Trystan's Portrait

I was recently asked by a friend to create a Warhol-inspired piece for her best friend and her best friend's twin's birthdays (say that 5 times fast). The subject was her best friend's twin's little boy Trystan. The reference photo she gave me was almost too adorable for words, and was needless to say a delight to work on.

I started with a pencil drawing:

 
Then I snapped a picture of it and uploaded into Photoshop. I quickly bumped up the exposure and heightened the contrast, then digitally broke it into color planes, literally referencing the color palette of two actual Warhols. I came up with the first piece:

 

Then a 2nd variation:

 

 I had originally intended to print out the pieces on specialty paper (100lb Eames linen in white) but of course Murphy has a law and the paper jammed the machinery. So instead, I had the pieces printed on regular 11"x17" poster paper and glued that to the linen. Then I distressed the pieces by gently rubbing the surfaces with sand paper up and down, right to left to simulate the texture canvas. I wouldn't say it was convincing, but sometimes just going through a process makes a piece unique even if it doesn't turn out as you originally envisioned. 

With that face to look at, how could you not love working on this portrait?