STEP ONE: Identify & Analyze the Subject
This is one of the most fun parts of making super portraits of you guys! I get to read the Super Spotlight interviews ahead of time, which makes me feel uber special. Along with the interview I am sent some snapshots of the month's Spotlight subject for reference (very important, or else I'd just get to make up what you guys look like based on the answers to your interview questions... which would actually be pretty hilarious I think!). I like to glance at the photos before I read the interview so I can start imagining what your super-self might look like!
I can glean a lot of info just from that interview, and usually I end up reading it several times over during the process to get the portrait just right... I take notes in my sketchbook and decide on colors and weaponry and a super-pose as I go through the interview. I have contacted the Super Spotlight subject in the past to clarify if they fail to mention something like favorite colors in the interview, but usually it's pretty easy to figure out what you're all about after just a few questions!
STEP TWO: Super Name
I always start with writing the name in that fancy bubble font... I don't know why. It's easy & straightforward, probably, unlike Step Three.
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STEP THREE: Mad Sketching & Erasing
Draw a line, erase, repeat is about the way it goes when I'm trying to draw you guys! If any of you have ever tried to draw a person from real life, or have tried to recreate a specific character, you know it's a challenge to get them to actually LOOK like themselves, haha! Mostly it just comes with practice. One year I drew 100 thumbnail (no bigger than an inch or two) pencil portraits of random people from stock photo sites, which REALLY helped my ability to capture a real person in cartoon form on paper. This step can be frustrating (but that's probably because it's the most important one, haha).
STEP FOUR: Digitize!
I always sketch with a pen & paper but LOVE my fabulous Wacom Tablet for comic-book style ink & color! Once I'm satisfied with the sketch I take a crappy photo of it, trace the lines in Photoshop, add color and that circle background thing, and voila! You have a super portrait!
And look, I made a fancy gif for you guys to see the step-by-step from sketch to finish, featuring this month's Super Spotlight, Taradactyl! :D
Stay super, ladies & gents,
Lady Stardust OUT!
NOTE: Lady Stardust also has an Etsy store, which contains awesome stationery for letters and cards for important dates like Mother's Day, Valentine's Day, and most importantly, UFO Alien Extraterrestrial Abductions Day. Don't be stuck without a card for UFO Day, and go buy something awesome right away!!
