EMELBI

Digital Artist and Illustrator

Procreate

The Importance of Joining In

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I created this quick portrait illustration working with Year 6 students at Birkby Junior School in Huddersfield. They had already been taken through the process of how to make their own versions in a workshop I delivered earlier in the week. There were 12 students that had an extra bonus session with me at the end of main workshops. I took them through the process again but this time looking at making further embellishments, adding extra detail and shading etc. They were all very keen to see me go through the whole process on my own from start to finish. So this image came out of the hour we spent together.

I often show my work and present plenty of examples in slide shows when running workshops. I am meticulous when taking students through the method or the working process regarding how to achieve certain outcomes. Often there is no time for me to work along side my students and create something with them. That’s because much of my time is focused on answering questions, trouble shooting and going over things that were perhaps misunderstood during the tutorial. This is something that is very much needed when young people are working with technology that they are not used to. Creative workshops are fabulous things to get lost in, but when people are unfamiliar with the tech, it does need that extra support structure, so my time is divided during these creative sessions.

So on this occasion it was nice to have the time to work with a set of students and show them what I did in real time so to speak. It certainly helped them diversify their process and lead to more in depth outcomes.

Blog post of their work coming soon.

© EMELBI 2024 – All Rights Reserved

2 Early 2 B Late

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This is a revamp of an old image. I never really did finish it back in the day, although I may have posted the image in various places. So I took what I had into Procreate, which was the file with just the simple line drawing and some strong colour flats in the layers, then messed around with some textures and colour washes. I then exported it back to Photoshop and put some finishing touches to the portrait.
Colour variations achieved in iColorama with some colour corrections later in Photoshop regarding all of the variations.

Why do I rework old images?

Sometimes I browse through my hard drives, usually looking for something specific and I do get distracted at times by old work. If I find something that feels unfinished, or perhaps was finished but now I feel could be improved upon, I have no qualms with taking it in hand and reworking the image.

We change, we progress, we constantly learn, we sometimes look at things differently, especially when there has been some elapsing of time etc. It’s good to want to make something better and I feel that reworking old images can sometime breath new energy and life into new creations and bring about new ideas. Digital files certainly makes this process easier. Creativity, it’s all good stuff really. There are no rules!

Finished Image

Colour Variations

Pleckgate High School – Digital Portrait Illustration Workshop with EMELBI 2023

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Brilliant work from the Year 10 students at Pleckgate High School.

Both the year 10 classes I worked with produced some lovely imagery. Working mainly in Procreate to build the initial illustrations, they further developed their work using various other apps, adding filters, colour treatments and textural fills.

It’s always nice to work across various apps, each one bringing a slightly alternative feel to the creative process. Once you have a solid image to work with you can make multiple versions of the imagery and have various outcomes.

If you know my personal work, you will know that this is something that I explore quite a bit.

Check out these lovely images from the Year 10’s at Pleckgate High School.

Student Sketchbook Examples – Based on My Work

Bridgewater Primary School – Digital Portrait Workshops 2023

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Creating Self Portraits in Procreate with Bridgewater Primary School

This lovely school booked me in to deliver my Digital Portrait Workshops and I got to work with years 2, 3, 4 ,5 and 6.

I will never tire of these portrait workshops. Young people always come up with the most fabulous and diverse imagery. The children at Bridgewater Primary School in Manchester were no exception. Some really expressive work came out of these sessions. I especially love some of the colour use and the exploration and treatment of form.

Here are a selection of images from across the year groups. Brilliant work from all of them.

Year 2

Year 3

Year 4

Year 5

Year 6

Feathers McBeaky – Digital Character Illustration

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Feathers McBeaky – Ill Equipped For The City

I really like this character. Feathers McBeaky is a brightly feathered bird (genus unknown) who has spent far too long in the big, dirty city. Looking slightly dishevelled, a little oily and wearing a tatty scarf, he’s going about his business of surviving in the large urban sprawl.

There is something deliciously exciting about having created the initial line drawing of any illustration. Knowing that you are about to embark on a journey of detailing and colour forming, making decisions about the mood and feel of where you want the artwork to go. There are times when I work differently, where I paint and/or illustrate in a manner that doesn’t require a strong line drawing at the outset. But more often than not my style often follows the procedure of line drawing then colouration, adding of textures, shaping of the composition and all other components that go into making the imagery. In this case I have also added a graphic element such as text placement using a bold font and then blending that graphic aspect into the image.

Every image that you produce as an artist is its own journey. Even if you have a set style or a certain way of doing something. Each new image is a brand new experience by virtue of the fact that it is a brand new piece of artwork and therefore to a certain extent, a new experience. I feel that I always learn something new each and every time I create an image. Which is a good reason to create more and more imagery. Maybe the best reason.

It’s my intention to do a lot more character illustrations based on fauna. Birds and fish especially I think. Watch this space.

© EMELBI 2023 – All Rights Reserved

Initial Procreate Line Sketch

Procreate Edit

Post Procreate, Photoshop Finished Image

Original Finished Image and Colour Versions

 Watch the illustration come together in the YouTube video

Easter Bunny – Digital Character Illustration

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Easter Bunny – Post Easter Weekend Bunny Business

I wanted to do an illustration of the Easter Bunny. I imagined that he might have been dressed in a smart suit getting on with the job of hiding all the eggs. A smart Easter Bunny out doing business.

