While most artists may use similar techniques for vector art and portraits, individual artists develop wildly differing styles in the images they create. Some produce photo-realistic images, while others opt for cute cartoon graphics or far-out sci-fi and psychedelic aesthetics.
This post brings together 18 of the best examples of vector portraits, and at the bottom of the post you will find a selective collection of vector portrait tutorials.
Artist Tash25 renders this portrait in a super-realist style, crisply capturing the play of light on the model’s face and dress. The delicate monochrome tonality lends the image a nice retro ambiance.
This portrait of Ashlee Simpson, reworked from an image from her album cover, has some incredible vector detailing in her jacket, trainers and beatbox.
3. Free Spirit
The creator of this portrait, Turp, feels that the image captures the essence of a free-spirited individual.
This vector portrait of Bjork realistically reflects the singer’s elfin charm.
The artist started this portrait as an exercise in using the Gradient Mesh tool in Illustrator, and then developed the picture into a free-style sketch image of actress Scarlett Johansson.
7. Jimi Hendrix
Igor Sunjic created this monochrome portrait of Sixties guitar icon Jimi Hendrix for Vector Portal, a website that offers royalty-free vector graphics to download.
This portrait demonstrates a deft handling of colour palette and composition to achieve balance in vector imagery.
9. Red Kimono
This vector portrait is based on a photograph of Japanese signer Ayumi Hamasaki. The use of blur on the leaf patterns adds a sense of depth to the composition.
10. Look Away….
This close-up portrait is cropped to give a pleasing sense of perspective.
11. Ibu Pertiwi
StevenZ’s stylish design in red, black and grey was a finalist in the Vector Art Category of the 2008 Djarum Black Urban Art Competition.
Vector graphics can often appear somewhat flat; in this portrait, however, the artist uses a simple monochromatic stripe design to achieve a sense of form and three dimensions.
13. Sailor Saturn
This portrait is a realistic rendition of anime character Sailor Saturn from the Sailor Moon series. The choice of colours and styling reflect those of the original cartoon, but the overall aesthetic is far more ‘grown-up’.
14. Vector Kid
Lawnz’s Kid is the result of about eight hours’ work in Illustrator CS2, a cheeky, characterful vector portrait.
The artist’s restraint and certainty of line, along with the choice of Grayscale tonality, result in this elegant vector portrait.
Artist Hellron goes for a near-photographic, smooth vector effect in this portrait, with a crisply drawn tattoo detail.
Novenarik is another vector artist who uses a restrained palette, with generous use of white space, and simple lines to create sublimely atmospheric imagery.
This striking image is based on a photograph from a 1954 edition of LIFE Magazine, showing how the US Air Force used light-beam contour mapping to design flight helmets. While it is sourced from an old photo, the artist has made it very much his own in this intriguing vector portrait.
Portraiture skills are often required in editorial, from fashion all the way through to business magazines, so being able to create quality contemporary portraits quickly is a very handy skill to have. In this indepth tutorial (using Illustrator) you’ll be shown how.
This tutorial will teach you how to take your photos and transform them into a high-contrast work of art. You’ll be creating a photo montage, using a combination of selection techniques and layer masking.
In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to create an illustration of a model in vector style, using Photoshops Burn Tool to add some dimensionality to the illustration. By the end you’ll have enough information and practice to create your own.
What you’ll learn from this website are the basics of vector art and, by using the vector style of the artist, how to create your very own vector portrait, and hopefully after-wards you can come up with your style.