The process behind Elle

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  1. Cool to see your steps here, but honestly it would be more interesting to see you put the effort into doing your own photography for personal projects in the future. Just a thought.

  2. I really like how it came out, I was following along the process during those dreadful Oscors…I really enjoy seeing hand-drawn elements like the scribbles and tears into these type of pieces. I also love seeing the creative process, I eat that stuff up!

  3. Very nice James! ThinkStock is awesome, aren’t they?

    BTW, would definitely love to see more of these types of posts, showing us your entire process. It’s very helpful.

  4. Oooh I love this James! I actually think adding the stripes was key to grounding the image and it also brings my eye straight to the center of the composition right away and then I work from center outwards when I look at it. Superb work, as always and thanks for breaking the process down for us mortals. Peace! Nat

  5. Thanks so much for all the feedback, everyone. As I said in the post, it was a little strange showing the work as I went via Twitter. That’s not what I’m accustomed to at all, so I’m happy to hear you are getting something out of seeing these intermediate steps. I’ll hopefully get the opportunity to do something like this again.

  6. Fantastic piece. I’ve been following your work for some time and am loving Elle.

    I’d love it if this were made into a wallpaper-size so we can admire her day-in, day-out. Just an idea.

    Keep up the great work!

  7. I can’t get enough of this one.

    The line weight of the scribbling feels so right, making me question if they were scanned or drawn right in photoshop. The color is just tantalizing. Just enough to wet an appetite and lead me to further investigate the subtleties of the image. And the masking? Superb. I love that the edge is crisp towards the bottom (and in general), but softly blended when it contacts her face. It really helps to make something that’s striking without sacrificing the softness of her features. The end result is gentle yet bold. Was this your intent? I don’t know. Will I give you props on it either way? Hell yes.

    It’s interesting how certain details can add so much, even if we’re not always sure why we’re adding them. You’ve mentioned before that you have a very organic process, full of experimentation and unforeseen outcomes. I’ve always found this to be an exciting aspect of what we get to do. And I’m always happy to see how it takes shape within a particular piece.

    Great work, James. Thanks so much for sharing.
    Cheers!

  8. not a bad piece, seems like you are moving more and more towards a minimalistic style while also starting to deviate from your ‘old school’ style.

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