Illustrator Pen Tool Illustrations
I create these illustrations with the pen tool in Adobe Illustrator. I use a photo reference and create all the line work in various layers then match the colors to get an end result of a graphic portrait. I started making these in my senior year of college as gifts for my friends and it evolved into a fun side-business. Whenever I have free time I like to go back to these portraits and make them for myself of my favorite artists.
The top portrait of Mac Miller shows the process I go through to make one of these. I start with line work and slowly build the layers with color.
Below is a poster I made where I illustrated my favorite artists and paired their portraits with their song lyrics in a fun typographic way. I did my best to make the pairs fit the aesthetic of the artist and the song I chose to highlight.