In this image the Easter Bunny looks like he has had a weary day and is more than a little fatigued from his annual chore, which he has just fulfilled. You know, hiding countless chocolate eggs for millions of children. It’s a tough job after all. Having put in such a long shift he has tired eyes but is still full of love for the job that he does diligently every year without fuss or complaint.

I like how this image evolved from the initial line prompt sketch. In the video you can see me correcting the line image a few times until I was happy with how he looked. Thereafter, I got on with the task of colouring and adding detail. I also love how basic the initial line prompt sketch is. This is the beauty of doing these fast illustrations. Character can just jump right out at you even in the simplest form and give you something to get your teeth into in terms of further embellishment. You can see the same character in the early drawing, the mainstay of the mood and expression. It’s carried through to the finished article.

I wonder what the Easter Bunny does for the rest of the year? Works in stocks and shares? He’s got the suit for it.

© EMELBI 2023 – All Rights Reserved

 

Initial Line Prompt Sketch

 

 

Procreate & Photoshop Edit

 

 

Original Finished Image and Colour Versions

 

 

Watch the illustration come together in the YouTube video

 

Hoodie Bun Bun – Line Prompt Sketching

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What is Line Prompt Sketching?

There are a few different types of sketching that I do when I’m creating imagery. Full on sketch book sketches with detail, shading and colour using various mediums. Pen and/or pencil sketches with hatching, cross hatching and shading detail. There are also these super quick line drawings which I like to call ‘Line Prompt Sketches’. These line drawings are made really quickly. I tend to get into a groove with them and can produce about 30 to 40 images in the space of half an hour. Granted, some are more successful than others but I love this way of working. More often that not I’m pleasantly surprised with the  imagery that comes out of me.

Drawing is a joy and having done it for so many years I’m really comfortable with putting pen to paper. In fact I find comfort in it. When making these simple line sketches I try not to think too much about what I’m going to draw at the outset. I tend to start with a shape and then add whatever jumps into my head. Ears, eyes, horns, teeth, lips, ears, dribble, incidental marks and symbols, whatever! The process is fluid and organic. An immediate response, ink on paper. Although it does tend to end up being a character of some description. Working like this produces a lot of imagery as you can imagine. The drawings that I like I turn into full on illustrations, like the one below.

The final illustrations can stray slightly or even vastly away from the original line work and become something completely different, such is the beauty of the creative journey. Other times I remain faithful to the original line prompt and just add a bulk of colour, texture and atmosphere using Procreate and Photoshop. Which is what I have done with this illustration.

Becoming comfortable with drawing as an absolute must for any budding artist. Putting down all inhibitions and just drawing for the love of it is liberating and often throws up all sorts of amazing results. Doing, rather than not doing, is the key to it. If you draw often and get comfortable with your own process, that’s when the magic opens up and creating imagery becomes pure joy. Exciting in fact.

My advice is this. Don’t ever be afraid of making mistakes or doing something wrong. Happy accidents can occur and take you on even more journeys of creative discovery. Tumble down the rabbit hole into Wonderland. You might well end up with characters like Hoodie Bun Bun.

Have a go at creating multiple drawings really quickly. Get a whole load of lines down on paper as quick as possible. At the very least it will open up some new ideas and insights.

In the past I have also called this process a ‘Nimble Line Bimble’! You know, taking a line for a quick walk etc. (“,)

© EMELBI 2023 – All Rights Reserved

 

Initial Line Prompt Sketch

 

 

Procreate Edit

 

 

Post Procreate, Photoshop Edit

 

 

See how the illustration came together in the video below

 

Photoshop Edit – Colour Versions

 

 

The Spirited Drifter – Accidental Pop Art

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I’ve said it before and I will say it again, I love to explore the multiple possibilities of a single image.

This image, entitled ‘The Spirited Drifter’ is a great example of what I mean by this. Over all I am presenting 107 images here. Actually, 108 if you include the quick line sketch which is where this image started. Ok, OK 109 if  you include the featured image above.

This example of image exploration is just scratching the surface. In all honesty, these are just colour and tonal explorations. Imagine multiplying that by a slew of subtle graphic adjustments, then saving those files as individual images. Then adding numerous and major graphic updates where upon more tonal and colour enhancements are introduced etc. The possibilities are infinite. It could bend your head just thinking about it. There’s also something exciting and beautiful in the grouping of these images in a way that you can scan across them all, view and appraise them against each other.

I posted 9 of these images in a grid formation to an art forum recently. It was a single image made out of multiple images. Someone referenced that I had presented it in a ‘Pop Art’ kind of way. I had never really thought about it in those terms, but I suppose when you consider Andy Warhol’s ‘Campbell’s Soup Cans’ or his ‘Marilyn Diptych’ silkscreen artwork, you can see the connection.

Multiple versions of one image can also be seen in the brilliant artwork made be Takashi Murakami. His ‘Flower Superflat’ is a fine example of how well this can work. The same graphic, multiple colour variation, all put together to form one image. Quite marvellous if you ask me. 

It was never my intention to create Pop Art. But in a way, I guess that’s what I’ve been doing.

