Art media that I use (part 5).
In addition to traditional art, I also do mixed media illustrations, where I combine my favourite traditional drawing and painting tools with some digital editing.
I often use mixed "tradigital" media with illustration projects where I need to plan things ahead, instead of just going with the flow. Digital editing doesn't always make things easier or quicker but it allows much more plasticity and control throughout the process.
I sometimes divide my mixed media works into drawings and paintings, depending on which medium feels like the dominant one. But there's a lot of overlapping with these two, and the basic steps are usually the same: I draw and paint various separate elements with traditional tools, and then scan and combine them in Photoshop, continuing to colour and edit the piece digitally.
All the illustrations in my book Faraway Dreaming are traditional ink drawings coloured digitally. In the digital part of the process I change the colour of some existing lines as well as add colour in the blank areas. To get some natural texture I use backgrounds that I paint traditionally with ink or watercolour.
In many illustration commissions (such as Dolmenwood, Nordic Tales, etc) I've use a bit more painterly approach, placing a bit more focus on the painted parts and combining them with colour pencil drawings. I create elements on separate pieces of paper and place each on different layers after scanning. That way I have room to play with composition and make further adjustments as needed.
The digital editing tends to be slow and complicated. It takes patience until everything finally comes together in a cohesive way. During the process I continue to modify the colours and composition, adding more detail by drawing with traditional tools, or sometimes with a digital pen. * * *
Thanks for reading! I originally posted this on my IG account (ullathynell), where you can find more photos and some videos of my drawing and painting process.
If you haven't seen the other entries in this series, they will show what specific tools I use to draw and paint. Here are links to all the posts on my instagram:
Part 1. Calligraphy ink paintings
Part 2. Black and white ink drawings
Part 3. Watercolour paintings
Part 4. Alcohol ink paintings
Part 5. Mixed traditional and digital media
Part 6. Gel pen drawings
