How to Make a Textured T-Shirt Graphic
In my latest experiment, I recently opened up an account on a site called Zazzle, which allows you to order custom products featuring your own artwork. So far, I’ve been having a lot of fun experimenting with creating some simple, graphic characters for some t-shirts. Here is a little behind-the-scenes look into the making of this cute bat character.
This is my rough doodle, which isn’t much bigger than a thumbnail sketch. Isn’t he cute?
I am going with a simple, cartoon style for these illustrations. So to start, I placed my sketch in Illustrator and used the brush tool to ink my drawing with a clean bold line. I’ve reviewed this process in some earlier tutorials here and here.
After inking, I copied and pasted the drawing into a Photoshop document, with the line on its own layer. On a separate layer underneath, I put in some simple color. I used a normal hard-edged round brush with the Opacity Dynamics turned off so I would get 100% solid color.
To give the illustration a grungy, weathered look, I copied and pasted a texture into a new channel (by the way, I have previously posted this texture for download here). You can open the Channels palette under Window > Channels. Then, I clicked the “Load Channel as a Selection” button in the bottom of the window.
Going back to the Layers palette, I grouped the line and color layers together. With the group selected, I then clicked the “Add Layer Mask” button to apply the texture to the illustration.
As a result, the picture is transparent in the black areas of the texture. I changed my background color to something darker, to simulate how it would look on the t-shirt.
I added a glow by selecting the area around the bat and painting using a heavily textured brush on a new layer.
Here is the finished product:
And a close-up of the paint and texture effects:
Using this method, I can create a nice PNG file that I can use on any color shirt or background I like. The transparency will allow whatever color to show through the textured surface.
So far, I’ve created a series of Halloween-themed shirts. They’ve been really fun to make and I hope to experiment even more - there are lots of other products on Zazzle to play with, from shoes to mugs and even skateboards. I haven’t gotten to see at any physical products yet, but I plan on ordering a few shirts for myself. I’m excited to see how they turn out! Check out Zazzle.com if you would like to do some experimenting of your own.
I have also made the Halloween shirts available to the public if you’d like to order one of these for yourself. Just browse to Zazzle.com/DaniDraws. Enjoy!
Have fun, and Happy Drawing!
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October 13th, 2008 at 10:56 am
Very cool Dani!
I signed up for a Zazzle account but other projects got in the way.
You have inspired me to get to work on the fun stuff!
October 21st, 2008 at 10:08 pm
Thank you very much for telling us about this. I will look into it as soon as possible. The local print shop I live near is half steppin’ on a request I made about a couple of large number print prices I’m interested in knowing. The clerk hasn’t called me to tell me. So, Zazzle.com may be an interesting alternative to this local business.
On an unrelated note, do you have any links to information about Orphan Works Act? I know you’ve posted something about a while ago and I’d like to read more about it. I’m planning on posting more art on my blog and would like to rest assured I can have some legal recourse if my work ever gets stolen and used by some unscrupulous thief.
October 28th, 2008 at 10:42 am
Hello Dani,
Thanks for the helpful tips. I went to art school and foolishly majored in film, because I knew my parents wouldn’t support me if I majored in Illustration. I realized my dream and began buying instructional books for illustration and practiice regularly. My question is: “What does a professional portfolio for possible employers look like? How many pieces of work should I use? How large is the physical portfolio? Do I take the physical portfolio into interviews or do I take in a resume and a disc with all of my work? Also, how did you go about shopping this portfolio around?”
I appreciate any feedback at your earliest convenience.
Thank you,
Kyle Hamilton
October 31st, 2008 at 11:03 pm
Eric - About the Orphan Works Act, I would recommend you visit IPA’s blog at http://ipaorphanworks.blogspot.com/. They stay up to date with the latest news and have lots of articles and information.
November 13th, 2008 at 5:05 pm
this is great information… I am creating a shirt for a client based on this process. He is a friend, so I am doing it for free. I can send you a copy if you would like to see it!