Portrait {Process}

Quick breakdown of the process:

After getting a photo from the client, I turn the image black and white and bring the image into Adobe Illustrator.

I lock the images and then draw all my shapes in greyscale on top of the photo using the pencil tool - if it works in black and white, I know it will work in color. I draw the shapes from background (shirt / neck) up to the foreground (glasses / lips) just to make sure everything stays in the correct layer order.

I use and app called Astropad which essentially turn my iPad into a Cintiq so I can see the image and draw right on top of it.

Then I separate each shape using the “release to layers - sequence” function. I export the file as a .psd and then do all the color and texture work in photoshop using Kyle Brushes.

Tip: Alpha lock the layers before you paint them and you don't have to worry about painting outside each shape you've created in Illustrator.

Not sure if this is the best process, but just how I’ve ended up doing something like this!