© EMELBI 2023 – All Rights Reserved

Initial Line Prompt Sketch

 

One of the challenges that I have set myself recently is to do 100 drawings in a day. The target is to do this twice a week. At the end of the week I will have a lot of material to chose from with the idea to form new work. The drawings don’t have to be complicated or detailed necessarily, just a generation of some strong ideas. Sketches that might spark an idea or have the beginnings of a strong character. My intention is to do them quickly but in a considered way, using reference material and photographs as well as forming randomly made up characters. This is where the above sketch came from. I thought it was strong enough to develop and it eventually turned into this mini project.

 

Procreate Edit

 

 

Procreate Edit – Colour Versions

 

 

Post Procreate, Photoshop Edit

 

 

Photoshop Edit – Colour Versions

 

 

Final – Zombie Edits

 

 

See how the illustration came together in the video below

 

 

St. Stives – Journey Line

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Journey Line – The lesson Learned

A Compulsion to Create

This character is called St. Stives. Named because I drew the sketch in St Ives, Cornwall. I like using certain attachments, loose or otherwise, regarding the naming of my work. Not always, but more often than not. These cherubim style characters are a new thing. Angelic little faces yet coloured and textured with a dirty, rough style, as is my process.

Every time an artist makes a mark there comes a promise of something new. Perhaps not always fantastic and maybe not always finished. But something new regardless. Even if the sketchbook page is torn out, disregarded or destroyed, something new would have occurred. The journey of line is something that I am compelled to explore daily. Almost obsessively. It wasn’t always like that. There were times when I could go for days, weeks even months without drawing something or making a mark. Now I just have a constant and inescapable urge to create, to jot down at least some reference of an idea in one form or another. Much of this has come from my own experiences through creativity and what it means to me to be an artist, mixed with my own philosophies regarding forward movement in life, who I am, and what makes me tick in general. What do I mean by this?

Anxiety and Imposter Syndrome

Am I good enough? Could I be better? Am I where I want to be? These and many other questions often enter the minds of the creative professional. I feel that most artists, at least most of the ones that I have met, have an overwhelming urge to be better and constantly get better in their individual pursuits. This might not be the most surprising statement to make, after all, we all strive to be good at what we do and perhaps be the best that we can be in any given pursuit in life. There was a time, many years ago, when I found that my constant need to get better meant that I got into a space where I wouldn’t create art unless I knew it was going to be better than the last thing that I made. What a terrible place that was. Such a ridiculous burden to put upon one’s self. It was not without a whole heap of anxiety issues to boot.

Once I noticed that this was a destructive place to have got to, that it was stopping me from putting my foot forward and isolating me from the very thing that I loved doing, I knew I had to change the script. So I did!

I’m Good Enough

Experience helps you get better!

A bold statement, but for the most part experience of something in a positive or negative sense is going to make you more aware of what that thing is. You will gather a greater knowledge of how to deal with it, how it works and an awareness of how you react to whatever that something is. Regarding art and creativity, as with any practice, the more that you do the better you will get. At the very least, you will become more aware of the materials that you are exposed to, how they react to each other, how you react to them and what you can do with them in your own unique creative way. You will also get a better appreciation of how all these things fit together into the bigger picture of who you are as a creative artist, perhaps even as a person in general. Immersing yourself in something will inevitably bring about a better connection to that something and with that, a better understanding.

When I was blocked from ‘doing’, due to my self imposed restrictions, I was fortunate enough to have these things drawn to my attention. Partly through my own observations and partially because of conversations with peers etc. Having thought about these issues, and having considered them at length, I realised that the best way forward was to move forward. To do instead of not doing. Since I made that decision, not only have I learned more about my skill set, I have had a better appreciation of who I am as an artist. I’ve been able to reconsider the fact that there are no mistakes in the journey of art, just experiences. Experiences to derive value from, enjoy and have as a part of my unique journey, also contribute to my creative skill set. If we decide that we are good enough to create in any given moment, to enjoy that creativity and relish the experience fluidly, the inevitable outcome is that we will progress anyway. Without anxiety and probably at a pace.

Another thing that stopped me ‘doing’, was measuring myself against other artists. There will always be greater and lesser spirits in this world. The journey of quality experiences, and applying the wonderful things that influence us in a positive way, is as good a journey as we will ever make. So doing rather than not doing is very much the way forward.

I saw this quote recently that sat well with me.  ‘You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.’  – Maya Angelou.

The Outcome

Create. Make. Colour. Scribble. Glue. Carve. Splash. Splat. Scrub. Spray. Stitch. Polish. Scrape. Draw, Draw, Draw…

Doing is the way forward. Being proactive in your creativity is the journey. If you do it with wild abandon, with fascination and excitement of that journey, all of your outcomes will be pure joy.

This lesson I learned was many years ago now, but I wanted to share it and have it written down as a reference. I hope it makes sense to you and that you get something out of it. The outcome of the lesson is, even though I keep improving, is that I am good enough. Always!

