Art by
Haley Hylia

In-Depth Process Breakdown

STEP 1: After selecting the right base portrait and covering anything I don’t want to keep (i.e. heads), I roughly throw in resources — typically renders or screenshots — to act as a blueprint for how to build the rest of the piece from the ground up.

STEP 2: I fill out the structure (usually physical anatomy) of the composition by painting in missing bits or adding stock images where needed. From there, I paint in key foundational areas like skin, the outlines of the hair, and clothing recolouring.

STEP 3: The most laborious part: hair and facial details. Hair/eyebrows are always done in 3 colours (light, mid, dark) + flat base. Faces are repainted in a softer, more romanticised way vs their original references. Key features are exaggerated. Eyes are usually last. This step takes up the vast majority of the total work time.

STEP 4: Additional clothing, accessories, or background details are added and refined. Edges are cleaned up. A first round of checks occurs to ensure nothing is out of place, overlapping, or missing.

STEP 5: Highlighting, shadowing, and colour grading. This is the part where the piece REALLY comes together! Final checks to confirm everything is where it should be. The composition goes from flat to dynamic, and by the end of it, the piece is finally finished!~