Stout, Tower, and Autumn Leaves

Firstly, I have to say I really enjoyed this course and picked up some great tips from Brad! For my final project I chose to do a poster for my hometown - Dublin.

Below I'll explain my process -

I began by creating some textures using black acrylic paint and objects found around my home. I tried some brushes, sponges, cotton pads etc. I then chose my favourites and photographed and edited them. Next, I created a custom brush from the cotton pad texture.

After deciding to do a poster representing Dublin, I wrote down a list of words to help come up with some concept ideas. I also looked at some vintage travel posters on Pinterest for inspiration. Then I sketched a few of my ideas.

I found it difficult to choose a final concept. Ultimately, I decided on a collection of images that I think are representative of Dublin - Dublin Castle, a decorative lampost, Guinness (of course) and some shamrocks.

Next I blocked in some values to get a sense of where my light and dark colours would be, trying to keep it balanced and contrasted.

I played around with some colours and settled on my final palette, inspired by the Irish flag. I then filled my shapes with the main colours.

Next I added texture using brushes. Some of the texture was created using the custom brush I created earlier. I added some line details using a rough liner brush for some more visual interest. I also added some texture to add some lighter and darker areas. I used the colour of the shamrock in a couple of areas to balance It out.

At this stage I decided the green border was too distracting and left it out. I added some more texture using brush strokes around my illustrations to add a bit of variety. I also roughened up some sharp edges of my shapes using a textured brush. I then added a highlight to my lampost which helped to detach it from the castle. I chose my type, duplicated it and offset the copy to create a 3D effect. I used a smooth brush to join the duplicate type to the orginal type sitting on top.

I think I could have finished the poster at the previous stage (especially If I decide to print it), however, just for fun I tried out adding a paper texture on top. I used a multiple blend mode and tweaked the saturation and brightness until I got it to a place I was happy with. I also added some noise to my illustration and texture to my type for a more vintage, distressed feel.

And below is the final result! I think I may have gone slightly overboard with the textures but It was a fun way to experiment and to learn how to recreate an analogue style. Overall, I'm happy with the result and thoroughly enjoyed the process.