Okay, so today I wanted to mess around with creating a digital portrait, and I stumbled upon this name, Susan Fitzpatrick. I didn’t have a specific person in mind, just the name, so I figured, why not see what I can come up with?
First, I opened up my go-to art program. I usually start with a rough sketch, so I grabbed a basic brush and started blocking out shapes. I was thinking, “Okay, Susan… what does a ‘Susan Fitzpatrick’ look like?” I pictured someone with maybe shoulder-length, wavy hair, and kind eyes. That’s what I went with, anyway.
Basic Shapes and Features
- Started with a simple oval for the head.
- Added a line down the middle to help with symmetry (though faces aren’t perfectly symmetrical, you know?).
- Sketched in some basic neck and shoulder shapes.
- Rough place for eyes.
- Rough place for mouth.
Then, I started refining the features. I gave her slightly upturned eyes, a smallish nose, and a gentle smile. I kept playing around with the hair, trying to get that wavy look I was imagining. It took a few tries, to be honest. Hair is tricky!
Adding Some Detail
Once I was happy-ish with the basic features, I moved on to adding some details. I lightened my sketch lines and started adding shading to give her face some dimension. I focused on areas like under the cheekbones, the sides of the nose, and under the lower lip. Those shadows really help bring a face to life.
I also started working on the eyes more. I added some highlights to make them sparkle a bit, and I made sure the irises had some detail. Eyes are super important in a portrait, I think. They really show the person’s personality.
Coloring and Finishing Touches
Next up, color! I picked a warm skin tone and started filling in the face and neck. I decided on a reddish-brown color for her hair, and gave her blue eyes. I kept layering the colors, building up the tones gradually. It’s like building a house, you know? You gotta lay the foundation first.
- Using warm skin tone, coloring face and neck.
- Coloring hair with reddish-brown.
- Coloring eyes with blue.
Finally, I added some finishing touches. I cleaned up any messy lines, added a few more highlights here and there, and softened some of the shadows. It’s all about those little details that really make a difference.
And that’s pretty much it! It’s not perfect, of course, but it was a fun little experiment. It’s cool to see how a name can spark an idea and turn into a whole drawing. Maybe I’ll try another name tomorrow!
