Illustration

Before

After
This cat illustration started with a photo from Fiamma Franchi's stock photo (www.sxc.com) of the cat (top) and first converting it to a black and white line drawing. I began filling in certain areas with a small watercolor brush and opacity of about 25%. Then I layered it with the original photo again and started erasing areas that I wanted highlighted and to bring some of the color into the foreground. After playing with the opacity on some of these layers, I merged the layers and did some final tweaking with the pencil. I have to say, this is one of my first "illustrations" based on a photo and thanks to Fiamma for allowing me to play with this photo. I hope this sample of what you can do with your software, will encourage you to give it a try. It's fun and addicting! The other samples I have posted have all used different tools available in the software and some are still works in progress. Have fun!