Illustration #21 – Mara Relaxing

Greetings, Hive folks!

Today I’m back with another drawing. In this case, it’s Mara, a girl I usually draw when I’m bored. Isn’t she very pretty? Also, obviously, she has a somewhat flirty expression.

She is a math teacher, but she’s taking a break on a Saturday vacation, enjoying her well-deserved weekend.

I have a bunch more drawings of her, but I don’t think it would be fair to keep uploading them. Besides, I have a bad habit of sometimes drawing everything on a single layer, so I wouldn’t have a way to show my process. Drawing her always brings me relaxation and stress relief.

This is, in fact, one of the most complex illustrations I’ve ever done. I don’t usually work with this much depth (in the three-dimensional sense of the word), but this time I decided to try.

Although in retrospect, I feel it came out a bit too simple. I’d like to redesign the character in a future installment, as well as create more outfits for her. The composition is fine, although it could definitely be better.

Process

Part 1 – The Sketch

Part 2 – Base Colors

Here I forgot that I drew part of the shadow, although it doesn’t look bad either.

Part 3 – Background Base Colors

Simplified base colors for the background, like the shutter.

Part 4 – Shadows & Line Details

Added some shadows along with a few lineart details — if you can even call it that. I don’t like working with line art, so to make the lines look less messy, I draw over them. I prefer subtle, more opaque brushes.

Part 5 – Highlights & Background Details

Finally, I added highlights to the folds and more details to the background, including little plants that add charm.

And well, that’s all for this illustration.

The applications used for this drawing are:

• Krita (drawing)
• PureRef (reference images)

Next time, you’ll see a much prettier Mara.