Drawing in class Photoshop later

Once again the opportunity presented itself for me to create while class was in session this evening while my students were doing the same. I've been impressing upon them the importance of having a tangible piece of work as opposed to an entirely digital image. A physical object of art with the passing of time will prove to be more valuable then one consisting only of electronic data. Physical art will increase in significance over time. Digital art will always remain digital. So I've been encouraging my students to create first in an analog manner and then complete the composition digitally if they choose.

Here's an example of what I'm talking about. I'm going in reverse as I describe the creative process. The first image is the completed work digitally colored in Photoshop...

Before the final rendering of the illustration I used color to tint over a gray scale version of  the composition...

Here's the image toned in gray....

Prior to that step I digitally enhanced the shadow areas of the figure...

And at the core of the process is the original drawing completed with a soft lead graphite pencil...

Thus we have the best of both worlds. An original sketch that can be saved for posterity and admired in the future and a digital representation of the drawing in color for use in modern media. Two sides of the same coin!