So, my friend Brittany just graduated from college and is moving to China for a year as a missionary. I’m going to miss her so much, but I decided to do this quick drawing as a see-you-later present.
First off, I chose a picture I wanted to draw and did a really faint, rough outline. It all just starts with circles and oblongs, and I usually just go over it with more and more detail until it’s an outline I’m happy with.
Next, I went in with a thicker black outline. This is where it’s really important to get the facial features right. I also added the creases in her clothes and the flowers in her hair.
The next step is my favorite part- adding the color! This is the part where you have to really look closely at your reference picture for all the variations in hues-where the darks and lights are- etc. Since I had already put in the black outline, it’s kinda like working on a coloring book- but shading at the same time.
Just keep adding color… I think in this stage I sort of removed the black outline to see what it would look like if I just outlined each section with a darker color. For example, her shirt is white, so I outlined it with grey. Her skin was tan, so I outlined that with a dark brown. I think this is what I went with in the end.
The hair is the trickiest part of coloring. My tip is to just make sure your brush/pencil is set really small. Treat each stroke like a strand of hair, and just keep layering. It takes practice.
Here’s the finished product! Comment what you think, and please follow me!
isabel notes 