It was...the salmon loaf.

[redehlert]

Hey, I'm working on some salmon illustrations. Out of character for a medical illustrator. I'm actually 'filling' in the fish digitally (all in Photoshop) but only have 4-5 hours per fish. For some, that may be plenty of time, but these are pretty detailed. My question to anyone out there is this: Is there a quick solution/technique to get a scaley visual feel aside from drawing out each scale (which my client does not have the $$ for)? I'm open to any techniques within Photoshop or even if there is a relatively simple Painter solution, I'm good with that too.

Appreciate the assist! Below are three images @ 800 pxl wide- CHUM and SOCKEYE male salmon, and a SOCKEYE female salmon (currently in progress, 2 hours into it).

Oh, and any thoughts on a slick background would be fun to entertain as well. I'm open to ideas. The links have been provided below to save on bandwidth. If you're new to these images, please click on the links to be brought up to speed.

Peace!
D


Click here to see Male Chum sample. (http://www.cognitionstudio.com/conceptart/chum_spwn_mal_prfMar01.jpg)
Click here to see Male Sockeye sample. (http://www.cognitionstudio.com/conceptart/sockeye_spwn_mal_prfMar31.jpg)
Click here to see Female Sockeye sample. (http://www.cognitionstudio.com/conceptart/sockeye_spwn_fem_prfApr01.jpg)

[Chris Beatrice]

There is a pretty easy way to save some time with this in Photoshop. First, make a repeating scale pattern (consisting of just one or two scales). It needs to be a square or rectangle that can "tile" perfectly, i.e. if you were to lay out multiple instances of it in a grid it would result in a seamless scale pattern. There are a few ways to create this, and I think Photoshop can even automate some of that.

Then select it with the rectangle select tool, and hit edit/define pattern. You can then select any area you want and fill it with the scale pattern you've made. You might try doing this as an underlay, overlay, etc.

You can also make a brush shaped like a scale, then just stamp it down repeatedly.

With both methods, you'll still need to do some shading and highlighting work, obviously, but this type of patterning goes a long way at getting you started.

[redehlert]

Hey Chris,
I appreciate your time and assistance on this matter. I'm not too good on using patterns, but after what you wrote and what a friend of mine suggested, I ended up doing the ole offset option and creating a pattern through multiple repeats of one scale, then two, then four, then eight...you get the idea. Below is the result of that work as well as an added environment which is temporary until I get a better grab of the footage. But it gets the idea across.

Cheers and thanks for the input...anyone else out there? Input and thoughts are welcomed. I know it's not 'concept' art, but it's art, right?

D

Click here to see progress on Male Sockeye sample. (http://www.cognitionstudio.com/conceptart/sockeye_spwn_mal_prfApr02.jpg)

[Chris Beatrice]

Cool. BTW, I loved the title of your post!

[redehlert]

Sweet!
As for the title....it was either that or 'fish heads, fish heads, roley-poley fish heads...fish heads, fish heads...eat them up....yum!' But that was too long.

Again...thanks for the time and assist!

D

[fukifino]

Maybe you should try some fish rubbing (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=13698&highlight=fish+rubbing)

(Sorry, I couldn't help bringing that topic back up...)

The fish look good..but those scales look awefully fine. Are salmon scales that small? (I'm not a fish expert...that's why I ask)

[redehlert]

And yet another revision thanks to my friend, Don Barnett.
I've dropped the background so as to not conflict with the salmon as much. Plus, I've dropped some of the scales so as to give hints of scales. As for size, it brings a smile to my face to say 'i know' fukifino: there are hundreds of scales on a salmon (no, I'm not counting how many) and they are that small in relation to the body.
See the new version below. It will be a work in progress, but I appreciate the input and thougths!

Cheers!
D

Click here to see more progress on Male Sockeye sample. (http://www.cognitionstudio.com/conceptart/sockeye_spwn_mal_prfApr02a.jpg)

[fukifino]

Ahh yeah..the suggestion method is much better.

[Chris Beatrice]

The way you've done the scales is a little flat to me, though you've concealed it well. I certainly understand the reality of the time constraints you're facing, and I think you've come up with a great solution. Probably only the folks on this site would even notice! Your average fish afficionado (afishionado?) would be very happy with these, I think.

[redehlert]

Thanks Guys...

I'm going to do one more revision to the male sockeye with minor scale edits as well as a subtle hint of the watery environment from suggestion. Will repost later on this morning. I'm grateful for the input you two have given me!

Cheers,
d

[redehlert]

Okay...now I'm getting much happier with the results and think this is how I'll be playing out the female sockeye as well. I took away a few more scales on the body and left them showing up at the base of the tail and in the shadowy regions of the belly and in the darker regions (stripes). The background is a combo of my first bg and the last post. This combo creates a soft and subtle hint of the watery environment and utilizes the water brush strokes to pull it together. I blurred the snot out of the background to not compete with the foreground fish.

Chris - let me know if these scales don't look flat anymore. If you have any thoughts on how I might improve upon this, do tell. Thanks!

Fukifino - how's this version?

Don - what say you...yeah, neah?

Peace!
d

http://www.cognitionstudio.com/conceptart/sck_spwn_mal_prfApr05.jpg

[Chris Beatrice]

God, it's so subtle. In the second to last piece, the scale pattern looked like a 2d screen applied over the whole piece, then obscured here and there with highlights, etc. In the last piece, I don't get that at all. I can't tell if you've just downplayed the pattern more, or if you've distorted it to look more like the scales are wrapping around the fish.

I'll say this, though: DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT ANYMORE!
These look great.

[fukifino]

I'm with Chris...this last one is great.

I think he just worked the pattern a little...it looks like he accented a few scales and generally just obscured the pattern under a tiny application of "randomness". Seems to be workin'.

[redehlert]

Hey! I'm posting the fem fatale Sockeye in this post. This is the last one I get to do until the client gives the go ahead for more...sigh...just when you get in the groove of things. The process is getting quicker and much more enjoyable!
The work done on the scales were fx in photoshop with gradient patterns and masking.
Chris - in the male, I did indeed downplay the overall 'number' of visible scales. No distortion to convey a wrapping effect...that was done with the masking.
Fukifino - hmm...randomness...I may try that effect to see what happens. Thanks for that little tip.

On with the show....let me know what you think.

Cheers!
D

http://www.cognitionstudio.com/conceptart/sck_spwn_fem_prfApr06.jpg