Gracey

I was so excited to create this portrait illustration for a dear friend of mine Gracey Ighut. You can check out her works here. This took me about 4hrs to finish. Here is the initial pencil sketch. I always make it a point to do an initial sketch before i make an illustration. This helps me layout & study the piece.
 

After sketching I added the first coating of watercolor. I blocked all the spaces in the illustration and added the value and shadows after. I always start from light to dark shades mainly because it is easier to darken the painting afterwards than lift up the lighter values.



I intensified the red more and added the details.



Here is my workspace! I always have a tissue nearby to absorb excess water on the painting.
 

And here is the finished piece! :)