Editorial Portrait Illustrations
'Bahamian Reporters'
Jordon Ritchie
The above photos are an example of my initial portrait illustration experiments. Specifically, exploring my personal style and use of color.
We were assigned different subjects at random. My subject being 'Bahamian Reporters', I made the decision to create portrait Illustrations of ( from left to right) Jerome Sawyer, Theodore Elyett and Jasper Williams-Ward.
Initial grayscale designs of (from left to right) Jerome Sawyer, Theodore Elyett and Jasper Williams-Ward. I will use these renderings later to experiment with color, and patterned backgrounds that speak to each individual's personal character.
Final Designs before Critique:
Pictured on the left is Jerome Sawyer and guest, sitting on the set of his Our Tv News segment known as 'On The Record'. As you can see, I wanted to include a background that featured the colors of his set, and variations of his tv show's logo.
Pictured on the left, is Theodore Elyett standing with one of his incredible fashion pieces. Aside from being a successful reporter for Eyewitness News, Theo is also a renowned fashion designer. Recently, Theodore has been including lots of blue and white tropical fauna patterns in his work. I thought it would be only right to pay homage to his talents by incorporating that into his portrait illustration on the right.
Jasper Williams-Ward is known for her unique style of reporting in the Bahamas. Though she is a reporter for the Nassau Guardian, she takes pride in informing her fellow Bahamians instantly via social media platforms like Twitter. I incorporated that into her background by playing with the twitter blue, the red of the heart when you like a tweet, and chat bubbles to represent that idea of social media.
After the critique, it was clear that the backgrounds were not working with the style of my portrait illustrations. Instead, it was advised that I play around with color moving forward, and stick with the solid color backgrounds from my very first experimentations.
Final designs
After considering the advice taken from my critique, it was clear that I must remove my attempts at creating personal backgrounds for each portrait. I am glad I did so. With the backgrounds now gone, I do feel that there is more consistency, and a cohesive nature to the portraits now. I appreciate the composition, and the bleeding through of the vibrant background. The colors I used are intentional, Jerome Sawyer's green and blue 'On the Record' set, Theodore Elyett's white and blue fauna patterns from his Fashion Designs, and the pink-red like button and blues of Twitter for Jasper Williams-Ward.
before and after final critique
Jerome Sawyer
Theodore Elyett
Jasper Williams-Ward
