Caricature Illustration of Ray Kopakowski

Hi All,

I hope things are going well for you.  Well...winter is beginning to come to an end quickly here in Phoenix.  Should be in the mid 80s tomorrow.  Too warm, too fast.  That's life in the desert, it's all good.  I have been busy here.  I've been keeping busy with the holistic biz as well as doing some art and illustration on the side.

Today I'm featuring a caricature that I just finished for Ray Kopakowski.  Ray is a public speaker, hypnotherapist, counselor, and energy worker.  He's also a friend of mine.  I've been doing some illustration work for him and thought I'd have some fun with a caricature...something he could get a chuckle with or use with social media or his professional work.

tight pencil sketch with basic inked lines.

I always like to start with a nice sharp pencil and bristol board (a sturdy drawing paper).  I sketch out my idea and tighten it up with a nice ball point pen.  I like a lot of the pens you can get in a grocery store or office supply store.  Some of them are really nice quality pens.

Finished black and white illustration

Once I get the initial sketch, I take a camera photo and take it into Photoshop.  Then I focus on completing the black and white illustration.  I have an old Wacom tablet (that still works pretty well), and I thicken the lines.  Thicker lines and thinner, where appropriate.  Some of it I draw freehand with the stylus and some of the lines I plot out with the pen pointer tool in photoshop to get a nice tight line.

Finished color caricature illustration.

Finally, I add color.  Each piece varies, but typically I like to keep it simple.  For example, I use a base skin tone and one or two shades darker for depth, (same with the hair, shirt, etc).  For this I select the black layer and make it the top layer.  The color layers are "below" the black layer and the background is the very bottom layer.  Pretty simple technique and I like the result.

And there you have it.  The Ray Kop caricature.  I hope you all have a great week.



Peace,


Tom

Tom Kreienbrink is a freelance illustrator from Phoenix, AZ.  You can see his work at:
www.behance.net/tk-art
or you can follow his art and design page on Facebook
www.facebook.com/Tom-Kreienbrink-Art-and-Design