Roy Lichtenstein inspired Pop Art portraits in illustrator Part 1 We are going to take inspiration from the pop artist, Roy Lichtenstein. Go ahead and give him a search on google so you are familiar with his work. For this project we will be taking a photograph and trace it in illustrator. Here are some before and after samples. The top sample is from the online tutorial located at http://abduzeedo.com/simple-­‐roy-­‐lichtenstein-­‐style-­‐illustrator-­‐and-­‐photoshop The bottom sample is my drawing sample Step 1. Take a portrait. Be sure to take more than one photo so that you can choose the best one. For the best light I suggest taking your shot outside. If the sun is your light source, think about the direction you are facing and how shadows might cast. If needed change the direction you care facing the sun. (Photo tip: don’t shoot with the sin facing the back of the subject’s head.) For photographic inspiration I suggest google searching photographers like Jill Greenberg or Annie Leibovitz as they take great portraits. We might not have cameras or lighting equipment as good theirs but you can frame the shot play with different poses as well as capture emotion in your photo. Step 2. Depending on your photo you might need to play with the Levels in photoshop. You might want to play with the contrast a little. Go to image>adjustments>levels in photoshop Example: Before Levels adjustment After: This should be a little easier to trace now that the shadows and highlights stand out a little more. Step 3. Save the photo to your computer. Place the photo as a template in illustrator Step 4. Begin tracing the photo For this drawing I am going to use a few new tools in illustrator You can draw lines with the pencil tool (no fill color). Then you can vary the width of the line with the Width tool. You can draw shapes with the Blob Brush tool. You will only need to draw simple shapes and lines. You are simplifying the photo to an illustration with essential lines and shapes Examples: Step 4. Open your photo in photoshop Increase your image resolution to 600 (we are going to apply some filters and you want them done at a higher resolution than normal Go to image > Image size Step 5. Now go in image> adjustments> threshold (note: you may or may not want to clip the background on your photo first) With the threshold level slider you can decide how much of the image will be black and how much will be white. Step 6. Now got to Filter>Pixelate>Color Halftone Set the screen angles of the different CMYK (Cyan Magenta Yellow Black)Color Channels to 199 You can play with the max radius of the circles. (I have it set to 20 pixels radius here). If I decide I want the circles bigger or smaller I will step backward and apply a different radius value. the result Now save this image as a new file name on your computer so you don’t overwrite the original photo Step 7. Open your Illustrator drawing Create a layer at the top of your layer stack On that layer go to file>place Place this halftone circle image (not as a template) Select the halftone image layer Open the Transparency Window (go to Window>Transparency) Set the blend mode to multiply