Posted Wed, 2010-03-24 21:55 by David Liao
I use these skills to study and communicate physics. Illustration is like a third form of literacy (after written language and mathematical notation). Click on a section title to expand that section.
Realistic pencil drawing
Muscle memory
Copy-drawing: tracing, grid, and freehand
"Alphabet": arcs and ovals
Basic vocabulary: spheres, ellipsoids, rectangular prisms, and cylinders
Light sketching: pulling the pencil instead of pushing
Graphical projection
Orthographic
Perspective
Curvilinear
"Reverse" curvilinear
Shading
Using full dynamic range
Avoiding cartoon outlines
Avoiding smudging
Painting with color
Oil pastel
Color wheel and value bar
Deliberate non-realism: Rarely use any pure color, white, or black
Watercolor
Watercolorists can achieve photorealistic effects through serendipitous accidents
Layered coloring
Allowing two colors to mix randomly and unevenly on wet paper
Rough edges and skips
Manuscript
For taking notes and writing on chalkboards in the mathematical sciences
Digital photography
Personnel and laboratory equipment
Photography
Avoiding using flash
White balance
Daylight lamps
Adobe Photoshop
Levels
Warm filter
JPEG, PNG, and GIF optimization
Scientific illustration
Free-body diagrams, three-dimensional devices, and calculus
Graphical vocabulary in Adobe Illustrator
Shaded "potato" (mass distribution of arbitrary shape)
Smooth curves using the pen tool
Distorting shapes by editing control points
Using semi-transparent layers to combine linear and radial gradients
Avoiding pure colors
Merging shapes
Animation
Pencil-style animation
Optimizing animated GIFs in Adobe ImageReady
Composition
Rule of "thirds"
Logos and flyers
Limited palette
Sparing use of high-contrast elements
Negative space
