Tuto Illustrator : draw a close-up portrait (2/2)

To discover the content of this blog visit the "summary" page.
 

Part 1 of this post is "here"... Part 2 is below:

Dimples

Like me you probably noticed that the face of Beyoncé has beautiful dimples around the mouth. To make the effects of dimples, I added the following routes:

Path #1: a linear gradient of 2 colors (angle = 30.5 °, feather 18 pixels and transparency "Darken") as described below:

•          Location 0%, RGB = 119, 61, 39
•          Location 100%, RGB = 150, 90, 63 (Distribution: 50-50%)

Path #2: a linear gradient of 2 colors (angle = -65 °, feather 15 pixels and transparency "Darken") as described below:

•          Location 0%, RGB = 164, 103, 74
•          Location 100%, RGB = 191, 137, 101 (Distribution: 41-59%)

Path #3: the dimple is further enhanced with a path filled with color RGB = 164, 103, 74 (green arrow) and 1 pixel Gaussian Blur:

Path #4: a linear gradient of 3 colors (angle = -65 °, 7 feather pixel, transparency "Darken" and 70% opacity), as described below:

•          Location 8%, RGB = 125, 72, 47
•          Location 52%, RGB = 141, 75, 51 (Distribution: 50-50%)
•          Location 100%, RGB = 237, 177, 149 (Distribution: 44-56%)

Path #5: a linear gradient of 2 colors (angle = -163 ° and transparency "Darken") as described below:

•          Location 7%, RGB = 106, 59, 39
•          Location 100%, RGB = 237, 177, 149 (Distribution: 35-65%)

Path #6: the dimple is further enhanced with a path filled with color RGB = 115, 64, 42 (green arrow), transparency "Darken", feather 2 pixels and 1 pixel Gaussian Blur:

The result is shown below:

The eyes and eyebrows

The next step is drawing the eyes and eyebrows, step often difficult to render the authenticity of the look. You can see the eyes in this picture which include the following:

•          The eye with the cornea, iris and pupil
•          The light reflections and shadows
•          The eyelid
•          Eyelashes
•          Eyebrows

Eye

My way to proceed for the eyes is always the same. If you want to see the details see my post "draw an eye".

First I draw the cornea that I filled with a linear gradient of colors captured in the photo with the eyedropper tool (here 6 colors angle = 0 °, feather 2 pixels):

•          Location 6%, RGB = 48, 27, 16
•          Location 20%, RGB = 115, 97, 100 (Distribution: 61-39%)
•          Location 41%, RGB = 228, 221, 219 (Distribution: 50-50%)
•          Location 64%, RGB = 229, 207, 202 (Distribution: 50-50%)
•          Location 87%, RGB = 156, 68, 78 (Distribution: 76-24%)
•          Location 100%, RGB = 93, 36, 36 (Distribution: 50-50%)

Then I draw a circle for the iris using the tool "Ellipse" that I fill with a radial gradient color taken with the eyedropper in the eye (here 5 colors, feather 2 pixels, angle: 0 °):

•          Location 12%, RGB = 29, 8, 0
•          Location 51%, RGB = 62, 31, 12 (Distribution: 50-50%)
•          Location 64%, RGB = 83, 51, 25 (Distribution: 50-50%)
•          Location 81%, RGB = 96, 54, 27 (Distribution: 33-67%)
•          Location 100%, RGB = 48, 27, 16 (Distribution: 25-75%)

The upper part of the iris is darker near the eyelid, which is why I duplicate the iris path to fill the second over the first with a linear gradient of 3 colors (angle = -90 °, feather 2 pixel transparency "Darken"):

•          Location 8%, RGB = 29, 8, 0
•          Location 37%, RGB = 62, 31, 12 (Distribution: 85-15%)
•          Location 82%, RGB = 229, 207, 202 (Distribution: 50-50%)

The path of the cornea is duplicated to serve clipping mask later. Then I draw the pupil circle (green arrow) of dark color (RGB = 9, 8, 15) and 2 pixel feather, that I place after disabling the display.

