IllustratingStories.com

2 Must-Know Techniques for Illustrating Stories

Whether you create mixed media collage, art journals, or scrapbook pages, you've probably used papers that have either a basic pattern or a basic offset pattern.  These patterns are everywhere!

Knowing how to create your own basic patterns is highly beneficial.  First, anything DIY often leads to a huge cost savings over purchasing commercial/pre-made products (like patterned paper).  Better yet, if you sell or publish your work, DIY patterns may remove any worries you have about infringing on other artists' work.  Your pattern = your copy right.  Finally, there is a huge market out there for patterns.  Someday, you might find yourself in the business of selling patterns to all sorts of artists illustrating their own stories!

The following video tutorial demonstrates how to make a basic pattern and a basic offset pattern.  Once you know how, who knows what you'll create!

Digital Distressing Video Tutorial

Distressing can add texture to a piece, honoring the imperfect and creating nostalgia all at the same time.  Maybe that's why I love to distress objects for my art (and distress the art, too).  Whatever it is that draws me to the look, I include it in both my traditional creations and my digital ones, too.

If you're drawn to the distressed look, too, you may find the following digital distressing tutorial right up your alley.  The video demonstrates how to use Photoshop to make your creations look a little beat up, weathered, and imperfect.  It focuses on burning, masking, and blending to achieve the desired look.