Since I bought my graphic tablet I feel that the quality of my illustrations has radically changed, getting closer and closer to the result I want.

However, it is not only the quality and finish of the illustrations that I want to achieve professionally, but also the backgrounds, and this aspect goes beyond the graphic tools.

It is because of this that I have decided to start drawing the backgrounds of my practice illustrations, and not just commissions. Starting with backgrounds as simple as this one.

Lately I have really enjoyed Studio Ghibli movies. I think I unconsciously drew this Asian woman for it. The landscapes and architecture of animated films simply enchants me in such a way that sometimes I feel like I'm inside the films.

In this illustration, the woman is waiting for someone in a place close to the sea. Here, in my country, you can see these benches in a boulevard in front of the beach, I think that there are this kind of places in all beaches of the world. That is why I decided to draw it, because is a common place, a place that almost everybody knows, where we all have been. So there she is, waiting for someone that is not going to come. Maybe she is not actually waiting the person, but the absence.

Here I share my process.

I made this sketch digitally using adobe Photoshop. She had a very fun hair, But then I changed it because I wanted her to look more traditional.

I set the skin color and start painting some details.

More and more details. The lines are in another layer, so I painted using the lines as a guide, and then I painted the lines.

It is important to paint de shadows in the face, especially because it gives it depth. I first paint and then I mix colors with the mixing brush. What I like the most about this brushes is that you can choose any brush you want to, so you can have tons of different effects by only changing the brush.

Here, I just outlined the eyes and the iris. I think it is important to outline that the "white part" of the eye is not pure white, it is like a blueish gray in this case, but that blue tone may change in any color depending the temperture of the light of your illustration.

I painted the eyes with a honey tone, I want them to be expressive.

Here, I took the decision to make her hair with a kind of traditional hair bun. I like drawing my characters hair with flat color. I also painted her clothes with a green tone.

I finally set the background. Initially I wanted her to be looking through a window. But then I decided to make her sat in a bench, outside.

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