12945320:Stose said:
I'll give my insight since I did mine from scratch instead of off a picture. I did all the shapes with the line tool in illustrator. I then went Into live paint and just adjusted the brightness of a shade of gray to get my color pallet. It's not really my style though so I'm sure others can give way more help
Man! I'm so stoked that everyone is feeling the polygon style. You're right. I just use the pen tool to create shapes, only instead of live paint, I use the color sampler to generate an accurate shade. I'm also going to post I video of Breno Bitencourt's process, which pretty much mirrors mine. Also check out his work for more inspiration.
After I couple people asked, I tried to write a tutorial, but it was way too lengthy and way too confusing. So here's a pared down version. Actually, honestly, Low poly isn't really my forte...
BUT
knowing the concept of what you're trying to create is HUGE when when creating geometric portraits. Basically the goal is to create the impression a geometric "mesh" that wraps around the shape. Usually this is the result of making basic shapes with 3-D generating. Here's an image of a critique of a low poly image generated in 3-d. Achieving this effect in with a two dimensional program like illustrator, requires intimate knowledge of shape and shading. This is not something to try if you've never used professional grade design software.
Gavin's style is really sick, and it is just a flatter take on the low poly influence. If you take a look, the shapes don't quite "wrap" around completely around the face. It's like doing a painting, not making a puzzle.
The big goal here is to try to make 'plains'. These plains form the mesh that wrap around the surface. Generally speaking, the greater the curve, the tighter the triangles. The flatter the curve, the more shapes there are. Also remember that the mes doesn't end at the edge, it wraps all the way around. Triangles inside each plain usually follow shading in that direction. On a smooth surface, the further from the light source, the darker the shading on the triangle. But, again, it's a general guideline. there are always major exceptions depending on the the texture of the surface, light source, etc etc. If you look at the squares in the image above, the squares exist in two plains at the same. Just remember to keep all the plains in mind when coloring the shape.
Try to avoid making it look like there are tiny pyramids sticking off ( or indented in) the surface. The more the triangles, the smaller they are, and the more realistic the image will be. The hard part is introducing different colors and shadows. Be conscious of the fact that you're not working in a single color. Be conscious of the shadows of a surface, AND the shadows cast on the surface. The shadow cast the surface should be a cohesive plain of triangles, and exist within surrounding plains.
Another tip, is to make sure MOST of the vertices connect. If you look at stose's all the corners of his triangles line up, while only some of mine do. This just vastly simplifies the process of creating plains and generates smoother shading.
Okay, this is a helluva post, and I'm pretty sure I've just made this more way more confusing than it actually is. If you have any questions, feel free to message me.
TLDR;
^^^
