Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Charalambous

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 11, 2009
15
0
London
errr i hope this is the right place to post this?

anyways my name is chris, i use illustrator for the most part... and here il show you some of my work. il also update regularly with whatever im currently doing. feedback and discussion always appreciated.

MichaelJackson2a.jpg


MJyoung.jpg


MichaelJacksonSillouettesweb.jpg


Tupacwebcopy.jpg


Aliwebcopy.jpg


AmyWinehousewebcopy.jpg
 

bluetooth

macrumors 6502a
May 1, 2007
662
1
Toronto
These are VERY well done. You clearly have a lot of talent. Can I ask what the process involved was? ie. did you scan images into AI and go over them or did you freehand these in AI? Either way, I am aware of the degree of difficulty in acheiving these kinds of results.

Have you had any formal training in freehand art?

btw, only 3 are showing, I think there is 6 going by the broken link icons...
 

Charalambous

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 11, 2009
15
0
London
bluetooth, these are done entirely with the pen tool in illustrator, over a normal photo.

i do graphic design and illustration at uni, but they dont really TEACH you anything as such. this is all self taught. and il get back to your message in just a min. and no idea why only three images are showing? they come up for me?

lol lukeyboy all my work is going on sale very soon.

heres some more;

jimmyhendrixwebcopy.jpg


travisbicklewebcopy.jpg


edit: its not letting me respond to you via email, but yeah im available for freelance work. you can always contact me through this site i guess, or directly through c_charalambous@hotmail.co.uk
 

jonnos

macrumors regular
Apr 18, 2007
130
0
Sydney, Australia
lol lukeyboy all my work is going on sale very soon.

question.. are these the images you are selling?

im also studying a design course, but i was wondering..

is it alright to sell these images that you have created? will this cause any copyright issues? do you need to get permission to use the original image? though you arnt exactly using it but reworking/remixing it into a different format/design?
 

Charalambous

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 11, 2009
15
0
London
yeah these will all be for sale.

there isnt any copyright issues as im not using anything that belongs to anyone else, except as a reference.

theres a law which states that once you have changed an image to a certain degree, it is no longer the same original picture anyway, and so copyright shouldnt apply.

doesnt make much sense to me. i dont know the intricate details though, maybe somebody else does?

im not worried either way though, as i said; iv used other peoples photo's for nothing more than a reference.
 

fluidedge

macrumors 65816
Nov 1, 2007
1,365
16
These are really nice and i'm sure they've taken a lot of time and effort but couldn't they be done with the CUTOUT or PAINT DAUBS filters in PS and then touched up a bit in a fraction of the time?

I suppose nothing beats doing it by hand.
 

macjram

macrumors 6502a
Dec 20, 2008
574
3
I love vectors/vexels, but AI is too hard for me to learn, I'm too used to Photoshop. I do the same thing, but just for fun. Any tips on switching programs?
 

Designer Dale

macrumors 68040
Mar 25, 2009
3,950
100
Folding space
yeah these will all be for sale.

there isnt any copyright issues as im not using anything that belongs to anyone else, except as a reference.

Hi.

Before you go further, take a good look into British copyright law. US copyright law has a clause called "derivative works" in which the use of an existing work to create a new one is not allowed. Famous people take great care in protecting their public image, and I'm sure MJ is high on that list. Running "Michael Jackson" through Deviant Art brings up a lot of work. Some are obvious digital copies but most seem to be hand illustrated.

Your Illustrator work is very good. My first impression was that it was done with Live Trace, which you say it isn't.

I'm not being a wet washrag, I'm just suggesting that you be careful if you intend on selling someone else's image.

Dale
 

bluetooth

macrumors 6502a
May 1, 2007
662
1
Toronto
These are really nice and i'm sure they've taken a lot of time and effort but couldn't they be done with the CUTOUT or PAINT DAUBS filters in PS and then touched up a bit in a fraction of the time?

I suppose nothing beats doing it by hand.

I'm not sure you would get the same effect, similar, but not the same - although I could be wrong. It also would not be a vector but then again, you could import it as an .eps to AI and convert to outlines, but again, not sure you would get the same effect.
 

Charalambous

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 11, 2009
15
0
London
live tracing would still be vector, but it wouldnt look like that.

thanks for the advice anyways, im gona look into that law quickly. i cant see how this would be breaching any laws though.

edit: also, bluetooth, you mentioned you would add me to your 'list' if im avalable for freelance work? whats your line of work? out of interest.
 

Charalambous

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 11, 2009
15
0
London
im sorry.. but live trace would look exactly like that. with all the imperfect edges and everything.

lol oh right ok, just give me a quick example of that please. heres a photo i referenced, live trace it and show me how alike they are

tupac_covers05.jpg


and to the comment about photoshop and cutout tool etc. it wont look as good, plus itl be rasta based, no good for printing at such large sizes.

