Debbie Grossman interviewed illustrator Tim O'Brien about how he created the Iron Eyes Cody style tear running down President Reagan's cheek in the latest issue of Time.
Me: Did you end up doing it in Photoshop?Tim: You want me to give away trade secrets here [laughs]? It has to be extremely transparent. It's a formula. A tear is a formula. It has to conform to an anatomy of the face. When they were doing it, it looked like it was dripping on the magazine.
Me: So how'd you do it?
Tim: I drew it with the lasso. I have a Wacom tablet, and I just draw on the source image. I draw a selection in I the shape that I want. There's all kinds of wrinkles on Reagan's face. I go into the crevice and out of the crevice. If you conform to it well, the trail is believable.
Me: Some people say that it doesn't look fake enough, but I think it's obvious.
Tim: It's a pretty big tear. The only thing that could do that in reality is Karo syrup.
Previously on Boing Boing:
• Time makes Reagan cry with Photoshop
