Behind the Scenes - "Christine: Lisa Vroman"

I've often been asked what my process is. The following is a quick run-through of how I create one of my fine art pieces.

Stage One - Inspiration

Having collected a healthy number of images from the ALW stage show, gathering resource materials is rarely a problem for me at this point. In preparing an illustration of Lisa Vroman (my all-time favorite Christine), I narrowed things down to two photographs. I really liked the dressing gown photo but preferred a different angle on the actresses' face...

... but a little photoshopping work later and I've got what I need in order to begin.

Stage Two - Rough

Using my modified resource image, I sketch up the illustration using plain old H and B drawing pencils. Even in this rough stage, I like to bring it to a point where it looks almost like the finished product in terms of tones and linework. Because I like to refine the drawing over multiple passes, I prefer to use regular 8.5x11 bond paper since I can crank through several pages for a single drawing.

Stage Three - Final

Once the rough art is to my liking, I'll enlarge it and transfer it to my good paper. My typical methodology is to use a grid to scale the rough up and only transfer the most basic lines to block out a general shape, but for fine details like the eyes and nose, I sometimes use a projector to ensure accuracy. Afterwards, I go in using only a range of four brown prismacolor pencils to create the finished artwork.

Once the linework is transferred, I very slowly start building up tones and details, keeping in mind where I want to draw the viewer's attention. While there are digital programs that can emulate many traditional art media, I prefer to do it the old-fashioned way because I feel the deepest connection between my intent and the actual work if I'm physically handling the paper and tools.

The Hannibal angel plate was blurred in the original source photo, but that actually worked in my favor since I wanted the focus to be on Lisa's face but needed to counterbalance the layout with something.

Once the illustration is completed to my satisfaction, it's time to sign it and seal the artwork with fixative.

Et voila! The finished piece ready to present to the actress.