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le cool step by step

5_anna_livia_lecool
Here’s a short Step by Step by illustrator Stephen Ledwidge of a recent cover illustration for Le Cool magazine. Check it out…

The piece depicts Anna Livia, the lady of the Liffey. An illustration about Dublin was the only starting point, originally I wanted to created an illustration showing the three main waterways of the capital – the two canal’s and the Liffey.

I did some research and put together some sketches of this which showed the three as different characters, but quickly realised that they were too complicated for the cover. I also felt that the level of detail would be lost at the size it was finally going to be displayed. So I simplified the piece and focused in on solely illustrating the Liffey.

The final piece was completed using a mixture of pencil, paint and digital elements.

1_anna_livia_rough

Rough – the first thumbnail that roughly set out the layout

2_anna_livia_sketch

Sketch – a more completed pencil sketch

3_anna_livia_pencils

Finished pencils – Pencil on Bristol Board

4_anna_livia_final

Completed illustration – 25 x 18.5 cm

Anna Livia is available as a limited edition print, available from www.stephenledwidge.com

This entry was posted on Friday, October 23rd, 2009 at 6:14 am and is filed under Drawing, Step-by-steps. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

10 Responses to “le cool step by step”

  1. Brian Gallagher
    October 23rd, 2009 12:24
    1

    Very interesting Steve, nice work.

  2. mario sughi
    October 23rd, 2009 12:53
    2

    so elegant so beautifully magic in its own way! great

  3. fintan
    October 23rd, 2009 13:03
    3

    Lovely work..I didn’t realise the final line work was rendered in pencil.

  4. Stephen Ledwidge
    October 23rd, 2009 14:09
    4

    Thanks very much guys! yeah, I’ve started doing a lot of my line work using mechanical pencils – so good at getting fine lines, and less paring involved.

  5. Steve doogan
    October 24th, 2009 01:40
    5

    My favourite le cool cover so far. An annoyingly talented guy. He must be eliminated.

  6. Donough
    October 24th, 2009 17:02
    6

    I know a guy who specializes in hobbling talented illustrators. So that’s Stephen a marked man then!!

  7. Lisa
    October 24th, 2009 17:56
    7

    Thanks Steve – makes ultra-cool seem a wee bit do-able!

  8. Stephen Ledwidge
    October 24th, 2009 19:05
    8

    Starting to feel like James Cann in Misery. Thanks very much though – there’s nothing like the threat of being hobbled to make you feel like you did a good job!

  9. Brabazon
    October 24th, 2009 23:37
    9

    Bit o’ class. Great stuff…

  10. Jennifer Farley
    November 3rd, 2009 10:26
    10

    Great stuff. I was only introduced to Le Cool about three weeks ago and it’s really nice to see how this was put together.