Spiros' coloured pencil artwork is known for its vivid details that are incredibly photorealistic. Once Spiros is finished with his subject's eyes ( If you missed out on how Spiros creates eyes, read that blog here), he moves on the lips and any jewellery. Each technique entails 4 steps: shading, blending, and detail work. To see a high-level summary of Spiros' process using Arteza's Coloured Pencils, keep reading!
Detailing Lips
Starting with the lips, create an outline with the darkest shades you'll be using. Spiros uses a black coloured pencil to draw the line where the lips part and the darkest shade of the desired lip colour for the outline of the top and bottom lips. Next, Spiros creates the base of the lip colour by using an EverBlend Marker to fill in the lips. Once the solid base is down, Spiros can start adding contrast to the lips. This includes the top of the cupid's bow highlighted with a white coloured pencil and shadows from where the top and bottom lip meet with a black coloured pencil.
Spiros then adds a reflective effect to the surface of the lip. To do this, he uses a white coloured pencil and a lighter shade of the lip colour to gently sketch over areas of the base colour, careful not to cover the base shade in its entirety. This technique and attention to detail will create naturally defined ridges on the lip. As a finishing touch, he adds any more necessary highlights (with white) and shadows (with black). If needed, Spiros will also include strokes of additional shades similar to the lip colour to add extra dimension.
Detailing Jewellery
Start with outlining the base shape and pattern of the jewellery. Depending on the jewellery, you may need to use a darker or lighter outline; in this case, the jewellery of the portrait is more subtle, so Spiros is using gray. Next, he darkens any shadows with a black coloured pencil. Be sure not to skip this step, as it will only make the jewellery pop in the finished piece.
After the base details are created, Spiros uses a small paintbrush and white acrylic paint to create highlights. Using the reference picture for a guide on where the light hits the jewellery the most, he adds small dots of white where needed. Additionally, acrylic paint adds texture that cannot always be achieved with coloured pencils. Lastly, Spiros makes sure to add finishing touches for consistency, like drawing shadows around any jewellery.
We hope you learned something new and that this Fuel Your Creativity techniques blog has provided you with new ways to elevate your craft. Try out some of Spiros' go-to techniques to create detailed and colourful portraits! If you've been inspired to create, don't forget to grab Spiros' limited edition, exclusive bundles!
The Spiros Felonis Starter Bundle includes two mixed media pads (22.9 cm x 30.5 cm) 60 Sheets each, 72 professional watercolour pencils, 48 triangle shaped coloured pencils and a swag bundle including a thank you note packet featuring an artist print.
This Spiros Felonis Favourites Bundle includes 48 professional coloured pencils, acrylic paint & tool small art set, 2 mini sketchbooks and swag bundle including a thank you note packet featuring a Spiros Felonis artist print.
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