Paint a strong fantasy portrait

Tara Phillips guides you through her process of painting a captivating portrait. Fasten your cloaks and join her on this creative adventure!

Welcome to my second ImagineFX workshop! I’m thrilled to be able to show you through my creative process again. This time, involving two of my favourite things: the fantasy genre and portraiture! Both have been a focus of mine since my awkward teen years on Elfwood.com (RIP) and hold a special place in my heart.

When the ImagineFX team approached me with this commission, the brief was fairly open: paint a fantasy portrait. My mind, of course, ran wild with fantastical ideas. With some effort, I finally settled on painting an elven maiden as my subject. A woman of wealth and sophistication who, by some happenstance, is travelling the mountainside.

Over the next few pages I’ll be guiding you through my process of creating a captivating fantasy portrait. Starting with my initial sketch, I’ll show you a variety of techniques that you can use in your own art process. From concise line work through to adding depth and colour, I’ll show you the various steps I take that enable me to create a compelling fantasy portrait.