© EMELBI 2023 – All Rights Reserved

See how the illustration came together in Procreate and Photoshop

Different Colour Versions

 

Penzy – Sketchbook Illustration – Coffee, Quiche, Cake and Conversation

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Coffee, Quiche, Cake and Conversation

I love to fill sketchbooks. I always have a couple on the go, but my go to paper of choice is a sheet of A4 printer paper. I’m not sure why I favour this. I think it’s because it’s a nice big sheet of clean paper ready for some new creativity. I have boxes full of drawings on A4 paper, images that I have built up over the years. When I am sketching ideas, I love to get things down quickly. With characters, I keep everything loose, scribbled almost. I like there to be a lot of energy in the resulting imagery.

It’s good to draw, it’s an essential tool for all artists. I will always encourage any artist, young or old, to draw as much as possible. Getting your ideas down on paper is important and a crucial aspect of the artist’s journey. Even if you don’t use the imagery immediately you may well come back to it at some point later and discover something fresh about it. I often look at old sketches and form new ideas about where to take the imagery.  When you draw freely and almost for the sake of it you never really know how the image is going to unfold, or what you’re going to end up with. In my experience, the excitement of creating like this happens from that first mark that is made on that pristine piece of white paper right through to the finished artwork, if indeed you take it that far!

I was recently down in Penzance, in Cornwall. I was having a coffee and a slice of cake with my daughter in a fabulous little cafe called ‘The Honey Pot’ on Parade Street. It’s well worth checking out by the way. While we were there we met a lovely couple on the next table. They engaged us in conversation because my daughter and I were both drawing. We ended up talking about art and culture and what makes us tick etc. The gentleman’s name was Richard Sorrell. He gave me his card and told me that he was also an artist and that he lived locally. His work is quite different from mine although he likes to draw people too. There is a lot of energy in his work and some great colour use. You can see his work here… richardsorrell.co.uk

He had a sketchbook with him and was also making marks in it as we spoke. They were a smashing couple. The conversation was lovely. For some reason I felt compelled to give them the sketch I had been making while sitting there in the cafe. It was more or less like the sketch below. I drew this second drawing immediately afterwards. I could still see the pressed lines, and therefore the image, that my pen had left on the sheet underneath the one I had worked on. The following morning I took the sketch into Procreate on the iPad and made this illustration from it. I called it Penzy. I wonder if you can guess why?

Why am I telling you all this? I have always found that creativity brings people together. Over time, I have noticed that people will engage with you if you are doing something creative. There seems to be an energy that occurs when one is being creative. Some positive vitality emerges and stretches out in all directions, encompassing the space. Perhaps all space?! It nourishes and is exuberant.

The day after this chance meeting my daughter and I were back in the very same cafe at the very same table. I told you it was a good cafe. The goat cheese quiche was unbelievably good! While I munched into that, my daughter had some more of the chocolate cake that we had ordered the day before. We were sat both drawing again. I was sketching on the iPad this time and my daughter was being creative in her sketchbook. Two ladies sat at the same table beside us, where the couple we spoke to the day before had sat. They immediately engaged us in conversation, again because we were both drawing. They told us that they were travelling and were from South Africa. We talked about all things creative again. A lovely natural conversation opened up about positive energy, education and creative endeavours. It turned out that that younger lady was also an artist. She showed me her work. Fabulous imagery of flowers and plants, bold marks and wonderful colour use. Lovely observational work. We talked until the cafe staff eventually asked us to leave as they had to close up shop. We could have sat in there all day long, drawing and chatting to people. One of lifes simple joys!

So my advise is to draw and sketch in public with wild abandon. Put away all inhibitions. Be creative. Always! You never know what wonderful things it will lead to. Chance meetings and great conversations in this case, and a nice new illustration for my portfolio.

© EMELBI 2023 – All Rights Reserved

 

See how the illustration came together in Procreate in the video below

Colour Variations

Yücel Eucule – The Upshot Perspective

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The Upshot Perspective

Yücel Eucule

This image is one of a series of illustrations that I am creating called ‘The Upshot Perspective’ based on humanoid or cyborg units, or renegade humans living in future city settings in a far off world. All of the images in this series will have multiple colourway versions, exploring different moods in the resulting imagery.

Yücel Eucule is a top ranking government official. He holds much sway in the higher echelons of the SIU (Supreme Institute Union). Not many beings have seen him, but nearly everybody has heard of him. He is a quantum weapons expert and is said to have been the cause of innumerable atrocities in his search for power within the 9 solar systems of ATTA. These systems are currently governed by the SIU. No one is particularly happy about this either.

Initial image produced in Procreate. Colourway edits produced in iColorama on both iPad Pro and iPhone. Other colour corrections and finishing in Photoshop.

© EMELBI 2023 – All Rights Reserved

See how this illustration came together in the video below

Colour Variations

Head Study Illustration

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One of the things I love about creativity and art, are the journeys you go on. Simple sketches can turn into intriguing and fun circumnavigations of colour, texture, tone, shade and line. This simple pencil sketch turned into an interesting head study regarding those elements. I photographed it on my iPhone and then sent it to my iPad Pro to work on in Procreate. I worked on it until I was happy with it, keeping the process as simple as possible. I then explored some different colour version which has been something I do quite often at the moment.

See the YouTube video below to see the colouring process.

© EMELBI 2023 – All Rights Reserved

 

Cinderella – Production Design

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All Stars Performing Arts Presents – Cinderella

Production Design

I love working with this performing arts group. The productions are always fantastic and the young people involved with the group put their hearts and souls into every performance. The adults that get involved are fabulous too.

