A Disquieting Metamorphosis

Recently, I bought a frame from IKEA that was just begging for something to be put into it. And I obliged. I wanted to test out a process I’d seen theirison do, and heres a walkthrough of my result!

First, I sketched out something I wanted. I was feeling rather inspired by Disneyland’s The Haunted Mansion (and when am i NOT?) so went for a classic portrait. This is kind of a representation of my character Clementine from The Skeleton Bandit

I then transferred the sketch to a larger format.

I covered the line areas with a reddish brown colored pencil to transfer to the illustration board I worked on.

I transferred the image by drawing over the lines, pushing the reddish brown color to the illustration board. afterwards, I covered the board in a light green watercolor wash. I then laid down a heavy layer of white colored pencil, which makes blending colors on top of the white slightly easier because of the waxy buildup.

Then, I rendered the hell out of it with an array of blues, purples, flesh tones, etc. I used blending stumps and paper towels to assist blending in my attempt to achieve the look I was going for.

I added some more color to the background with another watercolor wash, using a dry sponge brush. I added a flat green for the jacket. At this point i was getting a little frustrated with the blending process and didn’t think I could achieve the texture I wanted for the jacket.

After adding hair as well, I rendered colored pencil shading and highlights on top of the acrylic paint. This actually worked quite well, but its harder to blend the colored pencils on top of the acrylic paint.

It was a constant back and forth with the rendering, and adding details like the piping on the jacket, buttons, etc.

And the FINAL touches, adding UV markers and paint for a secret little bonus to the image. The FINAL image, in the frame. Click on the image for a much larger version!All in all, it was a pretty fun project, and the medium provides a rather relaxing process. It kept me exited to work on it. I don’t know how often i would use this process, but it definitely provides a unique look. This now happily hangs above my bed. Enjoy!-B