I started this piece in June of 2009. It started as a sketch I had done before bed one night, based on a photo from a talented photographer named Tom Klubens. Later, I had seen some amazing vector portraits of some of the roller derby gals. So I decided to try my hand at something similar.

Jane Ire. Vector Drawing. 8"x10". 2010.

I barely knew what I was doing here. My Adobe Illustrator skills are limited and often I was hindered by just not knowing how to best do something. Surely there is some level of live tracing that I could have done but instead I simply created areas of color and shapes with the pen tool. I worked at this off and on for a year and a half. Heh.

Some portions are more focused than others. I was working mostly from my sketch but referencing the photo for color variations and shadows. The result is not so much a faithful rendering but more of a stylized rendering. Here’s my original sketch for comparison.

Jane Ire. Pencil on Paper. 8.5"x11". 2009.

I’d really like to perfect this style. I’ve seen a lot of vector work that impresses the hell out of me.