#bonnemaman

Happy 2020, friends! Sharing this piece from last year to show that you don’t need to have a beautiful reference image to create a solid illustration. The most important things to have in your reference are clarity (i.e. it’s not grainy and you can see the details), perspective (the angle and viewpoint you want) and proportions. Of course, gorgeous lighting and color are wonderful too, but you can usually get plenty of color information even from a crumby photo if you’re willing to use your imagination and over emphasize what you see in the reference. Also, some of the lighting that works well and looks great in a photo isn’t necessarily all that great for an illustration (that light and bright look is gorgeous, but you need some shadows in your drawings if you want them to look realistic!). Secod image is the photo I used for this piece, complete with dim lighting, too-gray white balance, and baby’s high chair tray in the background.