emotional level.

Finishing in Photoshop

It should be noted that I don't just do a straight copy and paste to Photoshop of the entire illustration. I organize in Illustrator using layers, based on background, midground, foreground and the central figures of this rendering. Then I copy and paste one by one into photoshop so as to create layers which can be edited separately.

Below is the final result after applying some creative texturing and blurring, in photoshop. I deliberately left the central figures alone, in the hope that their increased simplicity will draw attention to them. I think it does just that in a very pleasant way.

What do you think? Let me know. Have a good day, and God bless.

Psychology of the Scare Illustration

This illustration turned out to be quite satisfying to create. I found a stock image of a couple in a movie theater. Took this into Illustrator and created a lot of shapes using a Wacom tablet and my normal mouse. Don't use a tablet very often in Illustrator, so I thought I would give it a go and see if it could speed up my work or accuracy. I don't know, maybe I need to use it more, but I found the tablet to be no faster than my mouse in this regard. What I have found them to be very good for is more traditional techniques that involve pen pressure.

After creating all the shapes, I then proceeded to add color. This tends to be the most difficult part for me. Finding the right colors seems to be a challenge for me. After this I pulled different sections (Back ground, mid ground and fore ground) into Photoshop for toning and additional texturing. The next week I laid it out for the Friday feature. Over all I think this turned out OK.

What do you think? Did I capture the expressions well? Do the colors work for the content of the story?

Here is a link to the story by Adam Droge, if you're interested in reading

Religious affiliation of the Presidents

Thought this would be worth sharing. This is a chart showing the various religious affiliations of Each U.S. president.

Took a ton of time to crop and place each one into this graphic. Used Photoshop and Illustrator to create this.

August Graphics in review

And the top 10 for August are ....

1. Stress in America graphic

Graphic done for a Story Written by Lois Collins.

2. Your body and media

Graphic done for a story written by Chandra Johnson. Good read for any teen or parent concerned about how the media is affecting your teen's body image

3. Teens, Tech and friendship

Graphic done for a story written by Chandra Johnson.

4. Religion in the Bay area

Graphic done for a story written by Mark A. Kelner. Story About Religion and stress at work in the Bay area.

5. Body image illustration

Did this for a feature about a series of stories on Media and Body image among teens written by Chandra Johnson and Kelsey Dallas.

And here it is in context of the page

6. Original A2 graphic

Only reason this is here is because I researched and created most of the imagery. I just pull most of these from from a news service. But this one is all me.

7. Photoshop job for Church News

I composited these elements together in Photoshop. I made some alterations to the labels of the box and calligraphic text on the book.

'The Nones' Illustration

Created this for the cover of Deseret News National Edition. The article, written by Chandra Johnson, focuses on what the reality is of people who are unaffiliated with any religion.Though their may be many of these, so called "Nones"; the fact that many of these people still have faith in a higher power should not be discounted.. In short the polling numbers are far from being simple in regard to people and their faith.

The process

So they wanted an illustration that showed a lot of graphical imagery combined with someone appearing to worship or pray. I selected 4 or 5 from our archives, opened them in Illustrator and changed all to white, with an outline appearance. Then I copied and pasted them one at a time into Photoshop.

Then, using an image mask I composited the graphics with the Shutterstock image. I used a gradient

Photo Illustration for a great story

Did this for a writer last Friday. Used photoshop as the primary tool for cutting out the individuals in the photo (Original photo by Jeffrey D. Allred. I composited a Shutterstock image of razor wire into the background. Then I painted in some bubbly clouds to cause the people in the foreground to pop a little.

The story was written by Eric Shulzke for the Deseret News. Go here if you would like to read. The article is a long read but well worth it.

Below is the illustration as it appears in the Deseret News National Edition. Layout for page was completed by Heidi Perry.

March Deseret News graphics in review

Here, again, is my top 10 picks for graphics done for the Deseret News for the month of March. Enjoy!

1. Big business verses local business

This graphic shows starkly how local chains stack up against national chains in how much money is recycled back into local economies. Couldnt find this story online, which leads me to believe it was only published in print. Sorry 

2. Timeline on depictions of Christ in media

I found this interesting for how many different ways in which the Master is depicted in our culture. Obviously some more accurate than others. Her is link to the story by Deseret news writer Mark A. Kelner.

3. Orthodox Jews are stalwarts

This is one of those rare times in which I was able to incorporate a visual element of the story into a graphic in a practical and pleasing way. This is a great faith-promoting story by Kelsey Dallas for the Deseret News

4. We still want better and bigger things

This really shouldn't come as a surprise to any of us. Who doesn't want to improve their quality of life? I certainly do. But where does too much become too much, and too big become too big? This is a Great story on Money and happiness by Lane Anderson for the Deseret News

5. Print! Its Alive, Alive!

Had fun with this graphic. Though perhaps a little cluttered. This is perhaps proof that books, you know, those dead tree sheets you can hold in your hands and read from, might be around for a very long time.

