Personal Project - Pen Tool Practice
For this self-assigned project, I wanted to explore the pen tool on Adobe Illustrator. Instead of using my Wacom tablet for drawing, I wanted a more precise illustration using basic shapes with different colors to indicate highlights and shadows. Color blocking is a technique I use for oil paintings to distinguish items by colors with three values for each to indicate a shadow, mid-tone, and highlight.
In this portrait, I use a color palette with a few colors (lips, shirt/accessories, hair, facial tones, eyes/background). Through color blocking, these parts are easily distinguished by the eye. To color block, I indicate highlights by using a lighter value of the mid-tone color and shadows by using a darker value of the mid-tone color.
I appreciate this style of artwork because of its simplicity and readability. By color blocking, the artist can use small amounts of basic shapes and colors to make something recognizable to the viewer.
