One of the best ways to get your creative juices flowing is to look at a wide variety of art and think about what the artist is trying to communicate and how they use the techniques and tools at their disposal.

In this post, I’ll share a wide cross-section of portrait illustrations to get you excited about creating projects, and I’ll link to some tutorials in which you can learn how to create portraits of your own.

Ready to be inspired? Then let’s begin.

Portrait Illustration Inspiration From Envato Elements

Envato Elements offers a huge range of traditional illustration portraits as well as more creative, experimental pieces. Here’s a quick selection to excite and motivate, challenge and comfort.

Male Portrait Illustration

A portrait is a collaboration between artist and subject and thus reflects something essential about both parties. Why has the artist chosen this colour palette? Does it reflect something they saw in the subject or something they felt within themselves? What did the artist want to communicate by juxtaposing sharp angles in the subject’s neck, jaw and hair with the tenderness in the eyes and soft sensuality of the lips? What does this portrait make you feel?

Stylized Portrait Illustration of a Pregnant Woman

Freedom of expression is essential to the creator, and no less so in portraiture, where the pressure to honour facts and details can stifle and hamper communication. In portraiture, therefore, it’s critical to guard one’s creative instincts—the instinct that guides one about what to include or exclude. You’d expect a “faceless” illustration to lack emotion, but this artist in following their instinct to exclude facial details relied on other strategies to communicate the vulnerability, tenderness, protectiveness and joy of motherhood: gesture, line, colour, shape.

Holy Muerte Portrait Illustration

Mexico’s “Day of the Dead” creates endless possibilities for creative expression thanks to its fascinating juxtaposition of the joyful and the macabre. Though there is a tradition of technique, pattern, motifs, etc. in this type of portraiture that each artist must adhere to, there is still so much room for individual interpretation and expression. This is what keeps the tradition fresh and endlessly exciting. 

Young Couple Self Portrait Illustration

Bringing the childlike into the adult sphere has been more popular in the 21st century than at any other time in human history. Rich fodder for psychologists and social historians no doubt, and endlessly cute and comforting for many. This cartoon-inspired vector portrait eschews the Disney-style wide-eyed innocence for small, thin lines for the eyes, which works well to communicate the joy and sweetness of this self-portrait illustration. 

Red and Black Portraits

Abstraction in portraiture is another way to communicate a variety of complex emotions and evoke a wide range of responses. With a handful of repeated and reinterpreted geometric shapes and a limited colour palette, this artist has managed to create a bold and commanding collection of portraits. 

Portrait Illustration Inspiration From GraphicRiver

There are also loads of riveting portraits to be found at GraphicRiver, with thousands of vector portrait illustrations to browse. Here are some of the best options.

Portrait Illustration of a Woman in Hijab

This portrait is rendered with so much detail that it could almost pass for a photo. In a traditional illustration portrait, you can reach a high level of realism, while also being totally free to create the look you want. The best of both worlds!

Hipster Pop Art Portrait Illustration

One of the great things about portraiture that we hope we are capturing in this article is the range of styles possible within this one genre. This piece borrows from the Pop Art style of the 1960s, while updating it with a more contemporary hipster look to create the same sense of irony. 

Family Portrait Illustration of Parents Playing With Their Kids

Art is a great vehicle for furthering social justice. This piece does that very well by capturing a same-sex couple and their children in an idealised cartoon-style family portrait illustration. Why? Because families come in all combinations.

Portrait of a Ghost Girl in the Cemetery

Portrait illustrations can veer into the realm of fantasy any time you want! This haunting illustration blends the subject with the background and makes the whole scene merge together to communicate the ethereal nature of a lost, mournful ghost.

Young Smiling Family Portrait Illustration

Here’s another family portrait illustration, but this time it looks more like a posed studio photograph, with the subjects smiling for the camera. The way they’re standing so close, with the mother cradling her daughter in her arms and the child holding onto her mother’s neck, makes it clear that this is a loving family.

