I’ve recently written an article about Anne Lister on my newsletter, this is the illustration for the cover.
First I drew some thumbnails to see what composition and idea worked best. I really liked the 1st and last ones. I decided to go with the last one to practice creating backgrounds. I may go back to the first one some time, because I really liked it too.

I always clean the sketch a little before making the final illustration, to add details and have cleaner lines.

I make a quick colour test to see if the palette I had chosen worked. My main character lived during the Victorian era and I wanted it to have “old photo colour” with some accents.

And this is the final work. Our cheeky Ann Lister in front of her home in Halifax, Shibden Hall.