Original Sketch by Joe
When an old friend reaches out and wants to collaborate on a project, you say absolutely! This is exactly what happened. Near the end of November last year, my old friend from high-school, Joe, reached out to me for some creative help. He had been away with the United States Air Force, and U.S. Marine Corps. While he was serving he was inspired to create this character, Greta. He had a sketch of her that he had done and was curious if I would be interested in lending him a hand in taking it to the next level. Joe and I were pals in high-school and we both had a passion for drawing and art. So when he approached me with this request, it made sense, and I was happy to help.
Vector Outline
Joe wanted to have his sketch tightened up and of course, colored. He wanted to have this illustration readily available to possibly place on t-shirts or maybe stickers. With that in mind I told him the best approach would be to vectorize the illustration. This way we can easily change colors as needed and resizing it would not cause any issues. Joe was on board and excited to see what I could come back with.
Final Vector Illustration
I began to vectorize the entire sketch. I outlined the entire thing in Illustrator CC starting with a black outline layer, cleaning up the lines and filling in the details that were lost on the sketch. Joe had previously given me a few images to reference for color. After a few rounds of revisions and some color adjustments the final product emerged and Greta came to life. Joe was thrilled with the outcome and it felt great to be able to work with an old friend.
I think the illustration came out solid and has great potential to be incorporated into future projects. I added the typography and background to dress it up a bit. I'm not sure what else Joe has in mind for her but I would be happy to help. He did promise me a t-shirt as soon as he gets them made