Portrait Illustration Inspiration From Placeit

Placeit is a useful online tool to help you create banners, T-shirt designs, mockups, and more—right in your web browser! It doesn’t specialise in portrait illustration, but it does have a few great examples to help you get inspired for your next project:

The Future Is Now

The flat style of illustration gained popularity a few years ago, and this is a great example of the style, with its simple flat shapes and long shadows. The style is somewhat deceptive—although it looks very simple, pulling off a successful illustration is not as straightforward as you might think.

Portrait Illustration for a Hip Hop T-Shirt

This is billed as a T-shirt design, but it could also work as an album cover—stylized portrait illustrations like this one are very flexible and very on trend in the art world! They take their inspiration from snapshot photography, where the subject is captured in candid posture rather than posed. This brings a fresh dynamism to illustration. 

Portrait Illustration of an Anarchist Ninja

How about something a bit more edgy? This is such a striking portrait, with the folded arms, crossed swords, and the face obscured by mask and reflective goggles. Even if Anarchy weren’t written below the illustration, it would still communicate a certain sense of threat.

Living My Best Life

We all want to live our best life, don’t we? This is a great example of vector portraiture—just a few lines manage to communicate a sense of thoughtful yearning that fits the style of portrait perfectly. 

Anime Stylized Portrait Illustration for a T-Shirt Design

There’s a lot going on in this Japanese-influenced design, but at the heart of it is the portrait of a young woman, again with an interesting pose, half-turning as if she’s just heard us call out to her. The grid is an unusual background choice, but works thanks to the fluidity of the rest of the portrait.

Portrait Illustration Inspiration From Mixkit

Mixkit offers a small but high-quality selection of creative portrait illustrations by talented artists from around the world. And the best part is, they’re completely free to download! Here are some examples.

Woman Standing Behind Bright Leaves and Plants

This highly stylized portrait illustration is all about being at one with nature. There is no star here. The woman and the beautiful leaves that surround her work together to create a harmonious whole.

Tired Person Sitting on an Empty Train

While some portraits focus on a single person, others are more documentary and depict a person in the context of a whole scene. This one uses a stylised depiction of the interior of a bus at night to create a mood of isolation, fatigue, and loneliness. It’s another example of communicating mood in portraiture without many facial details.

Stylized Portrait Illustration of a Person With Brightly Colored Shapes

What makes this portrait so effective is the contrast between the black and white subject and the brightly coloured shapes exploding from their ears. This surreal scene is compounded by the troubled expression on the subject’s face. In totality, a disturbing and fascinating portrait. 

Man Sitting in Front of a Fire, Reading From a Tablet

Colour is a powerful language for artists, and this portrait achieves its power and drama through its use of colour. The shades of blue contrast beautifully with the shades of pink, making the fire and the man stand out from the rest. The light coming from the tablet screen onto the subject’s face is a nice touch too.

Family Portrait Illustration of a Happy Couple and a Dog

Unexpected design choices can help make a portrait successful. This striking family portrait illustration is a great example of that because the people are upside down so that we can’t quite read their faces easily, making them peripheral. Meanwhile, the dog, who is in the centre of the portrait and is the right way up, becomes the focal point. 

Portrait Illustration Inspiration From Envato Tuts+

After more than a decade of teaching portrait illustration here on Envato Tuts+, we’ve got plenty of wonderful portraits to share with you. Here’s just a small selection.

Traditional Illustration Portrait in Art Nouveau Style

When you’re creating an illustration, it’s a great chance to mix and match different styles and shed new light on familiar subjects. In this one, Glinda from The Wizard of Oz is given a fabulous Art Nouveau makeover. The Good Witch of the North has never looked so good!

Set of 8 Veil and Hijab Illustrations

You can also use a single portrait illustration to create multiple variations. If you look closely, you’ll see that all eight of these portraits are based on the same basic illustration, but the end results are all quite different.

