Step 1: Search for the Perfect Photo

I have taken one of my sister and two of her friends (I blurred the image just for safety reasons).

And you need to tape the picture to your drawing paper as I did here - for better recognizability I chose a tape with coloured dots.

Step 2: Stitch and Twitch

Then you need to draw the outlines by gently stitching tiny holes through the picture onto your drawing paper. Make sure your picture is connected to the paper at all times to prevent displacement.

After stitching the holes, draw lines with your pencil to give your picture some dimension and fields to colour in.

Step 3: Start Drawing!

After stitching, start by drawing in the colour of the skin and let it dry for a couple of minutes. To let everything else shine through, use more water with skin colours.

Step 4: Add Element.

After this, I went on with drawing hair (head, eyebrows,..etc.) and let it dry again. I followed up with lip colour and some other elements regarding the face area just to conclude everything by drawing significant features of clothes.

Step 5: Finished!

After letting it dry again for a couple of minutes, I decided to add some extra "spice" and liven up the drawing by following up with some hair movement by drawing a few strands of hair with my pencil.

and that's how you can easily make a selfmade gift for your friends and family! :)