All Stars Performing Arts recently put on a production of Cinderella at the Bradford Playhouse. I was asked to look after production design which entailed flyer design, T Shirt design for the troop, stage setting design for projection, programme design including all headshots of the cast, social media banners etc. I also got to be a stage ninja too, which is helping out with prop placement and removal between scenes among other activities. The whole production was such a lot of fun to be involved with.

My approach to the main design element very much reflected upon the two sides of Cinderella within the storyline. The Downtrodden Cinders, forced to look after her evil stepmother and stepsisters who treated her like a slave in her own home. Drab, dowdy and covered in muck, but still showing the beauty that she is. Then the other side of her story. The beautiful girl who eventually captured the eye and heart of the prince and goes on to live happily ever after. It occurred to me early on in the design process that this could be reflected within the one portrait image of her character. The two sides of the story split down the middle. Then it was just a case of making it work and balance as a single image while still showing that inner beauty that we all have come to love about Cinderella’s character.

I’m pleased with how it turned out. See how the image came together in the video below…

Flyer Design

Programme Cover

Programme Inner – Spot The Difference

The Pumpkin

The T Shirt Designs

Stage Set Design

The other part of the production that I was involved with was to make the stage set images which were projected onto the back of the stage during the performance. I didn’t want to over complicate the designs and tried to keep them as simple and classic looking as possible. They were a whole lot of fun to put together and they worked brilliantly for each of the individual scenes. Projection technology is getting better and better and it is amazing what you can do with performance spaces these days.

City Slither Boi Seth

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Character Illustration

He might be a snake, but he is the best snake in town. Seth is his name and he’s all sorts of urban cool. Bang into his Hip Hop. B’ Boy exsssssssssssssstraordinaire. Slithers here, slithers there and does a mean moon walk. He truly is the king of all snakes.

OK, it’s becoming a major obsession, but I am fascinated by multiple versions of one image. To be honest, I’m only really scratching the surface. Imagine the colourways that could exist if you just kept exploring. Imagine a slight graphic change and then starting all over again. Imagine that again, and again… Mind boggling.

Original Illustration

This is a quick illustration in Procreate. Colourway edits produced in iColorama on the iPad Pro. Other colour corrections and finishing in Photoshop.

Initial image is the original illustration followed by subsequent colour versions.

© EMELBI 2023 – All Rights Reserved

See how this illustration came together on YouTube

Original Image and other Colour Versions

Top Bun City Prince – The Upshot Perspective

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The Upshot Perspective

Top Bun City Prince

This image is one of a series of illustrations that I am creating called ‘The Upshot Perspective’ based on humanoid or cyborg units, or renegade humans living in future city settings in a far off world. All of the images in this series will have multiple colourway versions, exploring different moods in the resulting imagery.

This guy is a human. His nickname is The Top Bun City Prince. His real name is Skip Warrington. He looks out for everyone, both human and machine. He can fix just about anything and is an adept hunter. Extremely effective with a sling or a bow and arrow. He usually travels with a dog, a tough looking springer spaniel named Jess.

Initial image produced in Procreate. Colourway edits produced in iColorama on both iPad Pro and iPhone. Other colour corrections and finishing in Photoshop.

Check out how this illustration came together on the YouTube video below.

© EMELBI 2023 – All Rights Reserved

 

Humanoid Cyborg System CCC_333 – The Upshot Perspective

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The Upshot Perspective

Humanoid Cyborg System CCC_333

This image is one of a series of illustrations that I am creating called ‘The Upshot Perspective’ based on humanoid or cyborg units, or renegade humans living in future city settings in a far off world. All of the images in this series will have multiple colourway versions, exploring different moods in the resulting imagery.

This CCC unit is an early humanoid prototype. Originally built to help in kitchens and perform basic catering functions. This one got a major upgrade 5 years into its service and can now cook just about every known dish in existence. It is particularly skilled in the brewing and distilling of alcoholic beverages. It is affectionately known as Bubble and Squeak.

Initial image produced in Procreate. Colourway edits produced in iColorama on both iPad Pro and iPhone. Other colour corrections and finishing in Photoshop.

© EMELBI 2023 – All Rights Reserved

See how the illustration came together in the video below.

Initial Procreate Illustration

Colour Variations

Finished Illustration Mastered in Photoshop

Colour Variations of Finished Image

City Cyborg Renegade – The Upshot Perspective

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The Upshot Perspective

City Cyborg Renegade

This image is one of a series of illustrations that I am creating called ‘The Upshot Perspective’ based on humanoid or cyborg units, or renegade humans living in future city settings in a far off world. All of the images in this series will have multiple colourway versions, exploring different moods in the resulting imagery.

This character is called Scoop. He used to be a government cyborg and had a specific function. His job was to round up trouble causers and rebel factions intent on causing specific insurrections, specially skilled in security preventing government transport disruption. Usually food haulage or credit, gems and bullion transportation. His success rate was 100%.

That said, he was turned by a highly skilled human rebel operative called Mouse. Taken out by an EMP Drone during his last operation, and reprogrammed to help in the hijacking of the things he used to protect. He still has a 100% success rate.

