Jughead Jones • Portrait

笨ァ Hello :)
I do have some experience in Digital Art, but never really succeeded at realistic portraits, so I decided to take this class :)
i need life drawings for my portfolio for upcoming applications and this helped me out a lot!
I skipped over the Tablet + Software parts, but really enjoyed the Lessons on blending
(so much new info for me) and how individual facial features were covered in their own lesson each :)
I decided to paint a portrait of Cole Sprouse, from CW's show "Riverdale".
As a reference I decided to use this picture I found on Pinterest:
https://www.pinterest.at/pin/297519119125060520/
I thought starting of with a black and white image might be easier than colour for my first try.
This class was super interesting + helpful! Thanks a lot for a great course, Chloe :)
Below I have some images of my steps + the final result 笨ァ
1. I started out with a sketch, as shown in the lessons. I did use a grid (not shown) to place things more accurately.
2. I started with shading and blending the face and trying to get the values right.
it took me way longer than any other digital illustration and I wasn't sure if I was gonna finish it, but i kept at it, like Chloe suggested :) (see stages below)
3. Lots of blending... later i fixed mistakes i saw and re-blended my illustration.
+ i added a background :) (i might change the background, but for now it is what it is)
4. Here's my finished piece! I tried achieving a more painterly style - hence the smudging at the edges :) Really liked how it turned out + excited to experiment further :)
Thanks for looking at my project, leaving thoughts/feedback + thanks again for a great class! 笨ァ