pencil & paint

This project was made for a close friend of mine. He had recently played a video game, entitled "Rachet and Clank" and really enjoyed it, so I offered to create a piece of artwork for him with the characters. I landed on colored pencil as my medium because I wanted to create the piece using color. I began with a rough sketch while looking at two reference photos of the characters. I liked the idea of them interacting with one another, so I decided that Ratchet (the yellow and brown character) would be looking at Clank (the robot). 

I spent a lot of time making sure my color matching was perfect as I wanted it to look as close to the original characters as possible. In the end, I was incredibly happy with the quality of the piece as I was pleasantly surprised how similar they looked to the original reference photos. 

This project was focused on learning about tints, tones, and shades while experimenting with simplification. The project brief directed me to create a simplified version of myself using shapes and completely avoiding lines. I began by taking a photograph of myself, and then simplifying it in a sketch. Afterwards, I added various elements, like a butterfly and flowers, to add a whismical feel to my final piece. 

I transferred this rough draft onto a thick paint paper and began painting each shape a different color. Using my newfound knowledge on tints, tones, and shades, I was able to create a piece with a range of colors using the three primary colors plus white and black.