Children's Book, Vector type help Options

[Datrooper]

Ok, well first off, I'll explain the project that needs to be done. I have to create a children's book, and then translate it to a foreign language, i'm going to be using spanish since i speak spanish as a second lang. Well, i've decided that my book is going to be about a tomato who is upset because he doesn't fit in, and is made fun of by his other vegtable friends for being different and abnormally shaped. Now, if it's a children's book, i should do vectors right? And then, what should i use for drawing the vectors? I have almost all of cs3, so that's not a problem. I'm fairly new to vectoring, are there any tutorials that will help me with shading and such? I hope that was understandable Thanks in advance!

[manny-the-dino]

Try these links:
http://www.rnel.net/search/photoshop/vector-tutorials-1
http://www.melissaclifton.com/tutorial-vector.html
http://www.heathrowe.com/vector.aspx

I don't know anything about vectoring so that's as far as I can go with helping you. But there are other people on here that will gladly help you out.

[technicolour]

Can you draw? Do you know how to work the pen tool (which I am assuming will be in Photoshop/Illustrator since you mentioned CS3)?



You need story boards. Those will definitely help you out. What I would do is sketch out (if you draw and even then just shapes to represent what you want will help) the story. Figure out what will go on what page along with the text of the story. Once you have this figured out, then I would worry about learning the vectoring ish that you'll need.

[Datrooper]

I know how to work the pen tool, and I drew my tomato in illustrator, and now i just need to add the shading to it, then i'll start drawing the rest of the scene, and yea, i kinda do have a storyboard, just inside my head haha, however, i'm not the best at drawing, but i'm not bad at drawing in illustrator

[technicolour]

I honestly would recommend thinking it out somehow. Maybe not story boards but writing then what you want on each page. I really think it'll help you with organizing your thoughts and making the book a lot more organized as well.

[schizo]

I'm in the middle of a project just like that...Good luck. It's taking me forever.

Anyway, I picked up my shading techniques and such by looking at other vectors similar to what I was planning on doing. It helps to have some sort of grasp on light and shadows beforehand.

[Datrooper]

Ok, i'll give all of your suggestions a shot, heres what i have so far for my spanish tomato, his name is: Tomás el Tomate

[fixtatik]

lol, that looks like bob the tomato from veggie tales. if you can draw a vector, i'm sure you could make sketches on paper. what i'd suggest doing (if you have a scanner), is drawing the entire book by hand, in pencil. that will give you far more control over the characters.

then, scan them into photoshop or illustrator, and use the pen tool to trace them in detail. or, you could use live trace in illustrator to save the time of tracing, and just touch up parts that illustrator didn't get perfectly.

[manny-the-dino]

Ok, i'll give all of your suggestions a shot, heres what i have so far for my spanish tomato, his name is: Tomás el Tomate

http://img412.imageshack.us/img412/7914/tomas.png

Omg that's so cute! I agree that he looks like the tomato from Veggie Tale haha. But I like it. Can't wait to see the rest of your characters.

[technicolour]

Ooh. Wow. It looks a LOT like Bob. Uhm. Give him a more..curly mustache, maybe?



Something like that? To make him a little more..Spanish, ish?

But he's cute! I just think he looks wayyy toooo much like Bob.

[Datrooper]

Yeah, sadly not too many tomatos look different, and theres not too many ways to draw a tomato, but I'll add the curly moustache, i agree it will make him more spanish, then i guess i'll start shading him, if i can't think of any ways to change him so he's not too bobish

[fixtatik]

it's not so much the shape of the tomato as it is the eyes and mouth (and nose, really). yours has the same grin and eye shape as bob's. maybe you could add a little more detail to the eyes (like irises and reflections), and change the smile.

[technicolour]

it's not so much the shape of the tomato as it is the eyes and mouth (and nose, really). yours has the same grin and eye shape as bob's. maybe you could add a little more detail to the eyes (like irises and reflections), and change the smile.

I agree. It really is the eyes and nose. Try what he said. :)

[livwho]

El tomate es mas bonita que Bob. Esta mexicana! Buena suerta.

(Sorry, I suck at Spanish.)

[Datrooper]

Haha i didn't get that too well, i'm not sure if it's me or you, i kinda got like


The tomato is pretty, but it looks a lot like bob. Not sure what suerta is?