Perseverance Pays! & Digital vs. Analogue - Book Cover Final

Today I learnt the very valuable lesson of perseverance and experimentation, and not giving up when a piece doesn't seem to be falling together as planned. ALSO that creating half decent digital pieces on photoshop isn't always the impossible hell hole it previously seemed to be.

See, I find digital work difficult. I like the look of other's digital work, I appreciate the power of photoshop and the unlimited amazing things you can achieve using it, I accept that there are inevitable benefits of digital over analogue and I admit that when used correctly it can make creative work a whole lot easier/more fulfilling/more exciting etc.

BUT when I come to use it, something happens. Some kind of wall seems to build itself and I get stuck, I don't know what I want to create or how to create it, or whether what I'm making looks good or bad or how to make it better. I sometimes feel like by putting my workflow onto a screen my image making ability shrivels up and my taste hides away with it and I just get stuck.

This issue I face with digital is probably just due to 2 parts inexperience, 2 parts ignorance  and 6 parts prejudice, but today, I pushed through that and created something I am now relatively happy with in the form of my final book cover.

 So, I started with what I know, that is analogue, namely watercolour and brush pen, to create my base images to then work on/into a final cover on photoshop.




















As expected I hit the usual block, feeling as if none of the images actually worked together, or looked professional and strongly considering to sack it as a failed idea and resort to what I know, but pushing through that, playing around with the images further, asking friends for advice and just generally not giving up was the BEST thing I could have done, and I have ended up with a cover that I am happy to show people, that I am fairly proud of and happy to look at.

I want to try and continue to push my digital work and persevere past the usual block situation. I see other illustrators who have mastered digital work and it just blows my mind as to how they have managed to layer textures and images so beautifully and skilfully. Scanning in found textures and patterns is something i want to start investing time in also, so having an application for these and a confidence in how to use them effectively will be useful.