I took an online class earlier in this year by Nathan Fowkes at Schoolism. The class’s main focus was on lighting color, and mood, which is what I’ve really been focused on the last few years. For some time, I’ve really wanted to be able to capture an environment and make the scene feel the way the character/person is feeling. Ever since I took the class, I’ve been doing a lot of little lighting studies working off photo references that have the kind of light quality I’m looking for. When I saw this picture of Richie Hines I instantly knew I was going to draw it. The vibe I got from her facial expression was so pleasant, it reminded me of the feeling when you wake up to the warmth of a sun rise, so I went with this soft morning light quality. I’m happy with how it turned out.
Richie is an amazing artist as well as a model. You can check out her work here.