Experiments With Digital Collage

I always insist on making something that has at least ONE handmade component, even when the approach is digital. When I designed the website http://www.carboncitylights.com, for example, one of the mandatories was a handdrawn approach to the digital design.

Yesterday I sketched a green pepper with the intention of creating a collage sketch for use on a larger work. Turns out I rather enjoy the digital illustration in itself!

Here are steps involved in creating it:

I photographed this pepper at home the night before, right before bed. I tore it open for a quick snack and HAD to draw it.

I did a pen sketch of the pepper on paper, which I then scanned. I converted the scanned drawing into Black and White, and began collaging digital elements in Photoshop.

The finished sketch has elements of the handdrawn, and is overlaid with visual collage components that I find interesting (newspapers, electronic maps, etc).