Have you ever looked at a photo and wondered how it would feel to add a bit of magic to it with your own artistic touch? By adding illustrations to our photos, we can create a fun and unique look to breathe new life into our memories.
In this video, I’ll guide you through the tools and techniques to illustrate your world. Whether you’re an aspiring photographer, a budding illustrator, or just someone who likes to stretch your imagination, you’ll enjoy melding these two distinct art styles into one unique masterpiece.
You can watch the full tutorial on YouTube or get the basic steps here:
Choose a photo: I recommend importing directly into Procreate, rather than starting on a Canvas, so you can see the quality of the image and the amount of layers you have available.
Should have a main subject/focal point
Convert to grayscale (optional)
Adjustments > Hue Saturation Balance
Reduce saturation to None
Adjustments > Curves (optional step to adjust contrast)
Increase contrast
Cut out the subject (if your illustration will go around/behind it)
Selection > Freehand (take your time!)
Copy & Paste (puts it on a new layer)
Repeat for any other objects that you will Illustrate behind/around
Add the Illustration
Sketch first (on a new layer)
use a color you can see (white, blue, pink, etc. depending on your background)
Lower Opacity
Inking (new layer above Sketch)
Use multiple layers as needed to get clean lines (combine when done)
Set as “Reference"
Coloring (new layer under Inking)
Use separate layer for each color (so you can adjust/make changes later) - see my Coloring Pages video here for more on this
Color Drop or use brushes (if you're not sure about colors or struggle with which ones to use, I have a great resource for that called From Pixels to Palettes, which you can learn about here)
Add texture/effects if desired
Export your Design
Sharing your design on social/email
Wrench (actions menu) > Share
JPG or PNG