16/07/2013

New company magazine beauty illustration

Recently I got commissioned to draw some makeup products for company magazines beauty article! It's all about saving your makeup when it's broken, getting those extra bits out of it so you can continue using it,
 I've lost count at how many times I've dropped my pressed powder and its shattered :( so I was excited to start the drawings and go for something a bit brighter, as I've mentioned before my work is very pale and although its a current trend I do want to show some versatility ;) 
 We had discussed a beauty table and box for the piece, however I thought that it might take the focus off the makeup as its be quite small within the frame, my first drawings were playing with images on a dresser like an old telephone, I battled with this and couldn't get it to look how I wanted.
Sometimes I cut my losses and start again, otherwise I end up wasting time and achieving nothing when I could have been half way through something really good, other times I try and push through if I feel like there's potential in the piece. 

This is the image I started with, I don't mind where it's going, but the lack of detail really stops me from connecting with it, I've also got a problem with the water coloured chair back,  
 I'm glad I went with another approach and it was received well thankfully! We upped the saturation and added a bit of sparkle, which I think made a big difference 

Here is a close up of one of the first drafts I sent over, as you can see a bit more work went into this but I was pleased with the direction it was heading.  The box was a little frustrating but the more detail I put in it the better it looked (obviously hah)
 I added a little bit of sparkle on the pots and in the eye shadows, I just adore the way they shimmer so I wanted to try and emulate that a little within the illustration.
I experimented with some other hues, I really like the purple and pinks but it is a common colour of mine so it was suggested that some turquoise and blues should be added, which worked really well, you can see the finished piece below, I added a few little plasters on the pots to keep in with the broken theme..




I certainly have the itch to draw more beauty products now and expand my portfolio to other things I love! I started drawing some macaroons soon after, they took hours! They were extremely time consuming but well worth the finished result. 

I loved adding the little flag, I then went on the draw a few more below, I wanted to add some colour to them, maybe a blue/turquoise, but it really didn't look right so I removed it and kept the only colour the sprinkles and flag.
Final image!
 Thanks so much for reading, I always appreciate the comments, I hope you get chance to read company and see my new work :)