october art diary #1 ★ self portrait, october feels & stevie nicks mix

TODAY’S MIXTAPE <3

TODAY’S PROMPT: ME

FIRST IDEA & SKETCH

Since this is the first illustration of my ‘October Art Diary’ and the prompt is “Me,” I wanted to really try and express who I am. I started by writing down a list of ideas I wanted to include, then I dove into sketching the character’s pose — the first sketch was a chaotic mess, but the second one? Absolutely adorable. After that, I sketched out the background and played around with some color ideas for the piece.

ELEMENTS & MOODBOARD

The next step (and my absolute favorite) was creating the compostition’s personality. This is where I get to play with the character’s clothing, accessories and all the fun stuff around her. To kick things off, I made up a moodboard and a digital sketchbook page to set the scene in my mind and started thinking of details that scream “me.”

For the character’s wardrobe and accessories, I drew inspiration straight from my own closet: think lots of jewelry, hoop earrings, chains, pearls, hair clips and funky rings I love to wear on every finger (and literally feel naked without). As a cold weather person it was mandatory to add a jacket, and not any jacked but a brown & pink patterned one (I unfortunately do not own it in real life but I would LOVE to). And for the cherry on top, I added a matchy-matchy baguette bag & of course, stars on my nails and cheeks.

When it came to the background elements, I decided to swap the disco ball from the initial sketch with a cozy hanging bulb instead. I wanted a warm, almost iridescent vibe and while I considered adding flowers, I ended up going with two houseplants instead.

FROM BASE COLORS TO ADDING DETAILS

Next up was adding the shadows. I’m still working on mastering this part — I think I need a little more courage to really dive in. My old work didn’t have much shadow layering, so it’s definitely a learning curve for me. But it’s all part of the process and I’m excited to see how it evolves from here.

The final and most exciting step is finishing up the color tones, where the gradient map is my blessing and my secret weapon. After hours of experimenting with different tone combos, I finally settled on my final palette, which I’ve named “cozy autumn soup.” As for the textures, I went with the classics: soft grain, the iconic vintage TV feel and some playful spray dots.

AND THERE SHE GOES! <3

FINAL PIECE & CLOSEUPS