Artist Q&A

Karen Lindsey, England

Male pin-ups, punk pin-ups, zombie pin-ups, perfect skin, lighting, leather, latex, feather boas and much more feature in this month’s glamorous Q&A articles.

Answer

Jace replies

Feather boas are an excellent accessory to complement a pin-up girl. There’s just something very sexy about feather boas and getting that playfulness and sexiness right can really help make a piece stand out from the crowd. However, the focus shouldn’t be just on the boa, but also on the pose of the pin-up and how the boa is being used to tell that character’s story.

Playful gestures with the figure twirling and twisting the boa around the neck can do a lot to really sell the sexiness of the piece. As usual, collecting reference is a key point in starting any illustration. Getting the reference to match the final illustration as close as possible will go a long way in helping the final piece look great. Yes, you can go online and search around for suitable photographs, but you’ll achieve the perfect pose if you purchase a cheap boa and take a few snaps of yourself in front of a mirror.

The brushes I use to paint the feathers in this piece are long oval brushes angled at a 45-degree angle to create feather-like shapes. The brushes are set with a Flow of 22 per cent, Opacity at 100 per cent, Opacity set to Pen Pressure and Size set to Pen Pressure.