Well, folks! Don't we get a little flakey on sticking to style. I hope it will endear you to me (I can count my closest friends on a hand, so you see, I need you to validate my tendency toward temporal commitment). This will be our little parasocial fling.
I didn't like the feeling the previous style gave off which was aesthetically cluttered and stunk of modernist infographic design. So as part of my efforts to try and polish the look and feel of my content, I'll be slowly cleaning and minimizing stuff around here (Much like what I did with the "Whiskey Talk" blogs) so that this space doesn't look like a wall violated with paint by a 3-year-old Von Gogh. It's called being an adult about this sh**.
Phlox Ronin
I finished this two days back and couldn't bring myself to post it because it was looking so goddamn sharp. Among my other finished work, it felt like I would be tossing it into a pit of stylistically confused trash. And so now you see where the decision to do an aesthetic overhaul is coming from.
The decision to add a definite geometry with bold colour choices in the background was my 18-year-old little brother's touch of inspiration. He guessed it right, as I had a little, that I needed something to anchor the portrait.
Process
For this, I started with a quick sketch on my little sketchbook and got the wind about the shapes. Then I went on to scan it into my tablet and then continue the rest of the way on digital. After that, I traced and redrew it near stylized.
From there on it was just a matter of blocking in the shadow and highlight values on the skin, clothing, and hair in colour, which is still a challenge to me. You know what? Watch the process video because I worked really hard on that too and you should give me all your stashed booze (I'm out and my government placed a moratorium on hooch sales and so I'm incidentally sober).
I'm looking forward to the coming weeks as I change up my page's look. I'm planning on posting timelapse videos so you can have a peek into what I do from start to finish. Maybe a narrated video?
I'm getting ahead of myself.
As always, after pimping my talents out for validation, smash that upvote button and follow me if you like my wares. If you've already done both those things, you might as well subscribe to PowerHouseCreatives Community, whose support of my content has been invaluable.
So if you looking to join a community of folks with actual personalities and one alcoholic, click this f**ing *here.