Yoga Goddess Stylized Portrait Illustration

Portraiture can also help you explore other cultures and traditions, as artist Asher Benson did in this striking yoga goddess portrait. Again we have an interesting pose at the heart of this portrait, but it’s the wealth of fascinating details that really make it come alive.

Chibi Lollipop and Lullaby Munchkin

With illustration, the only limit is your imagination. This fantasy scene is a long way from a traditional illustration portrait. It takes us to an invented world of lollipops, rainbows, and so much more. What kind of world do you want to invent?

Spring Portrait Illustration

Let’s finish up with something fun. This sweet illustration communicates the essence of spring through the flowers and birds in the woman’s hair, and her expression also conveys the optimism that the season often inspires.

Learn More About Portrait Illustration!

I hope this article has given you plenty of inspiration and ideas to help you get started as an illustrator. If you want to learn more, we have plenty of tutorials to help you. Here are some great places to start:

• 
  Procreate
  How to Create a Stylish Neon Portrait in Procreate
  Maria Dimova

• 
  Portrait
  How to Create a Portrait With One Colour in Adobe Illustrator
  Sharon Archer-Thomas

• 
  Adobe Illustrator
  101 Awesome Adobe Illustrator Tutorials
  Andrei Stefan

• 
  Procreate
  How to Create a Punk-Rock Portrait in Procreate
  Maria Dimova

• 
  Illustrator Brushes
  How to Vector Hair With Brushes in Adobe Illustrator
  Sharon Archer-Thomas

• 
  Portrait
  How to Create a Vector Portrait With Curly Hair in Adobe Illustrator
  Sharon Archer-Thomas

Or you could try some of these wonderful illustration courses from our archives:

• 
  Adobe Illustrator
  Vector Portraits for Beginners
  Sharon Archer-Thomas

• 
  Adobe Illustrator
  Mastering Male Vector Portraits
  Sharon Archer-Thomas

• 
  Vector
  An Introduction to Vector Line Art
  Sharon Archer-Thomas

• 
  Illustration
  Advanced Vector Portraits
  Sharon Archer-Thomas

• 
  Adobe Illustrator
  Advanced Vector Portraits: Spooky Edition
  Sharon Archer-Thomas

Have you been working on some portrait illustrations of your own? Upload them in the comments and share them with the community!

In this tutorial, you will learn how to create a party flyer template PSD design in Photoshop. I will explain everything in so much detail that everyone can create the effect, even those who have just opened Photoshop for the first time.

What You Will Learn in This Party Flyer Template Tutorial

• How to design a party flyer PSD template in Photoshop
• How to create guidelines for a Photoshop template
• How to add an explosive effect to a photo with a Photoshop action
• Tips on designing a Photoshop flyer template

What You’ll Need

To recreate the design above, you will need the following resources:

• Stock Image 1
• Stock Image 2
• Energy Photoshop Action
• Font 1
• Font 2

1. How to Start Creating a Flyer Template

First, create a new file. To create a new file, go to File > New and set the Width to 4 in, Height to 6 in, and Resolution to 300 px/in.

2. How to Create Guidelines for a Photoshop Template

In this section, we are going to create guidelines for our Photoshop flyer template. Press Control-R on your keyboard to show the Rulers. Then, using the Move Tool (V), click and drag from the ruler to the canvas to create a new guide. Create four guides and position each 0.25 in away from the canvas.

3. How to Create the Background

Step 1

In this section, we’re going to create the background. Go to Layer > New Fill Layer > Solid Color to create a new solid color fill layer, name it Background Color, and choose the color #161e42 as shown below:

Step 2

Now right-click on this layer and choose Blending Options. Then, select and check the Gradient Overlay style and use the settings below:

4. How to Add Photos and Apply a Photoshop Action

Step 1

In this section, we’re going to add photos to the design and apply a Photoshop action to one of them. Go to File > Open, select the photo from the first stock photo link, and click Open. Then, press Control-Shift-N on your keyboard to create a new layer and name it brush. After that, while the brush
layer is selected, brush over the subject with a color. You can also
make a selection of the subject and fill the selection with a color
instead.