Initial image produced in Procreate. Colourway edits produced in iColorama on both iPad Pro and iPhone. Other colour corrections and finishing in Photoshop.

Check out how this illustration came together on the YouTube video below.

© EMELBI 2023 – All Rights Reserved

 

Post Apocalyptic Utopia – The Upshot Perspective

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The Upshot Perspective

Post Apocalyptic Utopia

This image is one of a series of illustrations that I am creating called ‘The Upshot Perspective’ based on humanoid or cyborg units, or renegade humans living in future city settings in a far off world. All of the images in this series will have multiple colourway versions, exploring different moods in the resulting imagery.

Cyborg Medic, serial number 108-C9-XX. This humanoid unit has the long nickname of ‘Post Apocalyptic Utopia’, but is mostly referred to as PAU. (Pronounced ‘pow’). It is an extremely adept surgeon. It does however have rather an austere bedside manner. That said, it is known to make really bad dad jokes in order to put its patients more at ease. This has varied success rates.

It works in the heart of the city looking after rebel factions who have been injured fighting against government battle droids.

Initial image produced in Procreate. Colourway edits produced in iColorama on both iPad Pro and iPhone. Other colour corrections and finishing in Photoshop.

Check out how this illustration came together on the YouTube video below.

© EMELBI 2023 – All Rights Reserved

 

Procreate initial illustration and colour variations

Photoshop finished illustration and colour variations

With Any Luck – The Upshot Perspective

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The Upshot Perspective

With Any Luck

This image is one of a series of illustrations that I am creating called ‘The Upshot Perspective’ based on humanoid or cyborg units, or renegade humans living in future city settings in a far off world. All of the images in this series will have multiple colourway versions, exploring different moods in the resulting imagery.

In a world where nothing is what it seems, keeping your perspective and having a good grasp on what is real and what isn’t, is the best function you can have.

This character is an ageing cyborg who’s primary function is to serve as a bridge between reality and cyberspace for its masters. If you own one of these biomechanical constructs, it will help you navigate between augmented reality and reality. They tend to be safe and extremely reliable. This one is called ‘Bridget’!

Initial image produced in Procreate. Colourway edits produced in iColorama on both iPad Pro and iPhone. Other colour corrections and finishing in Photoshop.

Check out how this illustration came together on the YouTube video below.

© EMELBI 2023 – All Rights Reserved

 

Clifton B Boy

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When I was a kid I used to frequent a place that was locally known as ‘Browns Subway’ near Clifton in Nottingham. So called, as the underpass was located quite close to a bakery called ‘Browns Bakery’ on Abbeyfield Road. These subways were a hub of creativity for any budding graffiti artist. As far as I am aware, they still are. The bakery however, has long gone.

When the graffiti that we associate with Hip Hop culture first came to prominence in Britain in the early to mid 80’s, I was a young lad growing up in Nottingham. At 14 years old I was just beginning to truly find myself and fathom out what it was that made me tick. I was particularly interested in the breakdance scene and listened to all manner of electro Hip Hop. Especially the STREET SOUND ELECTRO set of albums. I also fully immersed myself in the emerging street art scene. Dazzled by the huge, bright typographical scrawls and stylised characters that came along with the culture, I started out on a journey that would end up influencing my artwork to this day.

This character is called ‘Clifton B Boy’ and is a little nod towards those early days of influence.

At some point soon I will da a more comprehensive post regarding Browns Subway, as I have some brilliant old photo’s of the graffiti in that subway from way back in the mid 80’s to the early 90’s.

Check out the YouTube video at the bottom of this post to see how this character came together.

© EMELBI 2023 – All Rights Reserved

 

Enzo Valentino – Character Illustration

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A recent illustration of a character that I sketched on a spare piece of envelope while on a conference call. I photographed the sketch and took it into Procreate on the iPad and embellished it with colour and texture. Using a limited colour palette of reds and blues, I went on a bit of a creative journey and ended up with this character, which I ended up calling, Enzo Valentino. I also ended up creating two or three symmetry version also, which has been another of my recent obsessions in the creative process.

Check out the video below for how this character came together.

© EMELBI 2023 – All Rights Reserved

333 – Three lots of the Magic Number

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For a number of years now I have been including the number 333 in the images that I create. Sometimes subtly, other times quite blatantly. Some images will include the number as digits, other times it will be a series of dots or marks. Three lots of three dots, or three lots of three marks.

One of the reasons I started to do this was because I noticed that the number had started occurring over and over again in my life. More or less wherever I looked.  It would appear within sequences of numbers, printed on packaging, on car number plates, every time I looked at the clock etc. In fact it still occurs in my life sporadically. I am not necessarily a superstitious person, but this reoccurrence fascinated me. So I started to incorporate it into the imagery that I produce.

After having done a scant bit of research on Google, it turns out that the number is considered auspicious and could mean a great many things.

At times it is referred to as the ‘Angel Number’. Some say that the number 333 can also encourage us to put our plans into action or indeed let our personal strength be our guide. Apparently, it is a number that can encourage us to trust ourselves and our own intuition and is largely connected with creativity, optimism, growth and joy. It is also said to be a catalyst for positive change denoting a period of self fulfilment where one might strengthen ones connection with the physical universe.

