Pattern Help Please

[jblock9907]

A friend is getting married and the family has asked for a portrait. My attempts look 2 steps above stickmen, but with hair. Here is the photo.

[Fremmed]

Hi jblock,
How's this?

[Andy]

One of the biggest secrets, not really a secret but it sounds better, LOL, is to start with an exceptionally good image. The picture you posted has poor focus, lack of detail, ghosting around the arms ... Don't critique your efforts in pattern making too much if you're working from this picture. I'd request another one that was taken by a pro, not just a snapshot.

Kevin, GREAT job of coming up with something useable from a rather poor picture! I was going to attempt this one but can't imagine coming up with anything better than your effort produced. Thanks for taking the time! I'm sure this lovely couple will enjoy the finished result.

Andy

[Wood Dog]

Ya did one hell of a nice job there Kevin........

[mdvt]

Kevin,
Great job! I'll assume you have software for that?
Where can I get something like that on a very small budget?
Any help would be great.
Thanks, Mike

[Andy]

Mike,

You can download trial versions of Adobe Photoshop (my preference) or Corel Paint Shop Pro. They're free so you can have about a month of indulgence to see if you have the nack and find the enjoyment in pattern making. If so, you can take the plunge and purchase the software, both of which are rather expensive. One of the BEST tools for pattern making is the Wacom Graphics tablet. You can purchase the Bamboo series for under $100 and it comes with Adobe Photoshop Elements bundled in the software. You can make a career of pattern making with Elements, it has ALL the processes you need.

If you need more help, hollar, I've got some tutorials I can share with you.

Andy
Home Page - 80 Art Designs

[Arcy]

Originally Posted by Andy

One of the biggest secrets, not really a secret but it sounds better, LOL, is to start with an exceptionally good image.

Does this depend on the style of your pattern making? Do you do a lot of automated manipulation when creating the pattern?

I haven't done much with scrolling patterns yet, but they way I've created embroidery patterns is to use the original image as a base and then more or less freehand my pattern over it. The original is then more of an aid to creating the pattern rather than being converted fully into the pattern. I specifically flag photos with good composition but technical flaws for conversion to other media. My wife takes it a step further and deliberately takes out of focus pictures purely to use as pattern ideas for quilt making.

I also use a vector drawing program rather than a pixel drawing program. Again though, that may depend a lot on the style of the pattern being created.

--Rob

[Andy]

For portraits I do very little automated manipulation. Often times I use a gaussian blur to soften the edges, similar to an out of focus picture, but I still greatly prefer a defined line, crisp, clean photo that has more detail than I know what to do with. I can eliminate the subtle nuances or accent them depending on what the pattern is I'm trying to achieve. For portraits, it's the details in the eyes, face lines, edges of the lips that set one pattern apart from the other. The shading, most of the time is just a guide for accents that achieve the depth and perspective.

I'm not sure I answered your question ... so much of pattern making is a personal view in interpreting what's given. Kevin's pattern shows that to a "T". Exceptionally well done and the interpretation is very appealing ... although the original picture was less that what I would personally care to work with.

Interpretation from one person to the next is so subjective. That's one of the things I love about this group ... each persons view on everything is so different and I find it all inspirational.

Andy

[Arcy]

Andy, you answered my question better than I asked it. It definitely comes down to different styles, both in what the end product looks like and how you get there. I tend to look at the shading first and define my lines along that to get the feel of the image, and then pick in details second. Almost the opposite of what you do.

I suspect that some of this is due to prefering different styles of imagry and some is due to different media. This sort of portraiture is pretty much black-and-white. I'm more used to blocks of shading, color, and texture - more akin to segmentation.

I need to add this to my "to do" stack in my survey of scrolling techniques.

Thanks for the explanation and tips!

--Rob

[Fremmed]

Thanks for the compliments Andy, Wood Dog, and Mike.

Rob, Andy is right on about doing photos. Probably explained it better than I can. There really is no substitute for a high quality photo to begin with. I definitely look first for lines, then where shadow or highlights are (or I think they should be). And most importantly, the detail in the eyes nose and mouth. Sometimes, like this one, it really takes stretching ones imagination to get the right look.

Mike,
The only program I use for making portrait patterns is Gimp. It's a free download. I haven't tried Corel, Adobe or any of the others, so I don't have any comparison to use. I guess Gimp is like that baseball glove I've had for 20 years. It does the job, I'm used to it, I get the results that I'm looking for, so why make a change?