Illustrate a Dramatic, Feather-Infused Portrait in Adobe Photoshop

Portraits make for a fascinating subject, especially when combined with abstracted natural elements. In this tutorial, I share my portraiture method by painting an ethereal lady enveloped by feathers. My tools of choice are Adobe Photoshop CS6 and my Wacom Tablet (Intuos 3). From sketch to final, I describe various techniques for creating atmosphere, color, texture and detail. Under the 'Assets' section, I include a few of my favorite custom brushes and textures mentioned in the tutorial. My process is fairly painterly and I use few layers, merging constantly. Compiling and condensing the material was lots of fun - I hope you enjoy as well!

Tutorial Assets

• Brushes
• Speckled texture
• Watercolor Texture 1
• Watercolor Texture 2
• Watercolor Texture 3
• Peasant 1
• Peasant 2

Create an Advanced Frozen Vector Portrait in Adobe Illustrator

 What You'll Be Creating

My new course, Advanced Vector Portraits was recently published. It's a follow on course from my first, Vector Portraits for Beginners and it shows you how to create detailed hair, skin shading, modified portraits and more. A perfect jumping board for exploring how to create style vector portraits which look different from their original stock image.

1. Modify Your Stock Image

As with all of my vector portraits, I start with an initial base image. Depending on the project you're taking on, you may need to carbon copy your stock image or you may be able to get creative. Advanced Vector Portraits focuses on the latter and shows you quick and simple ways to modify your reference image before you even start the vectoring process.

So following the more advanced route of modifying a stock image, I started with a great image from Photodune of a young blond woman. The character I'm wishing to inspire this portrait is Elsa from Frozen. She's young and she's blond... so I'm already half way there in terms of reference material in front of me. However the stock image is realistic, and Disney proportions aren't. They're a cartoon and I need to turn our blond woman into a big eyed, round faced beauty.

In the course, I'll show you how to create a very similar effect to this. Modifying the eyes, the face shape and lips to create this very rough looking reference image. 

Now it doesn't need to be polished or perfect, it's only a reference and as long as you can still clearly see the features you need, we can work on this in vector.

2. It All Starts With Skin Shading

Step 1

When you're creating a detailed vector portrait, one of the most challenging elements to create is skin shading. It's a thankless job I'm afraid. It doesn't have the impact of the eyes, hair or lips. You'll know you're doing the skin shading right when people don't comment on it. 

So first let's create our all important base shape with the Pen Tool (P) in Adobe Illustrator. This is going to be used to create a Clipping Mask (Control-7) and to provide a solid base to put many low Opacity shapes on top. 

Step 2

For the initial skin shading shapes, I use Pathfinder > Minus Front to remove the lighter areas of the face from duplicates of the base shape. I then stack multiple variations of the shapes with low Opacities on top of the base to create a smooth transition of colour.

The skintones I tend to use can be found directly in Adobe Illustrator by going in the Swatches panel and into the drill down menu. Select Open Swatch Libraries > Skintones and you'll be presented with many palettes of varied ethnicity. I tend to select several so I can create the lightest of light and darkest of dark contrasts in the skin.

In my course I'll show you each shape that I draw for a manipulated portrait such as this and tell you further about the colours I use. 

Step 3

The smaller the shapes I draw, the deeper the contrast. I always work on the shadowed areas first and use several Blending Modes with the original base shape colour to keep an even skin tone in the initial stages. 

Step 4

Once the initial shapes are drawn, I then Group them (Control-G) and use a duplicate of the base shape to create a Clipping Mask (Control-7). This helps clean up the edges

Step 5

I then to continue to add dark shadow shapes to the skin and then Group them and place them in the clipping mask group.

Step 6

The next step is to add highlights to the skin (usually with transparent Radial Gradients) and variations in the skin tones. Variations such as rosey cheeks, slight greying in the corner of the eyes and a little touch of red on the nose. 

Then I lighten the skin further and add more rosey tones to the skin (given Elsa is a fan of the cold) to create a more icy look.

3. Let's Work on those Lips

Step 1

The majority of shading should always be done with the skin shading. This is because the lips are part of the skin. Any additional detailing you add to the lips, such as colours, sparkles etc... should be done separately so they don't make the lips look as if they're floating on the surface of the skin.

I first begin with adding colour to the lips to create a base. I'll avoid adding too much colour to the areas where the light catches them.

Step 2

Then using the same process of adding highlights to the skin, I use transparent Radial Gradients to the lips to add highlights and textures. 

Step 3

Finally, sparkles and glitter are added to the lips to create a more frosted look.

4. Create Striking Eyes

Step 1

In a portrait, the first thing we pay attention to is the eyes. This is your first impression with the viewer, so make it count and create striking eyes. In this design it helps that the eyes have been enlarged, it's just I'll need to make them striking enough!

Using pale transparent Radial Gradients, I first create shapes for the eyeball and corners of the eyes. 

Step 2

One of the cleanest ways to create a detailed iris and pupil is to use the Appearance panel and Graphic Styles. It also means you can create two evenly styled eyes!

