I often get asked when i’m going to do some “fan art” or a celebrity portrait so I thought it was about time I gave it a go. I decided I would try to recreate Poison Ivy as this would allow me to stretch my wings and see how I could handle a subject which required a bit more imagination that my usual portraits.

I began in my usual way, using reference to give me the main body and pose, but then it was up to me to come up with the rest. I actually enjoyed this approach and am already thinking ahead to my next painting, the problem I have though is i’m finding the more I paint the less “stylised” things are turning out. This picture is a the perfect example, in my head I wanted her to be much more stylised with larger eyes etc. but I ended up falling back into more realistic proportions. The result is an image where the only stylisation is a larger head.

My plan now is to have a break from digital art and go back to sketching, pencil on paper, to see if I can find my way back to a style I am more comfortable and happy with. I have a technique for painting now, so am more confident with it, so now I need to focus more on the actual subjects.