I had to do a book cover for my typography class the other day. I found some new brushes for Photoshop, so I used them on the design. I’m kind of happy with it, though it still feels too symmetrical to me.

Here is a link to the design: Book Cover

So, we are doing watercolors in one of my classes, so I got to go spend money on watercolor paints today. I always love going to Sarnoff’s Art Supplies. Every time I go in there I feel like a kid in a toy store. Sadly, I always spend more money then I should in there.

Anyway, back to my story. I got home and decided to have a stab at using my newly acquired supplies, so I broke out my brushes and my paints and the paint mixing tray and the watercolor paper and everything. I have to say, painting is a lot more involved than regular drawing when it comes to the stuff you need. So I get it all out and set up and I start playing around. I had never used watercolors before, so I decided to first test my different brushes to see what kind of strokes I could get. I also tried laying down paint and then drawing it out to make different washes and gradients. Suffices to say I was getting an idea of it. So I started working out a sort of cactus shape, then started to build on it within an hour or so I had what you see above. It links to a bigger picture, though not the original.

I am pretty proud of it. I know it’s nothing to gawk at, but still, for a first attempt I have to say I am pleased. I will be trying more stuff in the near future. I am going to try doing some character colorings, as I have seen this done by other people and liked the effect the color had on the overall feel.