Breakdown: Painting Stylized Versions of HBO's Joel and Ellie in Photoshop

Digital Artist and Tutorial-Maker Ben Eblen, widely known for producing astonishing stylized illustrations, has recently shared a short Twitter thread offering a comprehensive breakdown of the working process behind the stylized portraits of Joel and Ellie from HBO's The Last of Us, drawn and painted in Photoshop.

In the breakdown, the creator shared a few notes on nailing likeness using basic shapes, discussed lighting and the workflow behind the artwork's background, explained how to bring more attention to a project's main characters, and more. You can check out the full thread by clicking this link.

If you would like to learn more about creating stylized characters, we also recommend checking out Eblen's Illustrating a Stylized Character tutorial,  featuring an eight-hour-long real-time walkthrough, a 40+ page Field Guide (PDF) that allows you to study away from the videos, 3D modeled anatomy study images, a Procreate tutorial to reference from, and much more.

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