Banjo Pig-Sizzlin Bacon Proc. Part A

I have been asked by a few folks what my process is for working digitally. So I'll be posting it here in parts! If you need more details or are confused about anything then let me know and I'll try to explain better as an addendum or in my next post. So, let's get started!!!

First of all the sketch can come at any place or any time. Especially since we artists can be inspired at the strangest time by even stranger things!

This sketch was done while I was waiting outside in the car for my Mother to get some bloodwork done. I'm sure I am like many of us that we keep a notepad, paper, and pen or pencil in our vehicles at all times. No? Well you should!

Afterwards, I scan the quick little doodle into the computer. Since I know that I am going to be redrawing the image, I don't need to scan it at a high resolution. 100 dpi works just fine thank you!


In Photoshop, I put the sketch on it's own layer in a file that is still around 100-150 dpi. I drop the opacity of my sketch to 20-25%. Then I create another layer on top of that. On this layer I go in with my #2 pencil brush and redraw the image. Fairly quickly tightening up the idea and solidifying some of the elements I wasn't sure of in the initial scribble. (Like getting rid of the pig wiping out in the background.)

If I am satisfied with the new drawing and I am ready to move to a tight pencil, I up the resolution of the image to 300dpi and continue with the next steps.

I repeat the process again. I hide the first doodle layer and drop the opacity of the pencil sketch layer to 20-25%. I will now be drawing components on multiple layers. This helps me change and reorganize things for the purpose of composition and size.



So my layers will be as follows: Layer 1:Surfin Pig, Layer 2: Banjo Surf board, Layer 3: Waves in background. At minimum I almost always do foreground, mid and background layers for my images. Be forewarned, I am a layer piggy! Luv my layers!

I create a new layer on top of that and draw an even tighter final line of the parts in their own layers.

For this stage I use a standard brush that comes with Photoshop, at some point I managed to erase the name of it, so I can't say what it's called! I'll post an image of it later! Because it's the same one that I use to paint the image!

I use the Hue/Saturation filter to change the color of the linework to what I feel is suited. I rarely if ever work on black line art, be it in physical or electronic mediums. I then play with the sizes, angles and composition of the individual elements before moving on to the next stage! Which we'll do next time!

Hope this all makes sense, if not let me know! Or if you know any shortcuts from what I currently do, let me know!

PART B is COMING SOON!! As always CLICK for bigger images!!!
Use Ctrl + to REALLY up the size!