[Wiggly Butts] #7 - Labrador Retriever

Here is the long awaited Labrador Retriever from my dog breed series! For those who have just started coming to this blog, I've recently started a design series based on all the breeds of dogs. You know those little stick figure family bumper/window stickers you see plastered all over SUV's and vans? If something as simple as that could explode into something so loved, imagine what people would do for something similar of their pet? Better yet, customizable to LOOK like their pet! I'm drawing each breed of dog in a standard pose, but the customer will be able to customize it however they like (colors, markings, collars, bows, missing limbs, accessories, etc). They will be sold as digital copies as well as prints, stickers, bookmarks, magnets, scrapbooking accessories, and more! They aren't up for sale yet, but if you're interested, feel free to comment or send me an email with questions.

Getting back to the project -- I decided to show the process of how I do each dog. I DO have a YouTube channel that actually records my screen while I'm shading/coloring, but I figured still images of each step wouldn't hurt either!

Step 1 - Sketching! For every breed, I find a couple of reference pictures of the breed and start the sketch within Photoshop CS4. I use a 4px brush and my document size is anywhere between 8.5"x11" to 11"x17" with a resolution of 300dpi. Sketching allows me to have a pretty finalized image of the dog that I trace over in Adobe Illustrator.

Step 2 - Lineart! Despite my love/hate (mostly hate) relationship with Illustrator, I always use this program to do the lineart. Unlike Photoshop, Illustrator allows me to resize the lines however big/small I may want them without distorting the quality. If I did the lines in Photoshop and wanted to make them bigger, I would have to do them over. So for time saving purposes, I do my lines in Illustrator. I have one layer for the sketch (with an opacity of 40% or so) and a few layers for the lineart itself.

Step 3 - Coloring Layer! Before I start the shading and highlighting process, I make a color layer, which is basically the base layer for my clipping mask and the layer I put all color/markings on. I simply magic wand the areas, expand it to about 6px, and use the paint bucket to fill in the blank layer (under the lines layer) with whatever color I choose.

Step 4 - Base Shading! Making a new layer (using the color layer as a clipping mask) and multiplying it, I start the base shading. I use just a regular, hard brush and basically cell shade the little guy (the gradient shading comes next, but it's shown in this image).

Step 5 - Gradient Shading! This is where I start the gradient shading, which is done on the "shading" layer. I lasso the area I want to gradient shade, set the gradient to about 55% (using the foreground to transparent one) and drag the tool across the selected section a few times till it looks good.

Step 6 - Highlighting! I make another layer on top of the shading layer for highlighting, changing the opacity to about 63% and using overlay. Usually while I'm shading, I'll lasso the area along the cell shade and throw in the gradient highlight. I use a very light yellow color for highlighting.

Step 7 - Bluelights! Adding another layer on top of the highlighting layer, with the opacity set to about 60%, I do the bluelights. Bluelights are the little white bits of highlighting along the shading -- they are one of the favorites parts of my style and I think it gives the piece lots of definition.

Step 8 - Coloring the Lines! The lab was relatively easy because he was just one color, but sometimes coloring the lines can be the hardest part if the dog has lots of markings (like the Aussie). All I do is lock the transparency on the "Lines" layer, take a brush, and color away!

Step 9 - Done! Add my watermark and boom, there you have it!