The left bottom of the cornea (green arrow) is darkened with a path color RGB = 83, 46, 39 and feather 4 pixels:

The right bottom of the cornea (green arrow) is cleared up with a path color RGB = 255, 255, 255 and feather 2 pixels:

Then I darkened the top of the cornea by duplicating the path cornea to fill it with a linear gradient of 3 colors (angle = -57 ° with transparency "Darken"):

•          Location 0%, RGB = 0, 0, 0
•          Location 21%, RGB = 115, 97, 100 (Distribution: 50-50%)
•          Location 100%, RGB = 255, 255, 255 (Distribution: 13-87%)

A second path complements the dark area with a linear gradient of 3 colors (angle = -99 ° with transparency "Darken"):

•          Location 7%, RGB = 0, 0, 0
•          Location 24%, RGB = 115, 97, 100 (Distribution: 50-50%)
•          Location 100%, RGB = 255, 255, 255 (Distribution: 13-87%)

The grain of brightness on the corner of the eye (bottom right) is a plot with a linear gradient of 2 colors (angle = 130 ° with feather 2 pixels):

•          Location 0%, RGB = 82, 53, 44
•          Location 73%, RGB = 186, 138, 142 (Distribution: 54-46%)

The path of the cornea placed in reserve earlier is here clipping mask of the set:

Light reflections and shadows

The light reflections on the iris are paths of bright colors. The first is a path with a linear gradient of 3 colors (angle = 166 ° and Feather 3 pixels):

•          Location 0%, RGB = 0, 0, 0
•          Location 21%, RGB = 115, 97, 100 (Distribution: 50-50%)
•          Location 100%, RGB = 255, 255, 255 (Distribution: 30-70%)

The next 2 paths at the bottom of the pupil are filled with color RGB = 180, 176, 182 and 2 pixel feather (see red arrow below).

Eyelid

Makeup of the top of the eyelid is a linear gradient of 6 colors (angle = 169 °), as described below (the red arrow shows the second light on the iris):

•          Location 0%, RGB = 219, 166, 139
•          Location 5%, RGB = 118, 85, 76 (Distribution: 25-75%)
•          Location 14%, RGB = 22, 11, 10 (Distribution: 50-50%)
•          Location 50%, RGB = 22, 11, 10 (Distribution: 50-50%)
•          Location 86%, RGB = 54, 44, 46 (Distribution: 74-26%)
•          Location 100%, RGB = 83, 54, 45 (Distribution: 50-50%)

The makeup of the bottom of the eyelid is a path with the same linear gradient as used previously (with Feather 6 pixels), as described below:

The brightness over the eyelid is made with a linear gradient of 3 colors (angle = -1.7 ° and Gaussian blur 2 pixels) described below:

•          Location 0%, RGB = 36, 29, 30
•          Location 72%, RGB = 98, 82, 96 (Distribution: 55-45%)
•          Location 100%, RGB = 141, 117, 150 (Distribution: 50-50%)

The brightness at the bottom is also a linear gradient of 4 colors (angle = -1.7 ° and Gaussian blur 2 pixels) as below:

•          Location 0%, RGB = 98, 82, 96
•          Location 41%, RGB = 98, 82, 96 (Distribution: 45-55%)
•          Location 62%, RGB = 141, 117, 150 (Distribution: 50-50%)
•          Location 100%, RGB = 185, 173, 190 (Distribution: 50-50%)

The bright spots of color purple on the eyelid are made with a new Scatter Brush created for this purpose (see path of color RGB = 185, 173, 190 pointed to by the arrow), whose characteristics are the following:

•          Random Size, variation from 50 to 74%,
•          Random Spacing, variation from 144% to 538%,
•          Random Scatter, variation from -55 to +45%
•          Random Rotation, variation from -22 to +20°

