Assignment 9: Vectored Images
Reference Image
My reference image is a picture I took while skiing in New Mexico a couple years ago.
Process - #1
I started this project by creating an 8.5 x 11 inch Illustrator document, and embedded my reference image into it. My image was originally taken vertically (portrait), so I resized it so that it fits within my landscape artboard. To begin my vector art, I first tried out the Image Trace option under the quick actions in the Properties tab, with 6 colors. I decided that I liked the color scheme that Illustrator chose for me, but that the image was too detailed to edit properly in the future when working on the other color schemes. So I decided to create the vector image myself using the pen/pencil/curvature tools in Illustrator. I began by using the pen tool to draw in the sky and ground. I blocked off the sky with three wavy shapes to keep the simplified look. For the ground, I roughly drew lines in a darker blue that represented the shadows coming from the trees, then added a lighter blue hill behind it. I then started working on the trees by drawing the trunks using the pen tool, then the leaves by roughly using the pencil tool.
I continued creating the trees by adding details using the pen and pencil tools in Illustrator. I created multiple different shapes to make different layers of the trees (which you can't tell yet, but will show later when I add the highlights). I also added the mountains in the background with a lighter gray, then the same gray as the trees on top to show the closer mountains.
To finish off my first vectored image, I added highlights to the trees with the pen and pencil tools. I went in with a lighter gray than the original tree color and added highlights to the sides of the trees to represent the sun reflecting off the snow onto the trees, lighting them up. I then went in with an even lighter gray, similar to the ground snow color, to add even more depth to the highlights. Lastly, I added some details into the mountains in the back with smaller trees in the very far distance.
#2
For my second vectored image, I duplicated the winter/snow image that I created first, and started adjusting it from there. I pulled an image of a ski slope during the summer as reference for colors and put it to the side of my artboard so that I can reference the colors. I selected the vectored shapes of the trees and adjusted the colors using the fill and outline tool, to a warm dark green color. I also adjusted the ground to be a bright yellow-green to match the reference image I found. I changed the sky colors to a lighter greener shade of blue to show the sky somewhat reflecting the green grass.
To really create a summer feel for this image, I used the pen and pencil tools to draw in extra details to my image. I added more shrubs and grass to the foreground and midground of my vector image, as well as additional yellow highlights on the tree branches. Lastly, I added sun rays with the pen tool on a thick size, and lowered the opacity to represent the rays of the sun.
#3
For my third vectored image, I wanted to create a fall/autumn look to my mountain scene. I found another reference off Google of a ski slopes during the autumn, and based my third vectored image on that. I adjusted the colors of the ground, mountains, and sky in order to match the brown and orange colors of fall. I added some snow on top of the mountain in the background to represent the changing of seasons.
I continued to edit this vectored image by adding detailed elements in the foreground with some grass and bushes with the pen tool in different shades of brown. I also adjusted the highlights of the trees multiple times to try and get the most "autumn" feel. Lastly, I added a big section of light coming from the sky and placed it on top of the right tree layers but below the dark tree on the left to show sense of space.
#4 - Above and Beyond
I created a fourth vectored image for above and beyond, but instead of adjusting the colors manually as I did for the previous two, I used the recolor tool. I duplicated the summer image that I had created before, then used the Recolor tool under the quick actions in the Properties tab. From there, I un-linked the colors and adjusted the little pins to change the colors of the image. I shifted the colors a bit more yellow/orangey, but less than the orange tones in the autumn image.
Final 4 Vectored Images
Extra Credit: Motion Graphics Template
I created my extra credit motion graphics template in Illustrator with 7 artboards of 1920x1080 size. I used the text and shapes tool and adjusted the colors and fonts to create the title screen card, as well as 3 lower thirds. I then found images on Google for the mockups of my templates, and copied and pasted my templates on top and slightly adjusted colors so that the text was all visible.
