A Picture within the Picture

As I work on an illustration as complex as this, I tend to break it up into smaller segments. This serves a couple of purposes; it breaks up the picture into bite size chunks and allows me to focus in a particular area so that I don't feel rushed to complete large swaths of the picture. There is also that important sense of accomplishment when even a small piece of the picture is completed to satisfaction. However, it is important when doing this to integrate the smaller pieces seamlessly into the larger whole; that the style, contrast, etc... are the same across the picture. As you look at the previous post with progression of the illustration, you can see the areas that I focused on. As I move along through the drawing I periodically step back to get an overview of the drawing and I will go back and work over previously "completed" areas if there is some sort of inconsistency. Another way to get a fresh view of the drawing is to look at it in a mirror; if something looks out of whack in the mirror, it probably looks out of whack to a new viewer too. Breaking up the picture into smaller units also prevents me from getting bored; working on a particular area for a long time can be tedious and I find it refreshing to move to a different part of the drawing to work on a fresh effect using different strokes. Completing something with this level of detail takes patience and care and these tricks will help to create a good final result.