My project for course: Dramatic Portraits with Pastels, Collage, and Photoshop

Here's the final project that I created in my Illustration course: Dramatic Portraits with Pastel, Collage, and Photoshop. In this online course, we work in layers to combine traditional and digital illustration techniques to create compelling portraits of people in a meaningful environment.

Let me walk you through my image making process so you can see how I created this illustration.

The first step In my process was to create a Mood Board so that I could gather my ideas and start to find inspiration for the illustration.

I then began to create a series of thumbnail sketches to map out my composition. I chose one to refine into a blueprint that I used to transfer to my pastel paper.

Adding the layers of pastel for the portrait was fun. Using the principles of value and incorporating specific color relationships I was able to bring life to my illustrated character. At this point I was also able to make some edits to the character's pose. By changing the character's position in the composition I was able to create a much more dynamic illustration.

Next, I started adding the collage elements for the environment.

Notice how each background element is made from a different collage paper or found object. This allowed me to experiment with a variety of different textures, colors, and paper surfaces.

The last stage of my working process is to scan the illustration into the computer and add additional digital enhancements. I like to use a soft touch on the digital side so that I can preserve the handmade feel of the original illustration.

If you enjoyed following along with this image making process, be sure to check out my Illustration course: Dramatic Portraits with Pastels, Collage, and Photoshop.