This illustration is very special to me. I drew someone who means the world to me, someone who will always have a permanent place in my heart. Like with most of my drawings, I made this as a gift. When my words fail me, I use my art to show just how beautiful she is through my eyes.

The Wire Frame

It was important that I model this one realistically, so I actually used a photo reference for help with the pose and the sizing. Most of my art is more on the cartoon side of the spectrum, but I wanted her facial features to be proportioned correctly and not exaggerated like an anime character.

The Sketch

In my sketch I had originally envisioned her standing in front of a dense foliage. I kept the tall grass around her, but I decided against the sticks and leaves. Because she is modeled after a real person, I tried my best to keep her features identifiable, including her nose and her lips. She's also wearing a rosary to remind me of how we met, both of us religious and active in our local church.

The Line Art

After spending much attention to the details, I feel like the black and white line art resembles her much more than initial sketch. I also practiced giving volume to her hair and illustrating many smaller strands as opposed to a more comical look with larger shapes and less detail. Her dress was very nice to draw, especially all of the frills and folds.

The Flat Colors

The base colors on this drawing were really easy to make. Although the line art is very detailed, the actual shapes and number of colors is very minimal and simple. These initial colors are close to the final version, but I did end up lightening her skin and her hair tones. It made more sense since she's being bathed in sunlight.

The Finished Illustration

I tried a few things that I normally don't do, including not drawing a line art for the background and including out-of-focus elements in the foreground. The soft airbrushes in Clip Studio Paint allowed me to draw the grass and the mountains so they look blurry, out of focus. This keeps the attention on the subject. This one will always be one of my personal favorites.