How I create beautiful, crystalline-styled portraits

One question I’m often asked is: Is your artwork created with some sort of filter in Photoshop? Which filter is that?

Each of my pieces is hand-drawn. There is no filter or “magic-button” used. In fact, my pieces are not even created in Photoshop; the bulk of the work I do is in Adobe Illustrator.

So how do I create these geometric pieces, you ask? The answer is surprisingly simple: I draw triangles. Lots, and lots of triangles. And then I color them. It sounds more boring than it is; I enjoy figuring out exactly what geometry to use for each piece. No two are alike, and there are a dozen ways to render each one. I love my work.

To give you an idea of the basics of my process, take a look at the photo (above). Meghan and Rob sent me a group photo from their wedding (left), and asked me to create a portrait of the two of them from it. I collaged my triangles together (middle). I colored the piece, and made a final render (right), which I then sent to them for review.

You can view more samples of my work in my online Gallery at my website, or find out more about my wedding-specific work on my Wedding Portraiture page at my website, wearehalfhill.com.