How to Draw A Chaud Woman with Adobe

Step #1...Follow the footsteps of the great ones.

Meet the awesome artwork of Adam Hughes. Known as the "Good Girl Artist," he currently is one of the hottest artists to work covers etc. Since I suffer from copy cat-itus, a wretched condition where I only draw well from others photos or art (not from my scratch i.e. from my empty head), I figure a Chaud Woman must be of Adam Hughes' caliber. (Sidenote if you have time Google the word "Chaud").

Step #2...Realize why they are great

So when I get done with my sketch I know why I never went into the art industry--talent like Adam Hughes scared me out the effort. I was better a few years ago, but am seeming to have some rust to knock off.

Step#3...Get with the times!

Next I scan my sketch using my new spiffy HP 3310 all-in-one printer. Not a bad home multi-purpose printer (shameless plug for HP in hopes I get a small stipend or maybe a t-shirt). Once scanned I send the image to Adobe Photoshop Elements to do clean-up. I also wish to experiment with the effects with this awesome program (the plugs keep falling out of me like bad words at a sailor's house!). Now I plug (ha- I said "plug") in my Wacom tablet which enables me to draw with a "pen and tablet". I love this tool and it is a very cool gift if you have any friends or relatives that really like to draw or tinker with photos. (I just can't stop plugging stuff! Someone help me!) I then create a layer to trace the lines I want to keep and start to add some tones (I could use color but wanted a sketch look).

Step #4...Shady Shading

So now the experimenting truly begins. I can add some color, then smudge, blur and thus blend almost like a pencil drawing. Looks better but the downside is it very time consuming. The upside? If I used a pencil and eraser my living room is covered in eraser chunks.

Step #5...Take a break and have fun this is all just a hobby

Words I say to myself when I glance over at the incredible art of these comic books folks and then stare at my mess. It is fun none-the-less. I may just print the outlines and then render the rest with pencil, either way when I am done I will post it for you Chaud. The progess is going along much faster while I search for a job. Being bored and amused with these here computer thingys, I thought I would post this mess for fun. Hope to see as many of your 50s this weekend in RV.

--Baba