Step 2

Now select the Energy Photoshop Action and click on the Play button. After the action has finished, customize the effect as you like. I’ve hidden most of the adjustment layers to avoid stacking adjustments, as we are going to add these on top of the flyer template later. You can check out the video
tutorial (link included in the action help file) for a demonstration of
how to use the action and also how to customize the results to get the most out of the effect.

Step 3

Go to File > Save > Save As and save the design as a JPG file. Then, return to the flyer file, go to File > Place Embedded, select the photo that you just saved, and click Place. Set the Width and Height of the photo to 41.21%, position it as shown below, and name this layer Photo_1.

Step 4

Now go to Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal All to add the layer mask that reveals the whole layer. Then, choose the Brush Tool (B), pick a soft brush, and set the foreground color to #000000. While the layer mask is selected, brush as shown below:

Step 5

Select the Background Color layer, go to File > Place Embedded, select the photo from the second stock photo link, and click Place. Then, set the Width and Height of the photo to 17.86%, position it as shown below, and name this layer Photo_2.

Step 6

Now go to Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal All to add the layer mask that reveals the whole layer. Then, choose the Brush Tool (B), pick a soft brush, and set the foreground color to #000000. While the layer mask is selected, brush as shown below:

Step 7

Select the current layer thumbnail, go to Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation to adjust the hue/saturation of this layer, and set the Saturation to -50. Then, change the Blending Mode of this layer to Hard Light and set the Opacity to 75%.

5. How to Create the Light Source in the PSD Flyer Template

Step 1

In this section, we are going to create the light source. Select the Photo_1 layer and press Control-Shift-N to create a new layer. Then, choose the Brush Tool (B), pick a soft brush, set the Diameter of the brush to 1400 px, and set the foreground color to #f000ff. Brush as shown below:

Step 2

Change the Blending Mode of this layer to Linear Dodge (Add) and set the Opacity to 40%. Name this layer Light Source.

6. How to Place the Texture

Step 1

In this section, we’re going to place the texture. Go to File > Place Embedded, select the texture file attached, and click Place. Set the Width and Height of the texture to 100%, position it as shown below, and name this layer Texture.

Step 2

Change the Blending Mode of this layer to Overlay and set the Opacity to 10%.

7. How to Add Text to the Photoshop Flyer Template

Step 1

In this section, we’re going to add the text information. Choose the Horizontal Type Tool (T), set the font to Fira Sans, font style to Bold for the first part and Light for the second part of the text, font size to 30 px, alignment to Center, and color to #ffffff. Then, in the Character panel, check the All Caps option and set the Tracking to 100. After that, click anywhere inside the canvas, type the text below, and position this layer with the coordinates X: 601.50 px and Y: 90.61 px.

Step 2

Right-click on this layer and choose Blending Options. Then, select and check the Drop Shadow style and use the settings below:

Step 3

Select the Texture layer, choose the Horizontal Type Tool (T), and set the font to Golden Arrow, font size to 385 px, alignment to Center, and color to #ffffff. Then, in the Character panel, check the All Caps option. After that, click anywhere inside the canvas, type the text below, and position this layer with the coordinates X: 600.25 px and Y: 1134.36 px.

Step 4

Press Control-J on your keyboard to duplicate this layer. Then, Right-click on this new layer, choose Convert to Smart Object, and drag it just below the Party layer in the Layers panel. After that, go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur, set the Radius to 10 px, and name this layer Glow_1.

Step 5

Press Control-J to duplicate this layer. Then,
drag this new layer just below the Glow_1 layer in the Layers panel. After that, go to Filter > Blur > Radial Blur, and set the Amount to 50, Blur Method to Zoom, and Quality to Best. Name this layer Glow_2.

