Category Archives: Digital Art

How to Make an App – Step 5

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How To Make A Story App – Step 5

 Adding color using Photoshop!

Design it all before you start to color it. First things first.

Making progress! I have the opening screen finished! I’m now adding color to all the pages. This step is going to take me a while so don’t think that I’ve quit if you don’t see step 6 for a few weeks. I had to make sure that every screen/page was working with the story and that the animations made sense. The last thing I want to do is start my finish work before the framework is in place. It’s much easier to alter a sketch than a painting and if I were doing this 10 years ago (even though there was no such thing as an iPad) I would have most likely started on the color before I was ready.

So the way it will work is that the user will be prompted to touch Gary at which point he disappears into his hole and hopefully entices the user (kiddy) to want to know where he went and what it looks like down there.

If you’re new to this blog you can scroll down to see my first steps on this journey – and I haven’t forgotten that I plan to share all my stats with you when I put this baby in the app store. (Cross your fingers) I’m always so curious to know how other people’s apps are doing – but nobody shares that info – like it’s classified or something…think of me as your own personal Eric Snowden – I’m going to leak all the intel on my app – good or bad – we’ll all see how it does.

I’ll be making my app with Kwik – the DIY Photoshop plugin that allows a non-programer to create their own code behind the scenes of this wysiwyg. Our Kwik class starts tonight – can’t wait!

Check back for step 5.5. coming soon, I hope. Thanks.

coming November 8, 2013

How to Make an App – Step 4

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How To Make A Story App – Step 4

Work on character sketches, Interior sketches, and animations.

If you’re new to this blog you might want to scroll down to see my first steps…

Keep in mind that I’m making this up as I go

– I really don’t know what I’m doing but I’m going about this as systematically as possible. And the others here at Folio Academy are still letting me so there you go. I’m using my experience from illustrating children’s books to guide my process but apps are a whole new beast so we’ll see if this works out. Right now I have the entire app sketched out and am checking all of my animations to make sure they work and communicate.

What should you NOT animate?

The hard part was figuring out what to animate but more importantly what NOT to animate. I really want this app to be able to do more than a book but I don’t want to get into full blown animation. I like the idea of page breaks to let the reader fill in the missing visuals with their mind – so not getting caught up in time consuming non-important animation is key to making my self imposed deadline and keeping my sanity, or what’s left of it.

But what if you’re not an animator?

Good Question, I’m NO animator – This is my first time. I’m taking a serious crack at it so I don’t want to bite off more than I can chew either. The little guy above is my main character and I’ll be able to re-use this animation over and over in my story. Of course I still have to paint him so my work isn’t finished but you can see that even an old illustrator can learn a few new tricks

Where can I learn more about creating my own apps?

Glad you asked.

– I made a video tutorial on how to prepare this kind of artwork for a story app here.

Alex Sousa is going to show us how to make these kinds of animations work in Kwik in our upcoming class that begins in a few weeks. We still have a handful of slots left for the live class but many are opting for the LITE, or video recordings of our class.

Check back October 4, 2013 for step -5.

How to Make an App – Step 3

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How To Make A Story App – Step 3 

Set yourself apart from the competition

Decide what you can put into your story app that will be unique to set yourself apart from the competition. This might take some brain storming but it’s worth it.

Be a leader or a follower that surpasses the leader

Are you a follower or a leader? When I look at many of the story apps available in the app store I notice that many creators seem to be playing follow the leader – and some aren’t even following the leaders. It’s hard enough to actually make the app but to put something out that is painfully predictable and average at best is a waste of time. It’s already hard enough to get noticed so don’t make your app forgettable by just doing what the other guys are doing.

If they are all putting coloring book activities in their story apps don’t add a coloring activity – unless you can do it better or different. If the other guys are making every object wiggle with a silly sound when you touch it – yeah you get the picture. We’re at the front of a new technology so don’t assume the other guy is doing it right. This is your app. What do you want to do? Then do that and don’t look back!

Don’t be afraid, Take some risk.

Afraid that you’ll do something other people will scoff or laugh at? Perfect! It’s not art if there’s no risk! Better to fail big and learn than to copy and be forgettable. Be remarkable.