I've used a series of blues with varying Offset Paths and then finished it off with a Zig Zag effect. In the course, I will show you how to create this fill by fill.

Once the eyes are created, place them in a Clipping Mask to keep the edges tidy.

Step 3

Now that we have our eyes, we need to darken the skin around the eyes to help create a natural lash line. These shapes can also be drawn to help add shading to the eyeball and create a more 3D effect.

Step 4

Let's add some colours to the eyes by rendering some eye shadow and liner. Using transparent Radial Gradients, I've added purple around the eyes and then added dots to create a glitter effect. 

Step 5

To finish off the eyes, I'm going to use one of my favourite art brushes, which has been taught in both of my vector courses (remember the beginners course is for free!). 

First I add eyelashes and then move onto adding eyebrows. She's looking much more normal now! Finally I add a reflection of light in the eyes using another gradient.

I take this time to also add some freckles on the nose and cheeks. 

5. Create a Braided Hairstyle

Step 1

In Advanced Vector Portraits, I'll teach you some solid hair style theory. How to build your own hair styles and make them look detailed! This is a variation of what I'll be teaching you, so you know how to add a braid into your design.

Braids (or plaits in the UK!) are hard to draw, especially if you rarely add them to your design. Sadly, Elsa's hair style includes a big, thick, blonde braid.

After you've sketched the top of your hairstyle on the skull, we're going to use a braid Art Brush to create a template for the braid. You can find out how to create your own braid brush via one of my old tutorials.

Step 2

Once you've sketched around the brush, use a the Bend Warp effect to create a curve in your design. This will give the perfect swishing braid for your portrait.

Step 3

Give yourself some direction of the grain of the hair in the plait by drawing in some strands. Give each section of the braid (there are three) their own colour. This will help you see where each of the sections are. 

Step 4

Once you've got your initial sketches laid, it's time to create those all important base shapes. I've created one for the hair on top and one for the braid.

Step 5

The detailing of the hair begins with adding gradients to the bases and then adding initial strokes to the hair. These strokes follow the sketch you've done, so you're aware of where each of the sections of hair are. The sketch you've made of the direction of hair on the braid will help a great deal.

Step 6

Keep adding the light and dark strands to the hair to create a nice glossy hair style. Finish off the hair by adding individual hairs which will help give a more realistic look to the hair. 

In the course, I will show you how to render the hair in detail and you'll see every stroke I draw.

Want to Learn More?

This portrait used exactly the same processes I use in Advanced Vector Portraits. In the course you'll learn how to create two different styles of portrait, using the same stock image!

The first is a monochrome portrait using detailed yet minimal shading.

The second is a more detailed portrait which follows exactly the same process as this Frozen portrait, but in much more detail. I'll talk you through each shape and stroke to create your own manipulated reference image and then vectoring the actual portrait.

Both portrait projects use exactly the same starting stock image! So what are you waiting for?

Create a Retro Footballer in Adobe Illustrator for the World Cup

Love football? The 2014 World Cup in Brazil starts today! In this tutorial, I decided to create a bright illustration with a retro style effect but with a nod to the hosting teams colors, all in Adobe Illustrator.

1. Prepare Your Workspace

You will need: Adobe Illustrator, a stock photo of a footballer and a graphics tablet.

Step 1

Lets create a New Document in Adobe Illustrator with following settings.

Step 2

You need some picture of footballer to be used as derivative. I found amazing image on Photodune. There are a lot of photos with football players available, however I picked this one because it has nice lighting and a good dynamic pose.

Step 3

Drag and drop your picture on the current layer. Open the Layer Settings by clicking double on this layer. Rename it as Picture and use the following settings.

Step 4

Let's create and add some retro colors in the Swatches panel. The colors have to be strong, contrasting and bright. Go to the Color panel and play with the RGB settings.

I'll be using a deep blue retro color. Nice for shadows and contours. Lets create and add a few more colors. These are the codes for the colors I'll be using: #FFFFFF, #AB673D, #AB673D, #FFD438, #179840, #66999C. You can use them or create your own.

2. Create the Main Shapes

Step 1

Create a New Layer above the stock image layer. Choose the dark blue color as Fill color. Lets create the main contour shape with Pen Tool (P).

Pay attention to details. But don't make the shape too smooth. Sharp angles give a good old school effect.
Use Preview mode (View > Preview) to see outlines only. Its great way to make this process much easier.

Step 2

When you have finished with the main shape select it and create one more contour by going to Object > Path > Offset Path. Lock the generated path (Object > Lock > Selection).

Step 3

Let's divide the original shape into several basic parts: head, hands, feet and clothes. Still using the Pen Tool (P) create a new shape of the face above the main shape.

Create the hands, legs and clothes elements the same way.
Actually it's not required for the shapes to be closed. You can just make some contour lines in the areas where the main shape will be divided.

