Blurring effects

Character design and vector illustration are often epitomised by bold colours and simple, solid forms. Photography, on the other hand, is full of unique textures and ever changing variables. One of the most natural characteristics of photography, which is often lost in illustration, is focus.

Take any photo and chances are there’s some evidence of varying focus in the image, and the same can be said for video. It’s one of those effects that you don’t even think about when you see it; your brain automatically processes the image and determines that some elements are far away, some elements are close up and some (usually the most important ones) are the right distance away to be crisp and visible.

Before we started this illustration we looked at photographs and then took out the digital camera and played around with the Macro feature. By doing this you can see depth of focus in action and apply it to your own work. Knowledge and experience of this photographic technique will ultimately help you to mimic it.

When adding depth of field to a vector illustration, the key is in the set-up and in making the composition of the piece look natural once the blurring effect is applied. Here you’ll work through the set-up of a layered illustration and also look at some tricks and techniques that you can apply to enhance the effect and really give your illustration extra depth.

Illustrators spend a lot of time pouring their heart into every last detail of their work – the last thing they want to do is blur it into oblivion in Photoshop. However, used correctly, adding depth of field to an illustration can give it a subconscious realism that detail alone can’t match.

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