So how can you be original? I think it’s by having one or more unique aspects in your app. Suggestions:

Great story
Great artwork
Animation that is unique to your story
Great voice acting
Integrated music
Unique navigation
Teaches niche moral or principle
Appeals to a niche market
Insert other unique aspect here.

So what am I planning for my app?

Another good question, glad you asked.

1. I think Rick Walton wrote a unique story for us – but the market will decide that.
2. I’m going to work hard on the artwork so I’m hoping to impress in that category.
3. I’m working on animation that helps further the story.
4. I will hire voice actors to enhance the experience.
5. Instead of page turns my app will navigate up, down, back, and forward.
6. The story has a sustainable living theme running throughout.

Like I’ve written before – none of this is a guarantee of commercial success but all I can do is put out the best I’m capable of in a reasonable amount of time and then begin work on the next app.

I’m really looking forward to beginning the Kwik class in a few weeks! Learning how to program my own app without any programing experience is going to enable me to take control of my app creating bug! More info on the class here. 

Tune in September 30, for part-4.

How to Make an App – Step 2

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How To Make A Story App – Step 2

Get Acquainted with the Market

Often I see artists embark on a journey without knowing how people made the same trip before them. The pioneers before you encountered the same problems you’re going to encounter and looking at their solutions will make your project much easier. The more you consume the more you will develop your own opinions about what works and doesn’t work. In addition, when you look at great art it inspires you to be great and the ideas begin to flow.

But where can I find great story apps?

I’m so glad you asked! You need to check yourself into Digital Storytime! There’s a screen shot from their site right below here. I like to click on “Quality” and then “Overall Rating” to see what they think are the best story apps. I devour these being aware of  the commonalities of each one. You may want to ask yourself,

Do they all have read to me files? Do they have static text or highlighted text? Do they offer them as options or are you stuck with the read to me file and highlighted text?

 

Tune into #Storycppchat every Sunday night.

Next, you need to tune in to #Storyappchat every Sunday night at 9:00PM Eastern 6:00PM West Coast. This is a twitter chat where anyone is invited and there’s a new topic about story apps each night. The information being shared is pure gold if you’re looking to produce your own apps.
I’ll be back soon with step 3 and don’t forget to check out our Kwik class that begins in October 2013 – and you can always sign up for the video only version – the recorded live classes.

check back this September 27 for step-3.

 

How to Make an App – STEP 1

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How to Make a Story App – Step 1

Step 1 – Start with a GREAT story!

I’m going to be blogging about the progress on my new story app “Gary’s Place” from now until it’s for sale in the app stores – and beyond – even updates on my sales figures. This is really scary because I’m promising to do something that I haven’t done yet. In fact there’s a voice yelling inside right now begging me to delete this and stop writing. But – here we go…

Step 1 – Start with a GREAT story!

I came up with an idea for a story about a gopher who isn’t content with his home. It had a good beginning, middle, and end but I couldn’t write a good manuscript because I don’t have enough writing experience.  So – I approached Rick Walton, a well known children’s book author and friend (over 90 published books – google screen shot above) and asked him to read my story and write it if he liked the idea. In a ridiculously short time he turned it into gold. Yes I will cut him in for a large percentage and yes it took him no time but I believe it will be worth every penny. He’s been writing for over 25 years and his experience shows.

The story is THE most important part of a story app. Illustrations, music, character voices, animation, games, coloring activities, things that giggle, wiggle and jiggle won’t make it a great app!

Often we don’t hold ourselves to the same quality standards we expect from the goods and services we consume. We want to see movies with a great story and cinematography asking friends and family for recommendations before dropping money at the box office. But do we provide the same when writing for a book, app, or e-book? If you don’t have the writing skills are you working hard to develop them? Have you considered partnering with a professional author?

I get emails, messages, and phone calls here at Folio Academy every week from authors looking for illustrators to partner with. Professional authors often have a huge back list of manuscripts that have never been published – usually much larger than their printed books. I guess a good question is will having a great story sell enough apps to offset the percentage or payment you’ll have to give up to an author? I think so. I believe that a smaller percentage of a GREAT project is worth much more than a larger percentage of a Mediocre project.

