Last July marked the 15th anniversarry of the official return of Hong Kong from the British to the Chinese. I got to thinking, "Wouldn't it be nice if the Chinese returned Tibet to the Tibetans?" In that spirit, I made and freely distributed this desktop wallpaper featuring the Dalai Lama.
The finished wallpaper, featuring one of the Dalai Lama's quotes on kindness, which he says is "my religion".
First, the line art. I started with a reference photo and a simple art pen brush and let my pressure-sensitve tablet vary the strokes. This was fun to draw because the Dalai Lama's face is so warm, I kept smiling as I worked. He has the same effect on people as a cute puppy: non-volitional grinning.
The line drawing.
Next, I added color, starting with large areas of base color then building layers of shadow and highlight on top. His crinkly, wizened face and flowing robes were perfect for really playing with a rich range of color values.
The finished full-color portrait.
I brought togther some thematic elements for the background, including a Dharma wheel and a Tibetan tent. Then I layered up some texture and decorative elements and washed the background with a warm, golden yellow to hightlight the area where the portrait would go.
The background layers.
Finally, I added the quote and styled the typography.
Typo makes everything better.
