Why and how I make vector portraits

In the update sequence of the vector portrait of Mike Ehrmantraut (in Breaking Bad) I tried to describe why I change some aspects of a face compared to the reference photo that I use to create a portrait from scratch. This is what I wrote:

Some details, like the eyes, are intentionally drawn differently from what they look like in the reference image to enhance the visual impact of the image without giving up likeness. In every portrait the eyes determine 'the look' of the artwork. The choice of more or less differing colours can also be used to create a more dramatic effect. These are among my most used tricks to draw portraits that are more than just accurate copies of photographs. I prefer to create some sort of visual metaphor that reflects the way I perceive characters in an attempt to highlight the essence of their personality by revealing what (I think that) hides behind which is obviously noticeable at first glance, because everyone wears a mask, a fact of which some are not even aware that they do. I like to suggest to the observer to look beyond without encouraging to dissect in an invasive way, because when observing becomes judging one can no longer enjoy art.

Vector portrait of Mike Ehrmantraut

It is my visual signature that reflects from each portrait I make, a signature that contains aspects that always are there, but also features that are unique to every portrait that I draw. Long ago I felt that I was forced to abandon the idea to be consistent, because I came to the conclusion that it is an illusion. The powers that aim to control mankind tried to make it an unavoidable part of the 'reality' imposed on all who were lured into believing that they exist inside of it, because they thought it would offer them control. And while that paradigm works as long as enough people believed in it, it no longer does that when an increasing number of people do not.

And yes, even in what is deemed to be a trivial aspect of life (not necessary to survive that is) like art, the possibility to be in control of things, is what matters to those that want to be in control. They are the ones that made mankind believe that art is a mere secondary requirement for the perpetuation of life. For those perceptive enough to understand that 'reality' is an imposed illusion, the intentional act of downplaying the significance of art, is part of the mechanism to maintain the power structure in which life has been trapped. To those to whom this claim sounds like a tin foil hat indulgence, I would like to say that more incarnations are needed to begin to understand what I wrote here.

While many believe that the cliché 'a picture says more than a thousand words' is true, sometimes the opposite is true, because human language - in this case the intentionally constructed English linguistic means of communication - has inbuilt mechanisms that refer to a wide range of meanings that only those aware of etymology and neuro linguistic programming understand. Therefore words are capable of painting a picture inside the mind of observers that says more than a thousand words can - creating a loop, which is nature's favorite way of expressing things, by way of patterns.

So what has become an unrelated matter in the fudged human perception, may have a completely different role in the evolution of life when perceived from a different angle. This of course does not apply to art only, but to countless other aspects of life. On the one hand millions are paid for specific artworks, while on the other hand art in general is marginalized. It is the common method used to hide things in plain sight, which causes many to be blind to certain things while having 20/20 vision. The same principle works in almost any situation; people can stare at things for hours in a row without seeing what is obvious to those fortunate enough to have been blessed with the gift of seeing. It distinguishes the vision of those that look and those who see.

Finally, why I prefer to create portraits using vectors instead of pixels. It is well known (in the graphics community) that vector images can be re-scaled to any size without loss of quality, while pixel images become blurry, while edges it contains become jagged and grimed with stray pixels of strange colour. This is the result of the fact that vector shapes and strokes are based on mathematical formulae that simply recalculate objects when re-scaled while pixels have absolute coordinates in an image that confuses software when re-scaled.

Affinity Designer allows to blur edges which causes the mind of the observer to find images with such properties realistic. The meta-information of vector images is closer to nature when limiting properties, like being able to render hard edges only, are removed. It is why I prefer to use this type of art creation. In addition the functions that require certain values to be assigned to them, can be given numbers that Nikola Tesla preferred (numbers divisible by three) or numbers of vortex math, re-discovered by Marko Rodin. These methods make hiding things in plain sight easier, while what is hidden, is beneficial to life, not hostile, even when depicting an actor that plays a role of one that is not so friendly to some. For technical details of making vector portraits I refer to the entries in my portfolio blog.

Affinity Designer - a better way to draw realistic vector portraits

One of the biggest challenges for artists that work with vector drawing programs, is to create realistic portraits. Usually they look like the image below, containing hard edges that artists try to disguise by placing a number of layers on top of each other with slightly different colours or with very contrasting colours to suggest that it is artsy art (which I think is horrible). In spite of these tricks the portraits remain hideous, although certain software producers have tried to promote this flawed type of 'art' to the standard of vector portrait drawing, so that it could continue to sell its software that actually is not capable of drawing proper realistic portraits.

Compilation of ugly vector portraits with hard edges

At some point the vendors of vector drawing programs began offering mesh-fill tools that basically transform clusters of pixels into blended areas of vector shapes. Using the mesh-fill tool is tedious and an extremely time consuming business, while making adjustments or corrections afterwards is a hugely laborious undertaking. On the CorelDRAW and Illustrator forums I have seen artists say that they work for months on end or even half a year on a vector portrait. This can of course be done if you have nothing else to do with your life, but if you do, I suggest you have a go at drawing portraits with Affinity Designer.

My first vector portrait created in Affinity Designer
Update sequence

For decades I've worked with Illustrator professionally, with CorelDRAW privately and with Inkscape occasionally, so I have good knowledge of those programs. But apart from struggling with the tiresome mesh-fill misery I never quite liked creating realistic vector portraits in any of those programs. Somewhere around 2016, if I recall correctly, I accidentally bumped into Affinity Designer and not long after I figured out that drawing realistic vector portraits in this program could be done a lot quicker with far less clicks (and less headache). I estimate creating a realistic vector portrait in Affinity Designer can be done in one third of the time that is necessary in the competition's software.

My third vector portrait created in Affinity Designer
Update sequence

The tools used in Affinity Designer that make drawing realistic vector portraits possible are:

• Gaussian blurring
• Gradient colouring
• Gradient transparency application
• Clipping blurred shapes and strokes inside other (often blurred) shapes
• Custom made vector texture brushes (often Gaussian blurred and applied with 3D fx) to create pores / skin and hair textures

The subtleties of the female form created in vectors in Affinity Designer
Update sequence

That sounds like a lot of different techniques, but believe me, it is much faster than meticulously toiling with the mesh-fill tool. Not just the initial drawing, but also making adjustments or correction afterwards. A much needed effect in portrait drawing, is creating colour gradients that run in more than one direction. In Designer just duplicate shapes, change the direction of the gradient and cut off the parts of the shapes that aren't needed or make them disappear with the gradient transparency tool or by clipping. The Gaussian blur tool allows to create blurry edges and in doing so avoids drawing unwanted hard edges that other programs have difficulty to prevent from showing.

Crystal Reed vector portrait created in Affinity Designer
Update sequence

I might make a video tutorial on how to create a realistic vector portrait in the future, but at this point my webcam broke down and I have to familiarize myself with a video editor first. Meanwhile check out my portfolio blog in which I placed the stages of development of the vector portraits placed above and others. Move away from drawing ugly vector portrait drawing software and move towards Affinity Designer that currently (look at the date at the top of this article) offers a 50% ( ! ! ! ) price reduction - NO monthly subscription penalties - and a 90 day trial period ( . . . ). While this special offer runs Affinity Designer costs less than a one time fee of 28 USD. For this kind of money you can't let this opportunity pass by unused. Unless you have no clue on what to waste your money of course.

Hasta luego online virtual folks.