People will often ask me how my work comes together. While it isn't exactly formalized process, most pieces do pretty much follow the same pattern, from a first quick outline sketch done freehand through the detail and into the final piece. Here's what those stages look like:
Stage 1: the loose outline
I always start with a quick, loose sketch outlining the basic shapes, sizes and proportions of my subject. I typically work from an image on a cell phone, sometimes a tablet, as my source. There's no detail happening yet - that all comes in the shading. This is just a framework, and honestly, the edges that I set in this stage often move during the detail phase.
Peg Bundy in her loose outline stage
This doesn't look like Edward Scissorhands yet
Mr. Glass is just a shell
stage 2: "pouring" in the detail
This is the fun part - creating the features with shading and detail. I work in charcoal, colored pencils and acrylic paint (my newest medium). I love shading, and this is the stage where the features are added and the personality starts to appear. Because I often work from top left to bottom right (I'm a rightie, so I don't want to smudge the work with my hand as I move down the page), it can look like the features are being "poured" into the outline. That's not the case with acrylics, though...
Amy Winehouse is starting to appear...
Acrylics aren't done top to bottom because there's no risk of smearing with the side of my hand - Lucy is still missing her signature 'do
Here's Pennywise being poured in
Here's Mr. Glass with a little more detail
Clark is starting to look sort of familiar
stage 3: oh sh*t
Okay, not every work goes through this stage, but some of them do. I've spent time working on them, giving it my all, and they just aren't looking right. I can usually pull them back from this point but it can take a lot of erasing...
Even squinting, this does NOT look like Michael J. Fox
I initially started Lydia as just colored pencil on canvas, but I couldn't get enough depth or richness of color, no matter how hard I pressed or how many layers I put on - a layer of acrylic paint helped get the colors to pop
This Beetlejuice wasn't quite working...the features were on an angle and he looks like he's melting
stage 4: final result
Want to see the final results of these pieces? Check out my work page!