Portrait Illustration
What does Bourdain mean to me?
I was watching Bourdain’s No Reservations as early as 2008. I didn’t know at the time that I was getting a preview of several locations that I would eventually travel to myself. Although I was lucky enough to travel most of the US in my childhood, Bourdain stoked the desire to go abroad. In 2011, I realized that dream and studied in Sweden. That thread led to several other cities featured in Bourdain’s work, including Reykjavik, Copenhagen, London, Harbin, Hong Kong, and all of those little places in between that usually had the most flavor.
Bourdain was all about ignoring comfort zones.
Freehand illustration is kind of intimidating. There is more feeling and emotion involved than the absolutism of geometric vector shapes - the type of illustration I’m most comfortable with. Bourdain constantly reminded us that comfort zones limit our experiences. I couldn’t think of a more fitting way to honor him than changing things up and devoting several hours to a hand-drawn portrait.
Layers on layers on layers…
Speaking of challenging and adventurous pursuits, nailing down a palette for various shades of skin tones is not easy. I combed through several photos of Bourdain to sample colors I thought worked well together. His instantly recognizable salt-and-pepper hair also took some finessing. The background gradient helps define a light source and adds some logic to the direction of the shading.
