My process of making fanart
I was cleaning out my harddrive and found my old graphics. So i decided to put my progress here.
Just a warning it's pretty image heavy, and i say a lot more than usually in this post ;)
(Not all of the graphics i made are placed in this list)
I started around 2003 when i first saw other fanartists work and wanted to know how to make things like that as well. I started out in a simple print program
2003
01 - 03
I have more but i feel these 3 are enough to show how bad i was at the time. At the time i was really proud of how they turned out considering the program i used didn't have any layering tool. It did have a opacy function so i tried to blend it together as best as i could. As you can see i had no concept of placement or how to use color. After awhile i got Paint Shop Pro and started to play with that as you can see in the lasts image.
Around september i enrolled on an graphic oriented school (i guess you could compare it with collage), started my education to become a Graphic Designer and got introduced to Photoshop.
2004
04 - 11
This is where i really started to experiment with textures, brushes, multiple layers and layer styles. I got introduced to using to much textures(11) (at the time i really liked that style) I also started to learn more about image placement (08 - 11). Most of the graphics i made in 2004 where Buffy oriented.
2005 - January to July
12 - 20
This is where i started following tutorials and trying to recreate styles of people whose work i admired, and try making things for different fandoms. I was still using way to much textures, but slowly found several other styles i liked at the time (13, 19).
August to December
21 - 43
I finally learned more about how to use textures without it covering the faces of the subjects. My placement is getting much better (23, 26, 36), though my text doesn't always fit the graphic like in 23, i still like the composition and the feel of Peter transforming in Spiderman but the text just doesn't fit that concept. I also started to experimented with mixing color, gradients and different layer styles (24, 39)
2006
44 - 59
There where some graphics where i fell back to using to much textures (44, 47). I tried out new styles, and was always looking for new ways to make graphics. 54 is where i started to blend/manipulate images to a different background. The one that really changed the way i approached making graphics is 57 on this one i was inspired after watching an episode of Battlestar Galactica and just had to make something with it.
2007
60 - 62
I experiment with a few different styles and i like the mood in 61 even though you can't see the images clearly and some are repeated a little to much. In 62 i like the composition and abstract shape and minimal use of images.
In 2006/2007 i had my internship and exam year of school so in this period i started to lose my drive/inspiration to make fanart and was more working on personal work and school. I graduated in december 2007 and started my first job as a designer in january 2008.
In 2008 i was holding a sabbatical on making fanart, and it wasn't until March 2009 that i actually started working on fanart again.
Over all i feel i improved a lot on when i first started, i found i learned a lot by looking at tutorials to learn the basics and by just opening photoshop and just trying things out. It's weird to know i was proud of the things i made, when i look at it now i can see all lot of mistakes i made.
This was pretty much it, feel free to comment to add your own thoughts/critics about it.
Just a warning it's pretty image heavy, and i say a lot more than usually in this post ;)
(Not all of the graphics i made are placed in this list)
I started around 2003 when i first saw other fanartists work and wanted to know how to make things like that as well. I started out in a simple print program
2003
01 - 03
I have more but i feel these 3 are enough to show how bad i was at the time. At the time i was really proud of how they turned out considering the program i used didn't have any layering tool. It did have a opacy function so i tried to blend it together as best as i could. As you can see i had no concept of placement or how to use color. After awhile i got Paint Shop Pro and started to play with that as you can see in the lasts image.
Around september i enrolled on an graphic oriented school (i guess you could compare it with collage), started my education to become a Graphic Designer and got introduced to Photoshop.
2004
04 - 11
This is where i really started to experiment with textures, brushes, multiple layers and layer styles. I got introduced to using to much textures(11) (at the time i really liked that style) I also started to learn more about image placement (08 - 11). Most of the graphics i made in 2004 where Buffy oriented.
2005 - January to July
12 - 20
This is where i started following tutorials and trying to recreate styles of people whose work i admired, and try making things for different fandoms. I was still using way to much textures, but slowly found several other styles i liked at the time (13, 19).
August to December
21 - 43
I finally learned more about how to use textures without it covering the faces of the subjects. My placement is getting much better (23, 26, 36), though my text doesn't always fit the graphic like in 23, i still like the composition and the feel of Peter transforming in Spiderman but the text just doesn't fit that concept. I also started to experimented with mixing color, gradients and different layer styles (24, 39)
2006
44 - 59
There where some graphics where i fell back to using to much textures (44, 47). I tried out new styles, and was always looking for new ways to make graphics. 54 is where i started to blend/manipulate images to a different background. The one that really changed the way i approached making graphics is 57 on this one i was inspired after watching an episode of Battlestar Galactica and just had to make something with it.
2007
60 - 62
I experiment with a few different styles and i like the mood in 61 even though you can't see the images clearly and some are repeated a little to much. In 62 i like the composition and abstract shape and minimal use of images.
In 2006/2007 i had my internship and exam year of school so in this period i started to lose my drive/inspiration to make fanart and was more working on personal work and school. I graduated in december 2007 and started my first job as a designer in january 2008.
In 2008 i was holding a sabbatical on making fanart, and it wasn't until March 2009 that i actually started working on fanart again.
Over all i feel i improved a lot on when i first started, i found i learned a lot by looking at tutorials to learn the basics and by just opening photoshop and just trying things out. It's weird to know i was proud of the things i made, when i look at it now i can see all lot of mistakes i made.
This was pretty much it, feel free to comment to add your own thoughts/critics about it.