Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction

First, I block out the basic anatomy of the figures. This is where I do most of my draw-erase-draw-erase messing around. I figure out what angle the heads are, where arms and legs go, perspective, foreshortening, all that good stuff. These sketches take about two minutes per person, but I'll do about six to fifteen of them before I like how they're set up. That sketch then becomes the base for everything else that will be built on top of it.


Next, I use that base as a guideline to make a very light pencil sketch of the actual people. This is where features, clothing, hair, and other things get roughed out, but I don't do much for detail yet, and I erase the first step as I go. If you order an icon-level sketch from me, I'll do this part in pen, and that's where it stops. That's why those are so cheap. ($10 per person)


The first layer of chalk gets laid down, blocking out the different areas of color with their undertones. Oddly enough, yes, at this stage of the game, Ron and Hermione both get to be blondes, because the undertone to any hair color other than the black spectrum (white, grays, black) is gold. Choosing colors for a sketch with a Weasley is always a challenge. Nature dropped what amounts to a traffic cone on their heads, so if you want the focus to be on anything else in the picture (in this case the kiss itself) you need to make something bright orange NOT be the center of attention. In this case, I'm keeping the entire picture in warm, autumnal shades and will be using lighting that implies firelight or sunset to both add visual interest and downplay the effing hair.



Initial shading is placed. This is almost never done in black, but in browns, and is the point where you are most likely to look at your own picture and get very, very scared, because at no other point will it look this much like crap.



Thank Merlin for blending.



Now we go in with a piece of charcoal that has been sharpened to a needle-like point on sandpaper and we begin to work the details, draping, textures, and other little bits and pieces, always in my case working from right to left so that my hand doesn't drag through what I've done...this stuff smudges incredibly easy. Sometimes that's good, and you use things from actual needles to your finger to the back of your knuckles to deliberately smudge, smear, and blend, but sometimes you want the lines to stay clear and sharp.



Second verse, same as the first, only done with other colors now, particularly yellows and oranges to enrich the skin tones and give the feeling of that light I mentioned. I always save the faces for last, or if it's a picture of the faces only, I save the eyes for last. No big reason, it's just my little superstition, really.



Final details set in place, including every damned Weasley freckle, and we're almost done...



A final gentle wash of color, lay in the background, touch up a few bits and pieces here and there, and TA DA! One piece of fan art, ready to...well...um...I guess hopefully be bought by someone, though that hasn't been something I've been having a lot of luck with.  Not to mention I may have just completely shot myself in the foot by exposing the 'magic' here or making it look too easy.