I decided to try out some different drawing styles, to come out of my comfort zone. From my "default" comic setting I progressed into as much realism as was possible for me. It was as much a styles tryout, as it was broadening my knowledge of my tools.
The man is an avid tobacco pipe fan - when I draw, I always try to show the person's interest or character.
This is the simple approach - often I sell the portraits with open files, that need to be easy to manage. The simplicity is not only most efficient in avatar portraits that need to be clear for smaller formats, the minimalism of detail also helps with grouping the colors for later alterations.
This started off as a more cartoony style but evolved with time. I mostly wanted to work with grayscale here, as it's not something I do very often. In the end, this one was the piece that, somehow, was the model's second favourite (right after the cartoony version).
This was a real challenge for me, as I'm not really good with realistic looks. That is mu biggest step outside my box and I think I did pretty well, considering that I drew this piece with a reference photo that used a completely different angle and lighting.
