the process of a piece

<< AS-TU PEUR? >> mixed media on illustration board, Jade To 2018

I want to walk you through the creative process of an art piece, at least how I do it. As with anything, it starts with an idea. The idea evolves into a concept, and with that concept, the real creativity comes into play. You have to consider what angle you are going to take with this concept; what medium(s) are you going to use, is it going to be stylized, etc.

My idea first came up on a whim. I was helping my friend Emma take reference photos for a few themed pieces she was going to do. Her concept plan was do incorporate scissors within her pieces, since they look pretty impressive in a realism style. She asked if I needed any photos for myself, and it made me think, since I didn't even consider it before. I had her hold these tiny scissors by her eye and look towards the sun.

This is the result, some killer reference photos:

Having two photos as reference reminded me of those pop art paintings that have the image depicted multiple times with slight alterations, much like this Warhol piece:

I also wanted to experiment with different styles and mediums. I love trying new things with art and expanding my skill range, both technical and stylistic. Being a lover of all things to do with vintage pop culture, I thought of doing one square influenced by vintage horror movie posters. The photo has a creepy element to it with the slightly unsettling imagery, so I thought it would be a shame not to go for it. The old movie poster designs really play with dramatic shading and nontraditional colors, which I thought would be fun to try out. 

That brought about this: 

This section was done in mostly acrylic, with colored pencil and marker shading. Incorporating the other mediums brings the piece to a whole other level, changing up the texture and values.

I am also super inspired by Roy Lichtenstein and absolutely adore pop art. So, I had to incorporate it into my piece. Initially, I wanted to be in color, but later decided to leave it black & white, since it would contrast better with the other styles, balancing the piece out. 

Drowning Girl (1963) Roy Lichtenstein  

Also, working with ink, specifically microns or any other pens, is a valuable skill to master. It makes you both more cautious and less of a perfectionist when it comes to mark making. It's not hard to make a mistake here or there, so you learn to work with your mistakes. As you become more comfortable with the medium, the risk of an unintended mark is thankfully lowered. 

The next part I worked on took a lot of brain power to come up with a good idea for it. I knew I wanted the upper left square to be realism and had such strong concepts for the others, I was just having trouble finding an idea for one more. In times of art block, I rely on Pinterest to save the day. In what felt like endless scrolling through different portrait styles, an idea finally came to me. 

Surrealism is one of my favorite art styles, so why not give it a try? I took what little photoshop skills I have and came up with this for reference:

It's a bit unsettling, I know. I added a grid to help scale the reference to the drawing and decided to mess around with the coloring, so it is different from the realism portion. I used marker and colored pencil for this section. I am familiar with colored pencil, but I chose marker, since it would be a new, interesting challenge for me. Also for this part, I wanted to make the shading and colors a bit more dramatic, so it really pops from the realism portion and shows a style within itself. The pop art section is probably my favorite, but this one is a definite contender.

For the last section I worked on, I decided to due regular realism. This I felt would balance the piece well, as well as show off technical skill. This portion was done in acrylic, colored pencil, and marker. 

It is important to note, if you're planning on doing a portrait yourself, that the skin has many different colors in it. You cannot just use one color for the base. This, for example, has the usual beige and peach tones, in addition to browns, yellows, coral, purples, and (yes !) even greens all within the skin tone. The hair as well has many highlights and lowlights that are essential to capture. 

That was my process for this piece! The last thing, and arguably one of the most important things you must do is name your piece. Usually, I'm absolutely garbage at naming pieces and just naming things in general. Although, a name for this piece came to me pretty quickly. This piece is called << AS-TU PEUR? >> which is French for "Are you scared?". I use << >> instead of quotation marks, since that is what it used in French. I named it this because I just had to be pretentious and use French instead of English, and also due to the slight anxiety the scissors that close to an eye gives people. 

Being able to take an idea in your head and make it into something you can see right in front of you is a pretty cool thing. What happens along that journey is unique for everyone and every piece. It also feels good to actually like your piece when it is completed, after spending days on it. I'm really proud of this piece. Hope you enjoyed my process for this piece! 

drowning girl: W1siZiIsIjIzNzM1NSJdLFsicCIsImNvbnZlcnQiLCItcmVzaXplIDIwMDB4MjAwMFx1MDAzZSJdXQ.jpg

not of this earth poster: ot-of-this-earth.jpg

brain-eaters poster: the-brain-eaters.jpg

andy warhol piece: flat,550x550,075,f.u5.jpg