Design Chapel

Regular readers of Computer Arts will remember the name Robert Lindstrm from issue 82 in April of this year, when we ran a showcase of his superb illustrative work as our lead profile. In that profile, we featured several of the 'nun illustrations' that have adorned hundreds of desktops - including those in the CA office. Have a look at DesignChapel, his online portfolio site, at www.designchapel.com to refresh your memory.

The photograph this tutorial is based on was taken outside a chapel in Bonnstan, Skellefte¥ - which Lindstrm refers to as a "300-year-old churchtown in the north of Sweden." The model is Charlotta Lundqvist, who runs the design firm Chalet Design and has also made the clothing worn by models in the series. "The concept behind them is 'nuns' inspired by fashion and design," says Lindstrm. "Some of the 'nuns' are good but most of them are quite bad because of their sexy style, therefore they are rejected by the local priests - like the one in this image - The Rejected Nun."

He continues: "With this tutorial, I will show how easy it is to make great illustrations based on photos using the fast and easy-to-use Pen tool in Photoshop, and how to colour successfully in Flash. I have received hundreds of emails from people who have asked me how these illustrations are made, and my response is always that it's a very simple process. The technique is perfect if you want to use good-looking illustrations on the Web too, because you have maximum control over the size of your images - the nun images at www.designchapel.com are all around 30KB."

According to Lindstrm, how good the illustration will be depends on how much time you can spend on it. "The most challenging part will be in Flash, when you need to set the different tones so it looks good. The details are very, very important. I recommend using a Wacom tablet for this tutorial, if you have one."

INFO Tutorial and artwork by Robert Lindstrm, www.designchapel.com

Click here to download the tutorial for free