An example of the process.
One advantage of waiting until after the wedding before ordering your cartoon is that we will have photos of the actual outfits, instead of needing to guess. The second advantage is that there is no longer a deadline and we can take our time to get it right.
The customer in this case got in touch via the [ENQUIRY page]
" ... a picture of the groom tipping his hat and the bride dancing. I have pictures from random people from the Internet in these poses, and then I have pictures of the actual couple on their wedding day which has already taken place”
After receiving the photos I started with this rough draft of just the faces. I assumed the headphones were to be included, but since the cartoons are all done digitally anyway it was easy to remove them and also show a version without headphones.
She wanted the version without headphones, plus a few changes - darker eyes and blonder hair for the bride, and a slimmer face for the groom. Those were easy tweaks so I sent back this update.
Customer okayed the above. Next I added the poses. The signpost was my suggestion. a signpost is usually a good way to include the name of the venue (venues are not always instantly recognisable in cartoon format) and the date.
Final suggestion from the customer was switching around the bride so that she is holding the flower away from the groom, and for the dress to be slightly longer and a lighter shade. Then after adding the background of the venue it was ready to transfer onto canvas.
This one was shipped directly to the couple with a note of congratulations attached, saying who it was from.
“Hi Brendan. Just to let you know they received the gift. They absolutely love it, thanks again” - Marion