(theyr printed onto A1 btw)
 

kymac

macrumors 6502a
Nov 4, 2006
677
0
portland
lol oh right ok, just give me a quick example of that please. heres a photo i referenced, live trace it and show me how alike they are

not worth my time. also i wasn't accusing you of using live trace.. you just said it doesn't look live traced in any way, and i replied that i 100% didn't agree with that statement. but i will continue to think my own thoughts now that you're getting very defensive about an artwork that resembles the live traced look, but repeatedly claiming absolutely no live tracing was done.
 

panoz7

macrumors 6502a
Nov 21, 2005
904
1
Raleigh, NC
I ran your images through illustrator to see what a quick live trace would spit out. Didn't spend much time. I'm sure I could get it closer but there's no way a live trace is ever going to approximate the smaller details in your tracing. Yours is definitely significantly better but I can see where the comparisons are coming from. I think what makes your images look somewhat live traced are the lines created between the different colors. I've spent significant amounts of time doing similar traces in illustrator and know how difficult it can be.

If I were you I'd push your style to make it more unique. Right now you seem to be going for semi-realism... that works, but it might be interesting to push the boundaries and create something more expressive of the people your tracing's personalities. A prime example for me is shepard fairey's obama poster - which interestingly enough is currently in the middle of a lawsuit concerning some of the very copyright ideas discussed in this thread.
 

Attachments

  • livetrace.jpg
    livetrace.jpg
    220.8 KB · Views: 99

bluetooth

macrumors 6502a
May 1, 2007
662
1
Toronto
live tracing would still be vector, but it wouldnt look like that.

thanks for the advice anyways, im gona look into that law quickly. i cant see how this would be breaching any laws though.

edit: also, bluetooth, you mentioned you would add me to your 'list' if im avalable for freelance work? whats your line of work? out of interest.

I do design work, mainly print and web and also some freelance on the side. From time to time I have worked with others, such as web programmers and artists (I worked with a partner who drew a series of cartoon images for a children's book I put together).

I have had a client in the past ask for something like this as part of a project but I was not able to provide the service. My thought is that it is always good to have some contacts to contract more specific or detailed requests out to. That way, you become a lot more versatile with your services while you try to find the time to become more well rounded yourself.
 

Macky-Mac

macrumors 68040
May 18, 2004
3,509
2,557
....thanks for the advice anyways, im gona look into that law quickly. i cant see how this would be breaching any laws though.....

it would be the same laws that prevent you from printing and selling t-shirts with pictures of your favorite band.....they have a right to control how their image is used for commercial purposes

for example; if you were creating illustrations for a magazine or newspaper to illustrate an article, then you would be fine.....but printing and selling posters of those illustrations wouldn't be since it isn't anything that could be considered journalism
 

bluetooth

macrumors 6502a
May 1, 2007
662
1
Toronto
I ran your images through illustrator to see what a quick live trace would spit out. Didn't spend much time. I'm sure I could get it closer but there's no way a live trace is ever going to approximate the smaller details in your tracing. Yours is definitely significantly better but I can see where the comparisons are coming from. I think what makes your images look somewhat live traced are the lines created between the different colors. I've spent significant amounts of time doing similar traces in illustrator and know how difficult it can be.

If I were you I'd push your style to make it more unique. Right now you seem to be going for semi-realism... that works, but it might be interesting to push the boundaries and create something more expressive of the people your tracing's personalities. A prime example for me is shepard fairey's obama poster - which interestingly enough is currently in the middle of a lawsuit concerning some of the very copyright ideas discussed in this thread.

Agreed. It does not look nearly as professional, especially the finer details such as the eyes ete. Here is a Photoshop Tut that explains the process, complexity, time and details involved (tracing shapes, colouing etc.).

You can see that some of the examples at the end look pretty good, but even these results imo are not as good as the OP. It is not as easy as some people may think...it takes a lot of time and practice.

http://www.melissaclifton.com/tutorial-vector.html

http://www.melissaclifton.com/tutorial-vector3.html

Charalambous, don't worry about the posters that will pass your work off as something that can be acheived with filters and other quick features. The majority of us are aware of the time and skill it takes to create results like these. :cool:

In terms of copyright, I am not sure how that would work with renderings and as some have stated, it would likely have to do a lot with your state, province or country. I do know that here in Toronto, ON, I have seen a lot of artists selling paintings, drawings etc. of famous people on canvas and airbrushed on t-shirts etc. A lot of them set up stands downtown in the summer and display their work on the street or in shopping malls. That is not to say that they are not breaking the law however, we need someone with a law degree to chime in.
 

