Design Process of Phoenix Illustration
March 23rd, 2007 Filed in: Design, Tricks & Tips Jump to comments
Numbers 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.

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?

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.

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

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".

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


July 2nd, 2007 at 8:25 pm
Great! Very interesting!
July 2nd, 2007 at 12:05 am
Oh wow!
It’s just beautiful!
July 1st, 2007 at 9:02 pm
阁下是中国人吗?
这个孔雀、花、山石可是中国画的样式啊!
July 1st, 2007 at 9:19 am
how long u do it, coz it very nice..!!!! cayo
June 30th, 2007 at 3:28 pm
If I were younger I would have your babies…
Your genes are to good to squander…
But I’m old now and have had my 6, so All I can do now is admire and learn…:smirk:
June 28th, 2007 at 11:40 pm
You do gorgeous work! I am learning much to improve my own techniques here.
June 23rd, 2007 at 12:16 pm
phoenix=凤凰
Only appera in Chinese Legend
June 23rd, 2007 at 10:30 am
amazing!
June 20th, 2007 at 7:08 pm
The power of oriental art colors inspired in marvelous Phoenix Bird? It is a wonderful work. Good method.
Thank you.
June 19th, 2007 at 10:08 am
moamen