As we all know, because De La Soul sung about it back in 1989, 3 is indeed the magic number. By numerous accounts the number 3 is a divine number, certainly if we think about it in terms of the Trinity of gods in Christianity (The Father, Son and the Holy Ghost). It also crops up many times in biblical scriptures in a positive way. In the Hindu belief system there are three main gods also (Lord Vishnu, Lord Brahma and Lord Shiva). And, if that’s too spiritual for you, we could think about the number 3 where our physical being is concerned when we talk about the (Mind, Body and Spirit). The number 333 is also connected to the idea of strong or positive communication within relationships.

Obviously, I was delighted to discover all these things about the number and it sat very well with me and my own convictions. So this is why I decided to incorporate the number into my creativity.

Look out for it in my images in the future and see if you can spot where I have placed this auspicious set of digits. Remember, it could be the physical numbers or a repeat in occurrence of a graphic.

© EMELBI 2023 – All Rights Reserved

Gabriel Barak IV – Character Illustration

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Character and Portrait Technique

Currently looking at a new technique of making portrait images. I have dabbled with this process before and want to refine it. So you will be seeing much more of this style in the future. Using the procreate app and a limited set of brushes, this type of image is a process of layering texture from simple beginnings. Much like you would if you were making an oil painting or an acrylic painting on canvas. There was no reference material for this character. Gabriel Barak IV came out of my head. But this is a process I am going to use more and more often from now on when looking at digital portraiture in general. An exciting new journey.

Again, as ever, I have explored multiple colour grades and texture finishes to this images, ever fascinated by multiple outcomes of a single image.

© EMELBI 2023 – All Rights Reserved

 

Peyton Orme

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Digital Character Illustration

As ever, I love to produce multiple version of some of the images that I create, and sometimes characters just spring up form nowhere. This character fell out of my head and onto the iPad screen in Procreate while I was semi watching Star Wars the other day. He’s some kind of Goblin Prince. A real friendly one at that. He travels a lot and likes to watch the folly of humans. Sometimes laughing out loud at their antics. He quickly disappears if anyone hears his belly laughter. Maybe you’ve heard him before?!

Using a limited colour palette, of mainly blues and reds, (a swatch I seem to be favouring at the moment) I added depth and texture to the simple line character I had drawn. After I had finished in Procreate I took the imagery over to Photoshop and added extra textures and elements over these the multiple versions. I love this way of working, between these two brilliant applications.

I like how this character turned out.

© EMELBI 2023 – All Rights Reserved

Mind Jazz – Jason Ginnelly

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I was recently contacted by a lovely chap called Jason Ginnelly, who asked me to design the book cover for his up and coming publication of poems and prose. I really enjoyed designing this book cover and made sure that Jason was completely involved with the design process from the beginning, right to the end. The resulting cover very much reflects Jason’s personality and equally, the contents of this lovely book. This was a self publication project and it was important for me to get the right result for Jason, understanding what a hugely personal project this was.

You can get you own copy here: Mind Jazz

See a brief synopsis below…

Mind Jazz is a riff on reality and the nonsensical rhubarb we all encounter every day. It takes us on a journey through experiences and emotions, from our parents to love, loneliness to depression, to joy and laughter.
Encapsulating life in all its sadness, surrealism and silliness. Mind Jazz reveals life’s light and shade, its blacks. whites and greys with its serious heft beside the topsy turvy fanciful fluff that provides the mood music to our loves.

Birkby Junior School – Y6 Digital Portrait Illustration with EMELBI

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These fab images are a sample of the digital portraits recently created by the Year 6 children at Birkby Junior School. They worked with iPads and the program Procreate. Using their own portrait photos as reference, the children were taken through a series of processes and techniques in order to make these beautiful illustrations.

It was fabulous to work with them all and the images that they created are striking. I am always stunned at the diversity of image and the variety of different outcomes that young people come up with. Even though the creative process is the same, each individual artist brings all of their own ideas, experiences and flare to arrive at each unique outcome. This is the beauty of the creative process.

Friday Night

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A recent simple line illustration of my wife. Dozing on a ‘Friday Night’ after a long week.

My wife and I were just chilling out watching a bit of Friday night TV. I looked around and she was absolutely sparked out. So I took a photo of her and made this illustration from the photograph. I love how it turned out. I am a sucker for detail, texture and a multitiue of colours. That said, sometimes it’s nice just to do some simple line work with some muted colours. These can often be the most powerful of images.

The original colour image is the vibrant orange one. I then messed around with it a little and came up with the other colour versions. My favourite being the muted pink version. It’s always nice to explore different colour ways. The colour can make so much difference to the mood and feel of an image.

© EMELBI 2023 – All Rights Reserved

MYRIAD FRONTIERS – Future Gaming Concept

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MYRIAD FRONTIERS

Concept art and idea based on future gaming.

© EMELBI 2022 – All Rights Reserved

Portrait illustrations based on the concept that we will soon live in a world where gamers will be able to connect to internet streamed game systems using cybernetics and control their digital environments in real time. Users would have a small set of surgical implant modifications. These modifications would allow them to connect to the gaming domain at any time. There would be multiple games to choose from, each with vast amounts of choice regarding gameplay. The game platforms would be constantly transmitted over the internet and/or other broadcast mechanisms. Gamers would possess heightened perceptions via their mods which would give them the ability to tap into an array of alternative existences. Pressure sensitive body suits would also enhance physical interaction within gameplay allowing users to physically interact with other digital avatars, creatures and habitats.

