CELESTIAL LIGHTING IN YOUR PORTRAITS
ImagineFX|March 2021
Karmen Loh shares the creative process of how she captures the essence of a female portrait illuminated by starlight
Karmen Loh
CELESTIAL LIGHTING IN YOUR PORTRAITS

This painting is an exclusive commission for the YouTube channel MrSuicideSheep. I was very lucky to be given full freedom for the concept and draw anything that came to mind.

I decided to create a portrait inspired by one of my favorite animated films, The Little Prince. The story follows a little prince who travels to different planets and includes themes of love, friendship, and loss. The stars in the movie play an important role and symbolise the hopes and dreams of different people. There’s a scene in the movie where all the stars are trapped inside a big glass jar, which inspired this painting.

I knew I wanted the stars to be the main light source and light up the character from above. The character has a dreamy facial expression and her eyes are closed. I wanted her to look like she was dreaming, waiting for someone to break the glass, free the stars and wake her up. To enhance the concept, I applied a night sky background and floating hair to make it feel like she’s in space, and the glass jar became a spacesuit helmet.

How I create…

STARLIGHT EFFECTS IN A PORTRAIT

1  Rough sketch

I start exploring quick ideas by doing some rough line sketches, focusing on getting the overall composition of the painting right. Because this is a portrait and the main focus is the face, it’s important to capture an expression that manages to communicate the mood and feeling that I want to deliver

2  Colours and lighting

Esta historia es de la edición March 2021 de ImagineFX.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

Esta historia es de la edición March 2021 de ImagineFX.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

MÁS HISTORIAS DE IMAGINEFXVer todo
Jan Wessbecher
ImagineFX

Jan Wessbecher

Dominic Carter talks to the visual artist about creating his own comic and why sketchbooks are great for creative experiments

time-read
9 minutos  |
Christmas 2024
Kyounghwan Kim
ImagineFX

Kyounghwan Kim

The Korean character concept artist speaks to Dominic Carter about staying open to ideas and the value of drawing regularly

time-read
5 minutos  |
Christmas 2024
Slawek Fedorczuk
ImagineFX

Slawek Fedorczuk

Dominic Carter talks to the concept artist about what keeps him motivated and the advantages of using physical sketchbooks.

time-read
10 minutos  |
Christmas 2024
Raquel M. Varela
ImagineFX

Raquel M. Varela

Raquel is inspired by magic, fantasy and fairy tales. She loves designing female characters from distant worlds. \"My greatest reference is Loish's art, thanks to her I learned to draw the movement and fluidity I like to convey.\"

time-read
1 min  |
November 2024
Estrela Lourenço
ImagineFX

Estrela Lourenço

Estrela is a children's book author and illustrator. Her work is influenced by her background in character animation and storyboards for clients such as Cartoon Network, and she channels comic strips like Calvin and Hobbes.

time-read
1 min  |
November 2024
Daria Widermanska
ImagineFX

Daria Widermanska

Daria, also known as Anako, has been drawing for as long as she can remember. Inspired by Disney and classic anime, she loves creating new characters and often finds that a single sketch can spark a unique story.

time-read
1 min  |
November 2024
Allen Douglas
ImagineFX

Allen Douglas

Allen has been painting professionally since 1994 for the publishing and gaming industries. Inspired by folklore, he distorts the size, relationships and environments of animals, and calls his paintings 'unusual wildlife'.

time-read
1 min  |
November 2024
Thaddeus Robeck
ImagineFX

Thaddeus Robeck

Thaddeus has been drawing from the moment he could hold a pencil, but it was the 2020 lockdowns that gave him the time to focus on honing his skills.

time-read
1 min  |
November 2024
DRAW FASCINATING SYMBOLIC ARTWORK
ImagineFX

DRAW FASCINATING SYMBOLIC ARTWORK

Learn how JULIÁN DE LA MOTA creates a composition from his imagination with a focus on crafting figures, volumetric modelling, and light and shadow

time-read
5 minutos  |
November 2024
First Impressions
ImagineFX

First Impressions

The artist talks about his journey into the mythological world

time-read
2 minutos  |
November 2024