The idea started with a girl fight boxing game, And of course I was going to label it "Popularity" however the idea changed dramatically throughout the design process. At the local brick and mortar comic book store (BIG B) I came across a Metal Gear Solid art book by Ashley Wood.
I did however pull a lot of reference from one of my new favourite flickr contacts UK Vintage. Its an awesome photostream and I highly recommend checking it out. But lets bounce right into the illustration this week.
Using the smudge tool I began to blend in the shadows and afterwards on a separate layer using the paint brush tool I began to smooth out my tones.
Usually I would draw out my background first and blend and paint directly overtop but experimenting with my wacom tablet and the lasso tool I was able to make the background. I also applied a texture filter for effect. The rug or carpet she is sitting on was created with a texture brush.
In a separate file I created a 10 x 10 px dot and defined it as a pattern. Using the lasso tool and the fill tool I carefully outlined the fill areas that I believe required a little more definition and shade. And with a little more work and the word of the week... Popularity. You get a rather nice illustration.
And here is a practical design use for this illustration as a cd cover...