The lines below (0.5 pixel Gaussian Blur) show how the bright spots were created with the brush described above:

The shadow area under the eye is made with a blend (transparency "Darken") with the following 2 paths:

Path #1: a linear gradient of 2 colors (angle = 0 °) described below:

•          Location 0%, RGB = 82, 53, 44
•          Location 100%, RGB = 204, 165, 139 (Distribution: 50-50%)

Path #2: a linear gradient of 3 colors (angle = 0 ° and Feather 6 pixels) described below:

•          Location 0%, RGB = 122, 69, 45
•          Location 48.5%, RGB = 188, 134, 105 (Distribution: 50-50%)
•          Location 100%, RGB = 213, 165, 143 (Distribution: 50-50%)

The shadow above the eye is a path of color RGB = 111, 66, 51 and Gaussian Blur 3.5 pixels:

Lashes

Lashes are made with single lines (thickness: 1 pt.) with the "profile width 1" (red arrow - see post "Draw an eye").

Eyelashes of the right top are color RGB = 62, 31, 12 and arranged and adapted in size as below:

Eyelashes of the left top are color RGB = 48, 27, 16 and arranged and adapted in size as below:

The eyelashes of the right lower part of the eyelid are made the same way but with a color RGB = 83, 51, 25 and transparency "Soft Light." They are arranged and adapted in size as shown below:

The eyelashes of the lower central part of the eyelid are color RGB = 62, 31, 12 and transparency "Soft Light." They are arranged and adapted in size as shown below:

The eyelashes of the left lower part of the eyelid are color RGB = 48, 27, 16. They are arranged and adapted in size as below:

Once the left eye drawn, the meshes net of "face" are amplified to harmoniously integrate the eyes and nose:

Eyebrows

For eyebrows, I begin by defining the area of maximum density and materialized by a linear gradient of 2 colors (angle = 24 °, feather 10 pixels and transparency "Darken") described below:

•          Location 0%, RGB = 56, 35, 28
•          Location 100%, RGB = 163, 126, 102 (Distribution: 69-31%)

For eyebrow hairs I also used a simple line (thickness: 1 pt.) with the "profile width 1" (green arrow). The objects are then arranged and adapted in size, and decomposed (Object-Expand Appearance) in order to fill a variable linear gradient of 2 colors, depending on the desired effect (here for example angle = 130 °, feather 10 pixels and transparency "Darken", described below):

•          Location 0%, RGB = 56, 35, 28
•          Location 100%, RGB = 163, 126, 102 (Distribution: 69-31%)

By duplicating the set of eyebrows above as needed, the area provided for this purpose can completely be covered:

And here is the global result for the eyes after working with the same technique for the left eye:

Hair

The technique I use to draw the hair is always the same and I think it is original because I do not have found it on any tutorials website. If you want to see the details of my technic read the post "draw hair".

Here I start by filling the background with a path color RGB = 16, 11, 8:

 

Then I draw a line with a very thin thickness (0.25 pt.), which has the shape of a lock of hair (any color). Then I decompose the path (Object-Expand ...) in order to fill it with a color RGB = 76, 58, 52:

I then create a new symbol with the previous path (for this, simply drag the path in the "symbols" window). I use the new symbol by selecting "Symbols Sprayer" tool. After "sprayed" a dozen of symbols, I use the "Symbol Scruncher" and "Symbol shifter" tools to make a wick and obtain the result below:

By duplicating several times the wick above and adapting them with the different symbol tools (with some experience) to the result below is obtained (if you are not familiar with tools symbol it takes practice to master these tools):

I create as many new symbols as needed to draw the various locks of hair. Here I created only 2 symbols for all of the hair:

To be faithful to the model, the entire drawing is inclined at an angle of 27 °, and the final result is shown below:

I am very proud and satisfied with what is probably my best portrait, thanks to Beyoncé!