Hello all, today I thought I might begin to post a work in progress that begins with a portrait of a very famous actor who played a very famous role. This work, intended for a very special person, will be a collage piece, that, I assume will take a very long time to complete. The portrait will only be a portion of the overall image and should make for a very exciting piece. To note, this is fully digitally illustrated and rendered art, meaning it is drawn and painted on computer using Photoshop and a Wacom Pen tablet!
In the mean time I thought it might be interesting to share the creative process with anyone interested in seeing how something like this is done. Now please, do not consider this a tutorial, as many of the images will jump ahead in progress quite abruptly. However, I will explain some of the technique that goes into each of the steps provided.
While you're viewing the images, you may want to try to guess who this is! For some of you it may be easier than others and if you're someone who knows I'm working on the project already, please do not guess! As further progress is made I will continue to update in separate posts!
So let's begin!
Image No. 1
I start by doing an overall simple sketch of the subject. There are several ways to do this. In Photoshop, you can scan, drag and drop or import a photograph into a LAYER. On a separate layer directly over the top of the photo, the basic facial points can be sketched. The best way to do this is to use a very thin brush (airbrush tool) at a very low pressure and trace over the photo, which can be reduced in opacity to see your lines over the top of. There is no need for exact precision in sketching this layer as it will not be part of the final image. While tracing is an option, someone with more advanced illustration skills might opt to illustrate by eye. I chose instead to illustrate the portrait by not tracing, doing a side by side copy by eye from a photo of the subject. This of course is much more difficult and can lead to inaccuracy. Below is the simple sketch on it's own layer titled Portrait Sketch.
Image No. 2
Eyeballs! Eyeball placement accuracy can be difficult and nothing throws a portrait off more than misaligned eyes. Here, I've used a circular selection tool to create the pupil and iris (on different layers) and filled them in basic colors. Once I have created the first eye, I can then duplicate it and place it in the correct location based on my original sketch. I then erase the section of the eyeball that will be covered by the top lid.
Image No. 3
The third basic step is to create a layer where you will do your base face paint. Choosing a temporary flesh color I paint (on the separate layer labeled First Flesh) over the sketch loosely, a solid area, then on a separate layer I paint with a soft brush a very basic shadow flesh. You can still see the original sketch layer, which is over the top of the face paint layers but reduced in opacity.
Now I've gone ahead and jumped some steps, but the next image begins to illustrate a basic level of details in and around the eye. Using different brushes, pressures and techniques, I've begun to construct the upper lids, paint the iris and and highlights, even begun to shape the eyebrows. As for the skin in and around the eye, I've begun to dab in highlights and shadows to give the effect of the uneven surface, pores and wrinkles. This can easily be created by being patient, using a custom spatter style brush at a very low pressure. The entire idea behind airbrushing either on computer or with the real tool is to build layers of color and effects very, very slowly.
Image No. 5
Image 5, our final for this post, shows the addition of more facial features, wrinkles and effects. I've started to shape the nose area, adding highlights and shadows based on the photograph of my subject. Zoomed out to this level, the facial surface is beginning to look somewhat realistic on the left side and the eyeball at left is ready to duplicate the same look again over to the right.
So have you guessed who the subject is? If yes, then I congratulate you! It's very difficult to recognize this person at this point and I'm certainly nowhere close to achieving a likeness. If not, no worries, as I will continue to update the progress of the piece as I move forward! I'm sure you won't be in the dark for too long! Thank you all for stopping by to witness this work in progress!
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