I thought I’d do a little step by step of an ink illustration, just to show how I go about creating this type of work. It’s nothing special, just a sketch of a portrait I found on deviantart.
Click the image above for the step by step images.
Step 1 - I generally sketch out what I want to draw, which in this case was a girl with a rather scruffy curly wig. When working in pen I never usually draw in pen to begin with. To be honest I don’t know how anyone can as it’s too scary! I mean what if I make a mistake… eek!
Step 2 - Next I tend to either start with an outline of the whole piece on pen or move from one section to another. For example you can see that I’ve finished the eyes and then I moved onto the nose/face outline.
Step 3 - After I’ve jumped around the piece finishing little bits, then I’m done! If I’m going to scan the piece in and upload it onto the net, I tend to edit some of the bits I don’t like. In this illustration I lightened the lips as I’d made them too dark.
Total time to complete - I’d say this probably took about 20 - 25 minutes, minus all the time stopping to scan etc.
I would have liked to add more detail to the hair but I thought it would swamp her face… but I might give it a try next time.
