Fun patterns, unique colors, and an epic tale of a trip around the world.
The Russian: An Unexpected Journey.
When an exploration of color and culture meet.
The Russian was a digital illustration created for my brother who went to Russia for 3 years, the trip was a major part of his life as he went right after graduating college, so it was a pretty defining period for him. I wanted to do my best to capture the excitement and boldness of his plan to travel to Russia to teach English without knowing when he'd be returning, if ever. Sometimes when working on these illustrations, I want to keep the colors in line and somewhat realistic, but with this particular illustration I really wanted to stretch the limit of my comfort with colors and see if I could turn the color palette on its head a bit. I think overall I was successful, as the colors do not reflect any sort of realism, but they do combine with the realistic linework to make for an interesting composition.
The wine glass was a nice challenge as well to mimic the light playing off the glass, so the added level of complexity was appreciated for this particular illustration. On top of the illustration, I felt it was necessary to give the background some texture and a 'nod' to Russian culture as well, so the textured rug pattern was incorporated and a title reminiscent of the Cold War 'spy' era added for extra effect.
Adobe Illustrator line work and color palettes available upon request.
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