Optional layers of engagement would grant gamers the opportunity to encounter either a fully immersive experience, or alternatively, exist in a more augmented reality. If the gamer’s preference was a fully immersive experience, they would be rendered motionless and be in a sleep-like state in the real world. Those that choose the augmented reality gaming experience would interact with digital gameplay in waking reality. Gamers could have both experiences within the same game play at different times, where they would encounter multiple challenges and levels in which they could achieve a set of outlined goals and gain digital mods or tokens. All modes of gameplay would give gamers the opportunity to unlock vast layers of functionality and help them build and progress. 

 Gamers are simply known as, ‘Myriad’.

Check out the YouTube Video below for the illustration process.

 

 

Pleckgate High School – Digital Portrait Illustration Project

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The illustrations that the year 11 students created at Pleckgate High School in Blackburn, are outstanding. I worked with them for a day looking at portrait illustration techniques using the iPad and the Procreate App. I often work with young people delivering creative workshops in order to inspire and share the skill set that I have acquired and developed over the years. The beauty in sharing is watching young people pick up those skills and do something completely different with them, often with brilliant and stunning outcomes. In turn, I end up learning a thing or two from them in the process.

This is the beauty of creative learning. Through the shared experience of creative exploration, so much is learned on a myriad of levels. I really enjoyed working with this school and the artwork that they produced in such a short space of time, was nothing short of brilliant. Check out some of their work below.

St Mary and St John Catholic Primary School

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Procreate Portrait Workshops

I recently had the pleasure of running a weeks worth of workshops with all the children in St Mary and St John Catholic Primary School in Wigan. Working with Reception children, right through to Year 6, we used an app called ‘Procreate‘ on the Apple iPad. Many of the children had never seen or worked with Procreate before so there was a steep learning curve regarding some of the technical aspects of using the app. I am pleased to say that they all took to it like ducks to water and the strength of creativity speaks for itself.

The project was tailored to look at self portrait illustration, to think about the structure of the face and what it is that makes us look like us. Working form their own photographs that they took themselves, the children explored their face structure, examining strong lines and also the negative spaces in the construction of their imagery. Working over multiple layers they eventually finished off by delving into the world of colour where we discussed colour palettes and what sort of hues worked well together. The emphasis was always based around the notion that ‘less is more’. This was a deliberate exercise throughout the workshops, simplifying the process of the illustration in order that the students ended up with the strongest lines. There are key, dominant marks that are the critical elements that make up the character of the face. They inform the viewer about certain expressions and the overall personality of the portrait that they are viewing. The children went through the process of learning to identify these elements and incorporating them into their illustrations.

The students and staff at this school were a delight to work with. I was with them for a whole week and was able to work with every student in every class. The work that they produced is exemplary. Fun, bold, really exciting and full of energy.

Years 5 and 6 also got to work with me in the production of some hand drawn portrait illustrations. They photographed their finished line images on the iPad and worked into them digitally using and app called PIXLR.

Procreate is an app that runs on the Apple iPad. It is an exceptional bit of kit used by many illustrators working in the creative industry. It is intuitive, powerful and exciting to use.

Check out some of the work below from each of the year groups and also some photos of the children working.

RECEPTION

YEAR 1

 

YEAR 2

 

YEAR 3

 

YEAR 4

 

YEAR 5

 

YEAR 6

Jazz Pizzazz

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This is a recent illustration created in Procreate on the ipad and finished in Photoshop on the iMac. I love working between these two platforms. It’s a real organic process much of the time and a slightly different way of working than I am used to. That said, it is quickly becoming one of my favourite ways of creating striking graphics and laying down ideas for numerous projects.

Here are a few different treatments of the same character. As I have mentioned many times before, I am fascinated by the infinite possibilities of how one image can be manipulated. The many different ways one can arrive at either a slightly different or vastly contrasting outcome. Something as simple as a subtle colour change can present a distinctive mood and change an overall feel to an image. The possibilities are literally endless. Exciting stuff.

The YouTube video at the bottom of the page shows how this character was put together.

 

Geoff McGeoff – Bodaciously Boho

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This dude, who I have affectionately called Geoff McGeoff, was created on the iPad Pro using Procreate. I was messing around with just one brush. The ‘Syrup’ brush, under the ‘Inking’ menu of brushes. I love hard line illustrations. It’s probably because I have always drawn with pens and markers. This technique in Procreate, using two different colours for the hatching, reminds me a lot of wood cut work. Positive and negative space is apparent in this type of technique.

The beauty of doing this kind of work on the ipad using an Apple Pencil keeps it feeling really organic as if were created with pens on paper, even though it is completely digital. After drawing this BoHo dude I exported the file from Procreate as a PSD document from the iPad into Photoshop on my Mac to further work on the image.

I love the way these two platforms work so well together. It really suits my style and the way in which I work. Such great fun and simple yet bold results. Check out the YouTube video of this image being put together below.