Neon Punk is a character portrait built around attitude, colour and contrast. I wanted the character to feel immediately self-assured, with a slightly confrontational expression that gives the impression that something we cannot see has disgusted her.
The bright pink hair became the main visual focus. Its exaggerated volume and saturated colour contrast against the darker background and clothing, while the illuminated strands help give the portrait that neon quality without covering the entire piece in artificial light.
Her styling mixes punk influences with a fairly simple silhouette. The shaved-short shape of the hair, heavy eyeliner, dark lipstick, facial piercings, stretched ears and choker all add personality without competing with one another. I particularly liked using the lip piercing as a small sharp detail against the softer rendering of the face.
The tattoo was designed as a large, flowing graphic rather than lots of separate small designs. Its heavy black shapes wrap around the shoulder and give that side of the composition more weight, balancing the mass of bright hair above it.
Lighting was also important to the design. Warm light hits one side of her face and shoulder while cooler, darker tones sit across the other. Rather than simply illuminating the portrait, the lighting changes the colours of the skin, hair and clothing and helps exaggerate the character's features.
Ultimately, Neon Punk was an exercise in creating a character whose personality could come through before knowing anything about her story. Bold hair, body modification, tattoos and a look that suggests she has already decided exactly what she thinks of you.