Digital watercolor and pencil portrait of man and woman pressed cheek to check, smiling outside in the middle of winter, with snow dusting their hair.

Winter faces

I don’t often draw faces, but with the right photo reference I sometimes attempt it.

To build up values in the faces I used the pencil tool exclusively — adding shadows and shading before applying watercolor. Usually I do the opposite by applying a watercolor base first and then penciling over to refine. Quite happy with how everything turned out.

PaperFaces portrait commission for @jonathanhagans.

Work in process screenshot

Work in process screenshot

Work in process screenshot

Work in process screenshot

Tools used:

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