I wanted to do something a bit different and fun for this post. I started with a somewhat rough sketch. (I tend to be very controlled in my freehand drawings, so as much as I want to leave the initial sketch as basic as possible, can't help myself)
After I've gotten the somewhat "basic" drawing down of what I wanted, I brought into Photoshop and manipulated the piece and continued the drawing to be more realistic and have smoother shadings.
This technique is a bit different from my normal style, I normally like rougher, darker contrasts. Due to the mood of the drawing, I decided to lighten it up a bit and change it up.
I tried sticking to again, lighter shades and more of a graphite/pastel finish for the shadows.
Since I used a pen for the initial sketch, the darkness of the beard didn't need much darkening anymore. The trick was now bringing in more realistic hair strands into the beard and highlights. By using the pen tool, I brought it down to 4pts and drew in lighter shades of grey and went to town drawing in a variety of strands to help give it that real beard look.
Finished it up with painting over and adding shades to what I'd already started with ink and made the rest of the features more defined. Lastly, used the pen tool to add the wording on the cap.
@comealong