6. Fun Layout

Yes, I know it promotes Disney, but I had fun doing a small cutout of this air surfing whelp from Disney's Treasure planet. This is still one of my favorite Disney films from the early 2000s. Overall I think the layout turned out quite well.

7. Low pay in Salt Lake for sitters

I am not terribly surprised by this. Freelance work in general, is lower in Utah than the national average. Is this a result of savvy business dealings or just plain cheapness? I have no idea. Here is the link to the story by Matthew Jelalian for the Deseret News.

8. Death for those who deserve it, still favored in America

This graphic was published in an article that focuses on the 6th commandment. This and other articles are part of a series on the Ten commandments and what they mean to us in modern society. This article was written by Eric Schulzke.

9. Single parenting

One of the greatest indicators, in my opinion, of a failing society is how many children grow up in a single-parent household. I have personally seen how much more difficult it was for children to grow up without a father in the home. At best many turned out OK, at worst many go off to prison or worse. While  father is no guarantee that a child will make all the right choices, fathers are an undeniable stabilizing force for boys and girls. This transfers into the greater society. This is the link to the story by Lois M. Collins

10. Making babies better through genetics

Is it morally right to genetically alter babies? As medical technology and processes advance this question will need to be answered. Being a Star Trek fan I can't help but wonder if genetic manipulation could be used to create super-humans (Star Trek II, Star Trek: Into Darkness). Would said super-humans seek to eliminate who they deem unsuitable to continue the human race. Who knows. Here is the article by Kelsey Dallas.

Here is the rest of March Graphics. Enjoy!

February Graphics in review

Following is the top 10 graphics I created for the Deseret News in February. Also included are pretty much the rest of the graphics I did in the month of February.

So without further adieu, here is my top 10 for February 2015:

1. Battleship Bismarck News in Education page

Top graphic for February goes to this charticle on the battleship Bismarck. I created all the graphics for this, and wrote all the text. Was a ton of work, but well worth the effort. I absolutely enjoyed learning more about this vessel and the conflict it was a part of. Click on the image to the image in more detail. 

2. Religious persection increasing

This is a tremendously important topic of our day. Recent violence against Jews and Christians is growing stronger. I highly recommend reading this article, by Mark Kelner, at the following link.

3. Extremely dry in the state of Utah

While everything East of the Rockies has been getting blasted by record snow, Utah, and most of the west, has had record dryness. Crazy weather to say the least. Is it global warming? Cooling? Man-made or part of the Earth's natural cycle? You be the Judge. Here is the link to the story by Emilee Bench

4. Depression among the youth

Simple graphic with tips for helping youth with depression. Not a bad read by Leslie Corbly at this link

Theodore Roosevelt: What a life!

Following is a News in Education page I recently had published in the Deseret News. I found the research of this man interesting to say the least. Looking through the lens of the 21st century it is easy to judge his positions and actions as being contradictory to modern Liberal and conservative thinking. But he lived and grew up in a far different time than any of us. He lived when the the wild west was truly wild, and DC politics were dirty in a different sort of way than they are now. He could be as mild and tender as a Teddy bear towards children, then be utterly masculine and sharp towards contemporaries. One of his

Facebook and Marriage: a photo illustration

Had the opportunity a little over a week ago to produce this photo illustration for the main Editorial story for the Sunday edition of the Deseret News written by Scott Taylor.

The process

Image of the couple came from Shutterstock.com. Facebook logo was procured from wikimedia.org. Used Photoshop as the editing tool to produce the final image. To create the tear I selected the entire photo. Then used the polygonal lasso tool to deselect half the image, producing the jagged tear. Then I cut and pasted the selected half the image into a new layer.

After this I used the dodge and burn tools to produce the subtle tear effect, rotated the two halves and applied a drop shadow.

The Facebook logo was inserted in between. Also created a pattern in for the background using the single-letter version of their logo

I wanted to use a chefs knife in this, but realized that wouldn't fit in with the way the photo is torn.

Message of the Editorial

The primary message of the story revolves around couple's use of Facebook and how misusing it can effect marriages in negative ways. I essentially agree with the author; Facebook is a tool of communication and news. If used improperly the consequences can be harmful. My wife and I reduce the risks and potential for harm by sharing a single account. When I want people to know it is me speaking I sign my name at the end of the post (Most of the time).