Proportion (Jayesh)

Stylization and exaggeration of the human figure is way cool and we encourage it, however you still need to keep in mind where exaggeration works and where it doesn’t. Just remember that when stylizing you should still be paying attention to the basic rules of proportion.

We’ve used the classic ‘proportions of man’ to demonstrate. Example 1, on the left, shows a myriad of proportional mistakes. The head is too small, the arms are all different lengths, the hands and feet vary in size from honkin’ huge to miniscule, and the legs are too short. This is one weird looking dude, and it’s clearly not because of artistic license.

The man in Example 2, while highly stylized, follows an actual human’s proportions much more closely. The limbs are all the correct lengths and the hands are the right size (remember, a human hand is approximately the same size as a face). Here’s a great example of how to create a distinctive style and feel while maintaining an accurate human proportion.

The Little Things (Bortonia)

Small mistakes, like layers getting shuffled in the wrong order, mismatched perspectives or proportional inaccuracies can often mean the difference between acceptance and rejection. Before you go nuts and add tons of detail, take a long hard look at your base shapes. Is the perspective correctly applied to every object? Are all the shapes organized onto the correct layers? How are the proportions working out? The key here is to identify problem areas before you add the finishing touches.

Example 1 has a lot going for it: lovely colors, a nice composition and a useable concept. Too bad the proportions of the woman are so off! Her legs are different lengths/widths and there’s a lack of articulation in her wrists, elbows, knees and ankles Her curves are more angular than round and she looks stiff and awkward. Her hands are such clumsy mittens we’re amazed she can hold onto her martini (the contents of which are angled against gravitational pull, incidentally). No amount of nice shading and highlights can salvage this poor woman.

Example 2 has the exact same background, the same amount of detail and the same shading… But what a difference a correctly proportioned body can make! Limbs were angled into many different positions before striking the right balance between curve and angle. Once the body looked right the details were added. Bottom’s up.

Click of a Button? (from the team, with love)

Much like Photoshop, Illustrator’s filters can be activated with the click of a button to create things like fuzzy lines, puckered shapes, waves, swoops, bulges; the list goes on and on. Distort and Stylize filters can save you from blood, sweat and tears but only when used wisely.

Single-click effects don’t necessarily make great stock images when submitted on their own. People don’t like spending money on vectors that any monkey with access to a computer could create. Don’t be afraid to learn how to use your pen tool, leave the filters to the newbies.

The following effects were created with a single mouse-click… And it shows. Yawn.