Over the course of the last couple weeks I've sat-down with the task of doing a series of flats in Photoshop. Spirited by the fact that I have a wealth of backlogged work that needs a dash of colour here and there, I've been motivated to lay-down flats and actually flesh out my work more. The tools are all there -why not take advantage? The actual mechanics aren't important in the flatting process though theres always a long and short path to set forth on when you open a new PSD file. Tired and true-blu the method of hacking away at it matters little - only that you get it done. I often get sloppy with my colour-flatting so I've adapted my free-wheeling methods and been trying to fine-tune the technique. I'll find myself getting the lulz when discovering a new way of doing something (e.g. color-holds) and it dawns on me how simple it is; like a balloon, and... something bad happens! At any-rate, the flatting process can become pretty tedious after awhile since all you're basically doing is laying in base-coats of paint to rework later as needed. It gets frustrating (least for me) after flatting for hours and it doesn't seem like you've accomplished much, then once you start to render out the colours you'll quickly realize how important the flats are and how much simpler they make things. I've also found flats to be an excellent base from which to work with zip-tones. It's all worth-it when a piece is deemed "DONE" and you can move onto the next one with yet another finished project in the books and some new skills / knowledge in the arsenal. Back in high school we studied colour-theory, though I can't recall very much of what I learned then, it's been enjoyable revisiting it all. Colorimetry and all it's trappings fascinate and terrify me equally at the same time - when you see what a splash/dash of pigment can do for the perceptions, tickles the retina and brings life to the image. Studying the works of true masters like Dave Stewart and Tom Luth, trying to grasp how they understand color(s) and form. Working with different textures and tones is also within the reach of even the most pedestrian artist when in the digital realm. Before I think the root of my frustrations with colour came from physical limitations - having a particular Prisma Marker dry-up at the most crucial time or having the paper soak-in more than you'd like.. Blahh, don't have that to worry about now.
Even around the studio death and danger lurk so beware. Sitting in one spot long enough and I start feeling my body knotting-up; developed and dealt with exceptional back-pain awhile ago, hand cramps and twitches become routine, eye-strain as well is pretty unavoidable after an extended time glued to a retina display. About the only things you don't have to worry about while working digitally (as opposed to analog) are paper-cuts and lead poisoning. Earlier in the year when I made the decision to work (almost) exclusively digital -I started to develop bad back pain from all the time spent sitting. Piss-poor posture combined with an old worn-out office chair spelled "lumbar-dic doom" and really had me on the ropes for awhile. Investing in a solid office chair, working on my posture and yoga-fire were/are things I've had to adopt in-order to fight-off the effects of back pain. For my digits I looked to the interweb for answers, I came across a good series of stretches for my hands wrists and shoulders [link] which have helped combat stress and fatigue - hand cramps are the worst. Musicians and potters I believe could even benefit from some Ergocise. Just getting up-out and about daily does wonders.. the occasional C-Walk up the street at the park or tear-assing around the local ice-rink become a weekly necessity.
