Sunlit
Sunlit. Using a reference photo, I painted a portrait in SketchClub. To simplify the painting process, I used the Vector tool to make shapes as large blocks of color, and then I use the pen and soft and hard brushes to add layers of detail. Then I used iColorama to optimize the color, tone and contrast, to add lighting effects, and to add textures for the background areas.
I opened a reference photo, which I obtained from the Sktchy app, in SketchClub. I reduced the opacity of the photo layer so I could still see it as I painted, but it would not be so dark that I couldn’t see what I was I was painting. I kept this layer as the top layer throughout the rest of the painting process, turning visibility on and off to check my work as I went along. When I no longer need the photo reference, I will turn off visibility for the photo layer, so that nothing of the photo remains in the final image. On a new layer below the photo layer, I started by painting this off-white shape using the Vector tool.
On a new layer above the previous layer, I used the Vector tool to paint the stripes on her shirt.
On a new layer below the previous layers, I used the Vector tool to paint a skin-toned shape for the neck and head.
On a new layer above the previous layer, I used the Vector tool to paint a red shape for the lips and black shapes for the eyelashes.i used the pen tool to draw a dark line between the lips.
On a new layer above the previous layers, I used the Vector tool to paint a dark shape for the hair.
On a new layer above the previous layer, I used the Pen tool to draw lines to suggest strands of hair.
On a new layer just above the skin tone layer, I used a soft round brush to paint shadows onto her face and neck, using a darker shade of the skin tone color.
On a new layer below the shirt layers, I used the Vector tool to create shapes for her hands, using the color picker eye dropped to match the color of her face. Then I used the pen tool to draw lines on her hands to suggest fingers.
On a new layer just above the hands layer, I used a soft round brush to paint shadows onto her hands, using a darker shade of the skin tone color.
On a new layer below the other layers, I used the Vector tool to create a shape for the table.
On a new layer below the other layers, I used the Vector tool to create a shape for a window.
On a new layer below the other layers, I used the Vector tool to create shapes for window frame.
On a new layer at the bottom of the layer stack, I filled the layer with a blue-green color not too distant from the color of the stripes on her shirt.
On a new layer just above the table layer, I used a soft round brush to paint shadows around her hands and arms, as well as around the window frame.
On a new layer above the other layers, I used a soft round brush to paint sunbeams streaming across her, coming from the upper left of the window. I saved the image to my camera roll.
I opened the image in iColorama. I used a couple of presets under Adjust/Tonelab to optimize the color and tone. Then I used a preset under Texture/Organic, with an inverted brush mask, to give a wood texture to the table. In constructing the brush mask, I used the “limits” switch, which makes it easier to make the mask conform to the outlines of the figure.
I used a preset under Texture/Vintage, with an inverted brush mask, to paint a wallpaper texture onto the wall. In constructing the brush mask, I used the “limits” switch, which makes it easier to make the mask conform to the outlines of the window frame.
