Latest Art Project
Taking a quick break from my work today to share my latest illustration. This was done for promotional postcards that I'm sending out real soon.
Rough Sketch
Perspective...always a fun time. This sketch took me a couple of goes mostly due to the fact that I really wanted to make sure I had a convincing enough high-angle perspective going on.
Tight Sketch
In this step, I added more details to the room and tightened up the lineart. I had a poll on Instagram/Snapchat to decide whether the teens in the room should be 70s teens or 80s teens. It was a tie; my partial feelings towards the aesthetic of the 70s was the final vote. Maybe my recent interest in the show Mindhunter also played a part...
Lineart
Flat Colors
I always start my digital illustrations by putting in the flat colors first. In photoshop, I put each color on a different layer to make things easier for me in the next steps. I worked with a limited palette and stuck with earth tones that were very popular in the seventies.
You'll also notice I started coloring the lineart too so that the colors corresponded with the color of the object it was outlining.
Lighting
Cue the mood! This step I focused on adding highlights and shadows. At first, I started out with three light sources (the TV, the window, and the lamp) but you'll see in the next steps I decided to take the lamp out. I was working with gouache-style and textured brushes. I was going for a Sara Kipin kind of look. I also was inspired a little by Gravity Falls with the lighting/mood.
Demon!
As you saw in the initial sketch, I originally intended to have shadow monsters emanating from all three of the girls but then I realized I didn't want the monster coming from the girl in the red to interfere with the lighting of the TV. So, I just kept it to the girl in the corner.
Final Touches
The Final Look
What originally started out as just a creepy illustration turned into an almost homage to horror movies. I put in several references from various horror movies from the 70s and 80s; let's see if you can find them all!
Thank you for taking the time to read this till the end.
If you'd like to keep up with more of my work you can check me out at the following:
Instagram: @la.fumettista
Tumblr: http://la-fumettista.tumblr.com/tagged/art
Twitter: @TheresaChiechi
Website: https://www.theresachiechi.com/
Until next time 👋