N.Design Studio

Design Process of Phoenix Illustration

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illustration processNumbers of people have asked me how to do the phoenix illustration on my site. Was it vector? Did I use Illustrator or Photoshop? Well, here I will tell you my design process from concept sketch to final illustration. Hope you will find this useful.

1. Concept Sketch

Like most other designers, I like to brainstorm and sketch out my ideas.

sketch

2. Research

Then I will go to Google image search to get design inspiration. Notice the color theme used on my site is very similar to the images that I found?

research

3. Tracing

Normally I will do a fine sketch and import it in Illustrator for tracing purpose. Check out my Illustrator vector tracing tutorial. Here I experimented with different color variation.

tracing

4. Illustrator Files

Here are the Illustrator files that I traced from sketches. These vector illustrations then imported into Photoshop for composition.

Illustrator files

5. Effects

I used Photoshop to add FX effects like: rainbow, glow, particles, and gradient. One of the frequently asked questions is how to do the particles effect on the tails and flowers. To make the particles, just set the layer’s blending mode to "dissolve".

Photoshop effects

6. Final

Here is the final illustration. Download the full size wallpaper.

final illustration

214 comments so far

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  1. Gravatar
    prof kienstra
    # 94

    April 29th, 2007 at 6:29 am

    I have been experimenting a bit with photoshop, but i must admit the idea of illustrator is a bit daunting. Illustrator really needs the artistic insight, which you definitely have. Thanks for sharing this step by step overview of how you built your design.

    I absolutely love it!

  2. Gravatar
    Minimoto VR
    # 93

    April 28th, 2007 at 7:25 am

    WOW, this is fantastic!

  3. Gravatar
    dododesigness
    # 92

    April 26th, 2007 at 3:11 am

    wow

  4. Gravatar
    Hotah
    # 91

    April 25th, 2007 at 6:41 am

    Great designs!

  5. Gravatar
    Phoenix
    # 90

    April 25th, 2007 at 2:18 am

    I love the outcome and your work. Keep it up.

    BTW, where did the forum go?

  6. Gravatar
    Ganesh
    # 89

    April 25th, 2007 at 1:06 am

    I learn new in illustrator u have any photoshop class site informe.

  7. Gravatar
    tiny
    # 88

    April 25th, 2007 at 12:07 am

    impressed!
    Just wonder how the color mixed.

    nice job!

  8. Gravatar
    patrickd
    # 87

    April 24th, 2007 at 3:00 am

    great technique dude! your so skillful..
    nice website for designers! cheers!

  9. Gravatar
    NewIllustratorUser
    # 86

    April 23rd, 2007 at 3:00 am

    i am new illustrator user, and
    i was totally amazed by your art works.
    you are a real artistic designer. awesome!
    fyi, i had learned a lot from this web,
    since last two weeks.
    hope for more tutorials from you.
    thx a lot!

  10. Gravatar
    Vijay Nair
    # 85

    April 23rd, 2007 at 12:01 am

    Super cool dude., you are my next inspiration

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