Illustrator nut, gaming geek and professional artist.
George Bush Novelty Currency
Description This is something I've been working on for a while. The front is pretty much done although I need to add some shadows around the scroll work. This gave me a real appreciation for the engraver artists that do the real currency.
I started by trying to create a bunch of custom brushes for the scrolls none of which worked so I just gutted it out and drew them all by hand. For the guilloche patterns I used the SecuriDesign plugin for Corel Draw. First I had to relearn Corel ;) and it took a lot of trial and error to get the guilloche pattern right. There was no way to save presets in Securidesign so I had to write down the settings and then adjust them if it didn't work. The numerous settings in this plugin are mind-boggling.
For the portrait I manipulated a photo in Photoshop with the liquify tool to exaggerate certain features. I added a crown and got a demo of a Photoshop engraving plugin from Panopticum to give it the right look for the bill.
The rest was good old fashioned vector work in Illustrator. Right now I'm working on the back. I used a $20 bill as reference for the front and a $1 bill for the back because I like the intricate scroll work of the dollar bill better. I think the back will be even more challenging than the front was.
"UPDATE" I fixed a few technical errors and updated some other stuff while I was at it. Mainly the guilloche pattern should be white on a black background. It looks a bit more authentic now. This is the final update until I finish the back.
Application Illustrator
Labels Pop Art, Realistic
Times Viewed 10824
Approved By DayDream
24 April 2007 - 09:54
Conversation With
Thanaban (gigadeth)
wow!... this is Great,I like it.
d(- ,-)
24 April 2007 - 11:52:
Jerry Mills (Husker)
replied...
Glad you like it!
24 April 2007 - 17:08
Conversation With
Dan Leventhal (DanLeventhal)
this is fantastic! A few years ago I created a masters degree certificate for one of the city colleges near me (no really, it was a legit job!). It required a great deal of scrollwork and fine line detail. The gig really made me envious of those that get to do it for a living, especially those who design bank notes.
24 April 2007 - 19:00:
Jerry Mills (Husker)
replied...
Thank you! I just wonder how they do by hand it on a metal plate. The guilloche I did is no where as intricate as the real thing.
24 April 2007 - 17:09
Conversation With
ray (raypist)
i think youve missed the point of hatching. its to make shading with only one tone. you seemed to have just used them to fill up space and then used gradients for shading. i think live trace coulda done better.
24 April 2007 - 18:57:
Jerry Mills (Husker)
replied...
You are right about the hatching. Engravers used hatches to simulate shadows. I just have some simple drop shadows for now. I'm still working on the scroll shading and I think live trace would be a horrible mess to work with. I'll post the new bill in a few weeks.
Found it, but, alas, it was for a PhotoShop plug-in.
Not sure if it works in Illustrator:
http://www.alphaplugins.com/tutorials.php?tut_id=2
3 May 2007 - 11:25:
Jerry Mills (Husker)
replied...
Yeah thats the plugin I used. I used it on an image in Photoshop and then saved the image as a transparent png for placement in Illustrator. It takes a little work to get it looking right but it works better than trying to do it all by hand.
Glad you like it!