Charalambous

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 11, 2009
15
0
London
not worth my time. also i wasn't accusing you of using live trace.. you just said it doesn't look live traced in any way, and i replied that i 100% didn't agree with that statement. but i will continue to think my own thoughts now that you're getting very defensive about an artwork that resembles the live traced look, but repeatedly claiming absolutely no live tracing was done.

lol. constructive. thank you.

I ran your images through illustrator to see what a quick live trace would spit out. Didn't spend much time. I'm sure I could get it closer but there's no way a live trace is ever going to approximate the smaller details in your tracing. Yours is definitely significantly better but I can see where the comparisons are coming from. I think what makes your images look somewhat live traced are the lines created between the different colors. I've spent significant amounts of time doing similar traces in illustrator and know how difficult it can be.

If I were you I'd push your style to make it more unique. Right now you seem to be going for semi-realism... that works, but it might be interesting to push the boundaries and create something more expressive of the people your tracing's personalities. A prime example for me is shepard fairey's obama poster - which interestingly enough is currently in the middle of a lawsuit concerning some of the very copyright ideas discussed in this thread.

interesting, i didnt think you could even get it that good with live trace. thanks for the advice as well. i did used to try and express more, i fully understand what your saying, but these were done in partnership with a place in camden town, London, (dont know where everybody is from, anybody from london, england?) for them to sell. see even the ones with backgrounds; i just threw together because i was bored of the plain white background. tomorrow il post up some older bits and pieces. iv got ideas nicer than anything iv done though. its just a matter of time management lol.

it would be the same laws that prevent you from printing and selling t-shirts with pictures of your favorite band.....they have a right to control how their image is used for commercial purposes

for example; if you were creating illustrations for a magazine or newspaper to illustrate an article, then you would be fine.....but printing and selling posters of those illustrations wouldn't be since it isn't anything that could be considered journalism

hmm i see i see. well, the way these are being sold is not through me personally, im just the illustrator. so would the business who is actually selling them get in trouble (if at all) or would i still be held accountable? also, theres loads of pop art on ebay which is just live traced, or even just blown up pictures.... or even ******* processes which is bought and sold everyday and nobody is hassling anyone over copyright. its interesting though... definitely worth looking into.

Agreed. It does not look nearly as professional, especially the finer details such as the eyes ete. Here is a Photoshop Tut that explains the process, complexity, time and details involved (tracing shapes, colouing etc.).

You can see that some of the examples at the end look pretty good, but even these results imo are not as good as the OP. It is not as easy as some people may think...it takes a lot of time and practice.

http://www.melissaclifton.com/tutorial-vector.html

http://www.melissaclifton.com/tutorial-vector3.html

Charalambous, don't worry about the posters that will pass your work off as something that can be acheived with filters and other quick features. The majority of us are aware of the time and skill it takes to create results like these. :cool:

In terms of copyright, I am not sure how that would work with renderings and as some have stated, it would likely have to do a lot with your state, province or country. I do know that here in Toronto, ON, I have seen a lot of artists selling paintings, drawings etc. of famous people on canvas and airbrushed on t-shirts etc. A lot of them set up stands downtown in the summer and display their work on the street or in shopping malls. That is not to say that they are not breaking the law however, we need someone with a law degree to chime in.

glad you understand lol. very much appreciated. id like to see some of your work if theres anything you can link me to?

here is my myspace for anyone who may be interested in seeing some older work; http://www.myspace.com/c_charalambous i dont really use it these days, i check it about once a month and havnt updated it in about 2 years... but yeah, there it is. im going to be launching my website sometime in the near future though. theres nothing to really see yet, but; http://www.charalambousdesign.com lol i havnt done any work on the site in about 2 months now. really should get back onto that...

all feedback and discussion much appreciated people.
 

bluetooth

macrumors 6502a
May 1, 2007
662
1
Toronto
Hey, I'm not at my mac at the moment (on vaca) but will email you some samples when I get back next month if you are still interested.

Cheers
 

Charalambous

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 11, 2009
15
0
London
il be waiting lol.

here is some older stuff, all of this was done on photoshop, none of it was done for sale. just me teaching myself and err... i dunno. here;

Sway_by_Graffiti_Artist.jpg

January, 2006

Eminem_by_Graffiti_Artist.jpg

January, 2006

Top_10_Dead_or_Alive__Jay_Z_by_Graffiti_Artist.jpg

September, 2005

Plan_B_by_Graffiti_Artist.jpg

December, 2005

il soon start to put up some hand drawn work, cd covers and whatever else i can find.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.