Aims
- draw an accurate Jordan Henderson
- develop a nuanced palette
- reference the subject
- take the eye on a journey through the layout
- utilise vector for layout
- mimic vector with hand drawn portrait
- create a portrait that can be translated to vector easily
Hurdles to progress manifest in many forms. One of my own was drawing Jordan Henderson's face. I had tried once or twice and failed miserably. An awareness was growing that maybe I just couldn’t reproduce some faces, that they exhibited some unapproachable concoction of features that scrambled my brain. Not useful to an illustrator, and so I set to work.
Collected below are four stages of creating the portrait. Once I find the head shape I feel more confident in filling in the features. With the final step I wanted to draw the viewers into the eyes. That’s why I’ve softened the outer line work, everything is in a hierarchy that draws you inward to meet the stare. Klopp has referred to Henderson as a ‘Mentality Monster‘ and I’ve tried to show his drive and focus resonating outward from the eyes.
I’ve carried over my approach to colour and line work from a batch of drawings I made earlier in the year. Examining the Paul Pogba piece below we can see how I rely on warm tones for my shading and refrain from letting the base colours extend to meet line work in addition to colouring certain segments of said line work. This is to heighten the interplay between individual areas of the drawing. I’ve utilised this in the Henderson portrait but all of the work is executed with a mono line brush, so we have no variation. This uniformity allows the artwork to slot into a vector piece without it jarring.
This time lapse captures the entire drawing process. When using a brush with no pressure variation it allows me to create definite shapes so I can power through and chase a concrete likeness. I don’t need to be thinking when doing this, it gets in the way and encourages immediate second guessing.
Integrating my hand drawn work with crisp vector backgrounds has eluded me but I feel I’m making inroads with recent efforts. Guiding the viewer’s eye through the piece is a large concern and the dotted line is a useful visual cue to follow. I built a subdued palette based off the portrait and let lines build the piece. So if I were to break it all down in a sentence; uniform lines are the building blocks of the background and the portrait. The colours spread from the artwork itself but the use of black is heavily concentrated around the features to capitalise on centre stage. The only other black we see is weaker in comparison and will be seen second. This then guides us through the background making stops along the way at the player’s name, nickname, sponsor, number and a visual reference to his captaincy.
Some fun efforts in style before starting the Henderson portrait; Raheem Sterling & Marcelo Bielsa.