[Azeem]

I think the face texture looks a bit off, especially around the eyebrows. Some of the edges need work - any suggestions?

Captain Picard by ~Azeem786 on deviantART

[sub]

Is this an Illustration or a trace?
Either way what's it for?

[Do Gooder]

make it so

[Tom_E]

Reminds me of Freddie Kruger!

[Azeem]

Originally Posted by sub

Is this an Illustration or a trace?
Either way what's it for?

I did it just to practice with vectors really.

[emil]

auto trace? or freehand?
If it's freehand the technique looks nice, but the shapes are to erratic, might be worth smoothing them a bit. If it's auto trace, boo

[Azeem]

Originally Posted by emilpaun

auto trace? or freehand?
If it's freehand the technique looks nice, but the shapes are to erratic, might be worth smoothing them a bit. If it's auto trace, boo

I did it freehand with the pen tool in Fireworks 8 - it was a bloody nightmare getting some bits done - like the eye area. It's the same technique that I used for my Columbo drawing, but this time I wanted to make the face more detailed:

Columbo by ~Azeem786 on deviantART

I don't think fireworks has autotrace, but I tend not to use it anyway as its a bit erratic at times.

[emil]

I remember now. Not to keen on the jagged paths myself. Vectors should be smooth. But it looks good nevertheless.

[Azeem]

Originally Posted by emilpaun

I remember now. Not to keen on the jagged paths myself. Vectors should be smooth. But it looks good nevertheless.

Yeah - I think how professionals do it in Illustrator is they user the mesh tool. Still to try it, but it should help my illustrations look better.

[emil]

I never use the mesh tool. what I meant by smooth is reduce the number of anchor points you use. If you use perpendicular handles paths will be more predictable, too.

[Azeem]

Originally Posted by emilpaun

I never use the mesh tool. what I meant by smooth is reduce the number of anchor points you use. If you use perpendicular handles paths will be more predictable, too.

Hmm.

I was looking at some other vectors like this:

Look Away.... by ~finalknightxx on deviantART

And the way the gradients flows look very complex and like they need to be dome with mesh or something. Also the edges are less jagged i guess :/

[emil]

that is mesh indeed, but just a waste of time if you ask me. just take a decent photo and be done with it.

have a look here
IllustratorWorld
IllustratorWorld
IllustratorWorld
and generally around the illustratorworld.com galleries and fora for some cool examples.

[Azeem]

Ahh, I see what you mean by less jagged now. They look much more stylized compared to the near photo perfect ones.

Thanks for the links.

[jack]

Don't see the point of trying to do photo-realist vectors, unless your going to give it some unreal twist. They have no character (although technically superb in some cases)