How I Create

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Some people are puzzled by how I create my art, I overheard one chap telling his friends "its all done with Photoshop" hopefully the following might help explain the process in a little more detail.   The poster depicts HMAS Castlemaine, one of sixty Australian built Bathurst Class corvettes to serve throughout World War II and is the last of its class still afloat as a museum ship.

STEP 1

For me, the first stage of any ship drawing is to define the hull, as everything else flows from and around this basic shape.  This stage actually takes some considerable time as you need to ensure it is right, as every other part of the illustration is built around it.  Get a shape wrong at this stage and it will only compound the error over the rest of the illustration.

 STEP 2

Always a nice feeling to add some colour to the illustration.  Also breaks up the mass of black lines and gives you a feel for how the final poster will look.

 STEP 3

Next step is to open another 'layer' and start the next section on a seperate overlay.  This makes it easier to work on individual sections of the artwork.

Time to draw the upper deck which begins to define the shape of the ship and to develop its charactor. 

STEP 4

Much the same process as in Step 2.  Colour in the various elements and shade them in order to give the illustration perspective and interest. 

STEP 5 

Combine the coloured sections from Step 2 & 4 and the Castlemaine is beginning to take shape.  A flag, big numbers and some guns help to add interest to the ship.