Did you know there are thousands of movies produced each year? How many can you name from 2013? My point is that if you aren’t producing the best who will care?

But Will, you’re a professional illustrator so it’s easy for you to work with professional authors.

Sure – it’s probably easier for me to strike up a conversation but from the sheer numbers of authors I’ve been approached by I know there’s a huge need out there and it’s only going to grow. If you’re passionate and committed I doubt you will have trouble talking an author into letting you take a crack at bringing one of their stories to life.

So check back say, Monday the 23rd, for Step 2 as I share my progress reports!

 

Starving Artist Trades Art for Food

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The Food Network Show, one of my Favorites. 

What would you do for a Free Lunch?

 
So my son Aaron and I were watching the food network show – Diners Drive-In’s and Dives and we just happened to catch the episode where they featured the Blue Plate Diner in Salt Lake. We both love Guy Fieriand when we saw him interview the owner of the Blue Plate, Johnny Chopper and saw the love and attention to the food we both knew we had to go.

Will(‘s) work for food. God Bless. 

So we googled the Blue Plate and put it on our “to do” list. One day when we found ourselves downing some Blue Plate goodies, Johnny Chopper just showed up and my son says, “HEY Johnny Chopper showed up” and so after the meal when we struck up a conversation one thing led to another and yada yada I walked out with a trade agreement – food for art – I highly recommend it….the food for art thingy….and the Blue Plate.

The Idea

So I told Johnny I would send him a sketch of an idea I got while stuffing my face with his food. I just thought it would be cool to do this painting of a blue plate that might be a flying saucer but might only be a blue plate flying in the air – perhaps someone threw it like a Frisbee (a satisfied customer of course) but I wanted to keep it ambiguous.

Adding Elements, using the net and Photoshop 

After he saw (and dug) the sketch I wasn’t happy with the way the cars were in front of his place and even though you can only parallel park I thought It would look cooler to have all the cars pulled in. So to make my job easier I just nabbed a bunch of cars off the net like the one above and tossed them into the sketch using photoshop.

Next step, Make it Grey and Use Your Own Color

After I got all the cars distorted the way I wanted them I changed the mode to grayscale to get rid of all the color. This allowed me to not only add my own color but with the distortions texture and color changes I’m safe from copy right infringement. Next I printed this out on watercolor paper and added texture to prepare it for acrylic paint.

and oh, this car was in there too

Here’s another car that should be up with the Cadillac but since I put it in the wrong place and don’t know how to delete and move it you’ll have to imagine that it’s up with the other one.

Finished Painting

And here is the final painting – It was a fun diversion from my regular workload. If you are interested you should know by now that we teach all kinds of art stuff at FolioAcademy, art lessons online.

Another Satisfied Customer

So I loaded the fam into the car and we headed for Blue Plate heaven to deliver the painting. I am not a starving artist as you can see, that’s me on the right. Maybe it’s because I am willing to work for food. I should paint a cardboard sign that says that. I could stand outside of Wall Mart and get all kinds-a gigs.

The Fam is no longer Famished 

It’s funny how enthusiasm for food changes in about a half hour – while waiting for your food to arrive it’s sometimes hard to maintain your train of thought as you struggle to control salivation – after you’re stuffed you’re wondering what you were all psyched about? Well now we have a bunch of gift certificates and we can enjoy Blue Plate whenever we’re up that way. YAY Blue Plate!! “Best dad EVER!”

“SKELETON FOR DINNER” Coming Soon!

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“Skeleton For Dinner” Is Finished!

Picture of Sample Page from "Skeleton for Dinner" art by Will Terry

I just finished the last illustration in my new book – “Skeleton for Dinner” by Margery Cuyler. It’s due out sometime before Halloween this next fall. I’ll definitely post links when it’s in stores. I had so much fun with this one! I love coming up with unique characters and Halloween?! Are you kidding me? I’ve always wanted to do a Halloween book!

I was really happy that my editors were OK with the idea of making “ghost” into a little girl instead of the typical predictable cartoonish ghost we’ve seen a million times. It was fun to render a character that doesn’t follow the same color rules that other objects follow. Skeleton was fun to design too because I felt he/she needed to be cute and not too scary.

