I am starting to really like doing portraits. It’s a strange ride. I know I have to do something crazy to consider any portrait acceptable. Yet… I have to highlight the face to make it identifiable. It’s so much easier to create abstract designs. It’s all me from the start. With a portrait, I am instantly faced with a challenge. How do I keep the face in tact while I’m exploring color? I am uninhibited with my abstract sketches. I can go anywhere. Portraits are a wild beast. Plus… I can’t go completely nuts because I have to retain composure. How does the person look. Pensive, Stoic, Happy? Colors can affect the look in design in so many ways. For this design, I wanted to use bold colors. Colors that demand your attention when you stare at it. I also wanted to play with many colors.
Whenever I stare at paintings, I am immediately drawn to colors. Some colors blend well, and some colors don’t. It’s funny because there’s nothing wrong with exploring colors that don’t mesh. It’s a constant exploration to discover more depths of color. I can talk about color all day. I’m drawn to red. Strength and fire… Power, lust, ambition, perfection, obsession, and many more definitions. Red is a beautiful color. I’m drawn to it, I love to look at it. I am gushing… I also love blue, especially darker shades.
For this particular design, I had blue and purple in mind. Halfway, I wanted to go nuts. I hate having a design defined in one color. I love multiple colors in my work. Color is awesome. I started blending multiple effects. There’s one layer that has me on edge. It’s so extreme that it always has me in puzzled. I love it yet hate it equally. It’s called difference. Yes… the huge question on using this effect or not in blending. The difference in creating something I love or hate. The results can be disastrous when blending another layer with that effect. Sometimes, I just laugh at the blends. I think it’s too crazy to go down that road. Yet if I go down that road I might find gold. Difference is the fork in the road. I think it’s nice to go subtle sometimes. Woolf felt like I was on a completely different road. A road, I felt a personal connection with but didn’t know how to express it in color, until I started working with Woolf. The question is always present; How would this person look in a certain color? Do I have the ability to pull off the colors I see in my head on the screen? The question keeps repeating itself when I make a portrait. It feels like a strange balance with my abstract sketches. I have to be more restrained yet still wild with portraits. I can unleash chaos with my pencil sketches.
I can’t tell you how much I love designing. I want to be a filter for color. Have it become one with my soul and stream every hue into my body and I get to dance with it. It’s a party, an awesome party.
- Time to create: 3+ Hours
- Tools: A pic of Frederick Douglass and Paintshop Pro
- Song in video: Walk by Herr Doktor