Fall Out Boy

I have painted a lot of illustrations using a limited colour palette, however, I wanted to see if I could do the same with portraits. While I could have gone for a vibrant colours similar to the ones used in the naturalistic portraits, or the two posters, I decided use more naturalistic colours. Not only did I want to dial it back to just three colours including white, but I chose not to use black as the darkest colour.

These images have really helped me develop my portrait style, even if I also paint in this kind of style using more more than three colours as well. If you are looking for a limited colour palette portrait or bespoke illustrations in this style, please get in touch!

A stylised portrait of drummer Andy Hurley who is fully facing the viewer, but not quite making eyecontact. The image is painted in a limited colour palette consisting of dark blue, peachy-pink and white.

Andy Hurley

Media: Digital.

First up is Andy Hurley, the drummer of the band. That said, he also plays the drums in a bunch of other bands such as The Damned Things, Racetraitor and SECT to name a few. This is the only portrait where I changed the reference image before I redrew it, but I also think it’s the image which has changed the most in style as well, the initial portrait is further down the page.

This portrait is based on a photo in this post found on the Instagram account of Yoyoka, a 10 year old drummer who played with the band during a set during Summer Sonic in Japan last year.

A stylised portrait of multi-talented musician Patrick Stump.

Patrick Stump

Media: Digital.

The second portrait for this series is Patrick Stump, the singer, song writer, guitarist and pianist of the group. After having re-painted Andy’s portrait I realised that my first attempt at this stylised portrait was still a bit too sketchy and needed some more variation and textures. I also decided to remove the dark background which makes this image work better with the other images in the series.

The portrait is based on the fourth photo in this Instagram post taken by photographer Elliott Ingham during Summer Sonic in Japan last year.

A stylised portrait of bassist and lyricist Pete Wentz.

Pete Wentz

Media: Digital.

The next image of this stylised portraits set is of Pete Wentz, Fall Out Boy’s bassist and lyricist. While this is the repainted version, I still hold the initial image in a high regard, as I feel some of the likeness is a bit better in that version, and the expression looks a little bit more sincere.

The main reference photo for this image was of Pete during the opening night of Universal Studios’ Halloween Horror Nights, but I also referenced multiple other photos.

A stylised portrait of guitarist Joe Truhman painted only using three.

Joe Trohman

Media: Digital.

Last but not least is the band’s main guitarist and song writer Joe Trohman. While he’s often mostly associated with Fall Out Boy, he also founded The Damned Things, a rock supergroup which consist of Joe and Andy from Fall Out Boy, Anthrax’s Scott Ian, Keith Buckley from Every Time I Die Keith Buckley, and Alkaline Trio’s Dan Andriano.

While it was the initial portrait of Joe which prompted me to repaint the rest of the portraits, but when I had finished the new versions I needed to improve his portrait as well.

The image is based on a photo taken by photographer Elliott Ingham.

Initial portraits

These are the portraits I initially drew of the band members. The colour palettes have stayed the same, but these paintings are definitively less detailed, and might even feel a bit more rushed.

A sketchy, stylised digital portrait of Patrick Stump, painted using only three colours, including white. Patrick is part facing the viewer, and looking into the distance. The image uses few outlines, but just enough to hint to the shape of his fedora and shoulders which otherwise would blend with the background.

Patrick Stump

Media: Digital.

This was one of the first portraits I painted where I wanted to merge my limited colour palette painting style with portraits. I wanted to use less colours than usual, but without using greyscale colours. I was still developing the style. so I am glad I recreated the images after more practice, and slowly finding my style.

A sketchy stylised digital portrait of Andy Hurley, which is painted using a very limited colour palette of three colours. Andy is facing the viewer, and making eye contact. Parts of the tattoo on his neck is visible, but not enough to make out what it is. The brushstrokes are thick and lack a which also give him a slightly harsh contour in certain places.

Andy Hurley

Media: Digital.

After painting Patrick in this style, I decided I had to have a go at painting the other band members as well. However, this image of Andy shows how simplified this style could be. After having finished the series this image made me start to repaint them all in a more uniform style.

A sketchy stylised digital portrait of Pete Wentz, painted using only three colours. Pete is facing the viewer, smiling and making eye contact. The outlines are thin, sometimes disappearing.

Pete Wentz

Media: Digital.

I was actually quite pleased with this image, but after comparing it to the redrawn images of the other band members, it simply looked far too sketchy to fit into the series of images. Though, to be entirely honest, I think the likeness is a little bit better in this image compared to the one above.

A skethcy stylised digital portrait of Joe Trohman, painted with a limited colour palette using only three colours. Joe is facing the viewer, but is looking off to the left side of the image, while his body is facing towards the right.

Joe Trohman

Media: Digital.

This was the final portrait painted in this original series, as each of the images were painted in time for the band members’ birthdays. As this image is completed months after the others, there was a big gap in style, as I had learnt a lot in the time between. This led me to redraw the entire series.