Step 4

After that, select all shapes (except offset and locked one of course) and click the Divide button in the Pathfinder panel. Then Ungroup (Object > Ungroup) this all and remove any unnecessary stay objects.

Step 5

Select each piece and change the Fill color using the swatches you created before.

Step 6

Add more deep blue contours in the places which needs strong contrast.

Offset Path of each piece again (just like you have done before in Step 2) to get fast extra contour shapes. Use the Pen Tool (P) to create some lines on the hands and finger areas.

3. Add the Details

This part of work is most laborious. But at the same time it's the most fun and interesting.

Step 1

Starting from the top let's create face details using the Pen Tool (P). The Fill color is still deep blue. I decided to drop down the opacity level in Picture layer options to have better Preview.

Continue to add details around the face.

Step 2

Choose the yellow color for the fill and create the midtones areas. Don't forget to switch Preview mode all the time to see where you have to put this yellow color.

Step 3

Create a Calligraphic Brush for stylish artistic lines to make your artwork more detailed. Click the New Brush button in the Brushes panel and use the following settings.

Continue drawing using your graphics tablet. Experiment with pressure: some lines have to be thin, some lines need to be thick. If sometime you feel the need to use the Pen Tool - feel free to use it. As you can see on picture below I was using the Pen Tool for the larger areas, and Brush - for the line shaped thin areas.
This is important part of work when you realizing how exactly your whole image looks like. The style your details have to be kept  through the whole work process.

If you're not happy with your Brush drawing results try to change this settings (press Enter). I was using these:

Also check out your Graphics Tablet settings. I have got Pressure Intensity set up on the hardest level to have the best pressure control.

Step 4

Add contour lights on hair with a brown color and some highlights on face using white. Continue going down and add shadows on t-shirt. Again use the Pen Tool for big solid areas and Brush for more detailed thin lines.

Add highlights as well.

Step 5

There is a great way to make your shadows and highlights areas more detailed and stylish. Add sharp contiguous lines here and there just like I've done on pictures below.

Look how I created the yellow midtones and white highlights on the hands. Do it same way: somewhere with Pen Tool and somewhere with Brush.

Step 6

Pay attention to contour lights - thin lines on the sides. These lines gives great contrast. Create them using the Paintbrush Tool (B).

Step 7

Continue going down with details. Add green midtones and white highlights on the shorts.

Add a number on the shorts too. Distort it with the Warp Tool and Direct Selection Tool (A).

Step 8

Still using the Paintbrush Tool add some decorative thin lines and little dots here and there to make illustration be more textured.

Step 9

Draw some lines on the gaiters and move to the shoes.

I was drawing blind because the shoes in derivative picture are black. Its almost solid black: poor midtones and highlights. That means sometimes you have to be extra creative and run with your imagination.

Step 10

Add the finishing touches: contrast lines, decorative dots, little scribbles.  I add more curls to the hair, some wet drops on the face, few extra lines to the mustache and barb.

And finally we got cool bright retro styled footballer! Something is missing... oh yeah, the ball!

4. Create the Ball

You can create the ball same way you've done before with footballer. Nothing special. But I actually was using my old vector ball I created a long time ago. But it still works, and I'm gonna show you how.

Step 1

Copy-paste the ball. Select the copy and press Unite button.

Step 2

Fill the result shape with deep blue color from your Swatches panel. Offset this path going to Object > Path > Offset Path (with the same setting as for footballer). Paste the resulting path to the back (Object > Arrange > Send to Back).

Step 3

Ungroup the ball on top and select all the black objects using Select > Same > Fill Color (but make sure you already selected at least one). And just change selected shapes black color to deep blue.

Select all dark grey shapes and change their fill to green. Use this technique to change light grey to yellow and middle grey to brown.

Step 4

Remove excess shapes and add extra lines using the Paintbrush Tool.

Step 5

Move the ball closer to the man. Pay attention to the light direction. It has to be the same with footballer. In this case rotate the ball if you need.

5. Add Texture to Your Illustration

Step 1

Go to the Layers panel and make Picture layer invisible. Create a New Layer above Picture. Choose the Rectangle Tool (M) and create a new rectangle 500 x 700 px. Fill it with #66999C.

Step 2

Create a New Layer above all and paste there some vector dirty elements. I was using my old vector scratches. But if you have nothing to use, I will show how to create it fast.
Just take your camera and make a few shots of walls in your place or get outside and make some photos of asphalt. Dirty and scratched surfaces work best for this.

Drop your photo on the current layer, select it and go to Window > Image Trace.

Play with controllers to get best result. I traced my picture with these settings:
Push the Trace button when you're done and Expand it in top main menu. After that there will be a group of vector elements. Thats it!

Step 3

Change your dirty elements fill color to the same with background.

Drag, scale and rotate the copies of this dirt element around your illustration.

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Step 4

Finally add some extra lines and splashes to get weathered retro look.

Score! You're Now Done!

Your retro footballer illustration is complete! It's perfect to be used in a poster design. Or you just can put it to your desktop. I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and gained some new useful skills.