After most of the paintings were finished I looked at skeleton and realized he/she just didn’t look cute enough without eyes. This was one of those decisions that of course didn’t make any sense academically – obviously a skeleton doesn’t have eye balls but for a children’s book character I questioned if he/she should have them. I contacted my editors and they thought about it too. In the end we all felt good about eye balls. Eye balls are a good thing. :)

I’m still in search of the perfectly illustrated picture book. I poured my heart and soul into this one. There are a few things I would change or explore a little further if given the chance – but I’m glad this one isn’t perfect. Wouldn’t it be scary to bowl or pitch a perfect game?…knowing the only direction is down from there?

 

HOW I USE PROCREATE TO DRAW ON MY IPAD

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Watch the art lesson video below for iPad tips with Procreate

In the video below, artist Will Terry, shows you how he’s using the Procreate app to make drawings for his children’s books, iPad apps, personal and professional freelance work.
He loves the Procreate app! It allows him to make high resolution drawings that he can email to his desktop and paint in Photoshop. No more running out of paper. No more pens, not having a pen, running out of lead, no more pencils, no more books, no teachers dirty looks.
Will can take his work anywhere and he can go through the entire drawing refinement process without the use of a scanner or tracing paper.
“It has made me much more productive, I can do finish work anywhere”
Will has been known to work at the doctor’s office (not as a doctor), in meetings, waiting in the car (well he is married), on airplanes, at conferences and more. He just has to remember to take enough work with him when he leaves his studio.
Enjoy the video…
To learn more about illustrating or how to paint in Photoshop, or how to illustrate children’s books, or many other great art techniques, visit FolioAcademy.com.

Folio Academy has teamed up with Kwiksher for a limited time.

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Get Four of Folio Academy’s video training courses FREE when you purchase Kwiksher. 

Bring your interactive stories to life, without code. Creating your own apps can be fun and fulfilling and now anyone can do it with Kwik 2 at kwiksher.com.

What is Kwiksher? The best way to create mobile apps from Photoshop!

click below to See Kwik in action.

Improving Your Work, Training with the Best

Alex Souza, the founder of Kwiksher says, “I am a believer that there is always space for improvement (in our lives, skills, and so on). Of course this applies to Kwik made apps.”

Picture of four bonus video courses: Beginning Photoshop for digital painting, Digital Painting in Photoshop part 1 & 2, and How to Design a Drawing

Quality is one of the top reasons for successful positions into store rankings.

Thinking about that, I partnered with Folio Academy and Will Terry, one of the top children’s book illustrators in the world, to provide quality instruction to anyone willing to improve illustration and painting skills with Photoshop.

Will’s life’s goal was to become a children’s book illustrator, and to date, he has illustrated over 25 children’s books with great publishers like Scholastic, Random House, Leap Frog, Houghton Mifflin, Dial, Albert Whitman, and Simon Schuster.

I am really a fan of what he is able to do and I believe everybody will get great insights from his blog. 

Every new Kwiksher customer (till end of April) will get the following four training videos for FREE.

Every Kwiksher customer can get a 50% discount (till end of April) on the following four training videos by Will at Folio Academy. But even better, all new customers who purchase Kwik 2 at Kwiksher.com will be given, all four of these wonderful lessons. ~Alex

 

  • How To Design A Drawing: explains what it means to design a drawing as well as an introduction to the design principles and elements. Honestly, I wish I had this information while in college;

Together, these tutorials cost US$100 so, don’t miss the opportunity to get them with the discounted price.

My Art is For Babies ?

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My 9 year old (my baby) said my art is for babies

I will admit that I am trying to appeal to a younger audience since I illustrate children’s books. Some times I have to hit the cute button a bunch of times before it looks right. (oh how i wish there was a “cute” button) So in response to my son’s accusation I wanted to see if I could still conjure something up from my junior high days of drawing sculls in the margins of my tests.


Yup – still got it.

I did this doodle out in the car while my wife did some shopping. I showed it to my youngest child, my 9 year old – he thought it was “totally bad” meaning good of course – score one for the old guy. Oh – and I fooled around with it in Photoshop to add some mood.