Step 6

Now select the Party layer. Choose the Horizontal Type Tool (T) and set the font to Fira Sans, font style to Regular, font size to 45 px, alignment to Left, and color to #ffffff. Then, in the Character panel, check the All Caps option. After that, click anywhere inside the canvas, type the text below, and position this layer with the coordinates X: 426.75 px and Y: 958.94  px.

Step 7

Select the Texture layer. Choose the Horizontal Type Tool (T) and set the font to Fira Sans, font style to Light, font size to 65 px, alignment to Center, and color to #ffffff. Then, in the Character panel, check the All Caps option and set the Tracking to 235. After that, click anywhere inside the canvas, type the text below, and position this layer with the coordinates X: 608.74 px and Y: 1314.73 px.

Step 8

Now select the Texture layer. Choose the Horizontal Type Tool (T) and set the font to Fira Sans, font style to Regular, font size to 45 px, alignment to Center, and color to #ffffff. Then, in the Character panel, check the All Caps option. After that, click anywhere inside the canvas, type the text below, and position this layer with the coordinates X: 599 px and Y: 1424.94 px.

Step 9

Select the Texture layer and choose the Horizontal Type Tool (T). Set the font to Fira Sans, font style to Light, font size to 30 px, alignment to Center, and color to #ffffff. Then, in the Character panel, check the All Caps option and set the Tracking to 100. After that, click anywhere inside the canvas, type the text below, and position this layer with the coordinates X: 601.10 px and Y: 1474.85 px.

Step 10

Select the Texture layer again, and choose the Horizontal Type Tool (T). Set the font to Golden Arrow, font size to 104 px, alignment to Center, and color to #ffffff. Then, in the Character panel, check the All Caps option. After that, click anywhere inside the canvas, type the text below, and position this layer with the coordinates X: 600 px and Y: 1569.71 px.

Step 11

Select the Texture layer, choose the Horizontal Type Tool (T), and set the font to Fira Sans, font style to Light, font size to 30 px, alignment to Center, and color to #ffffff. Then, in the Character panel, check the All Caps option and set the Tracking to 200. After that, click anywhere inside the canvas, type the text below, and position this layer with the coordinates X: 604 px and Y: 1717.61 px.

8. How to Add the Sound Wave

In this section, we’re going to add the sound wave. Open the sound wave AI file in Adobe Illustrator, select the top sound wave shape, and press Control-C to copy it. Return to the Photoshop flyer file, select the top layer in the Layers panel, and press Control-V to paste it as a shape layer. Then, press Control-T to open up the transform options and set the Width and Height of the layer to 45.78%. After that, Double-click on this layer thumbnail, choose the color #ffffff, and name this layer Sound Wave.

9. How to Make the Final Adjustments to the Party Flyer Template

Step 1

In this section, we’re going to make some final adjustments to the design. Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Color Balance to create a new color balance adjustment layer and name it Color_Look_1. Then, Double-click on this layer thumbnail and, in the Properties panel, enter the settings below:

Step 2

Now select the Sound Wave layer, go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Curves to create a new curves adjustment layer, and name it Color_Look_2. Then, Double-click on this layer thumbnail, and in the Properties panel enter the settings below:

Step 3

Select the Color_Look_1 layer and press D on your keyboard to reset the swatches. Then, go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Gradient Map to create a new gradient map adjustment layer and name it Overall Contrast. After that, change the Blending Mode of this layer to Soft Light and set the Opacity to 12%.

Step 4

Now go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Hue/Saturation to create a new hue/saturation adjustment layer and name it Overall Saturation. Then, Double-click on this layer thumbnail and, in the Properties panel, set the Saturation to +20.

Step 5

Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Levels to create a new levels adjustment layer, and name it Overall Brightness. Then, Double-click on this layer thumbnail and, in the Properties panel, enter the settings below:

Step 6

Press Control-Alt-Shift-E on your keyboard to make a screenshot, and then press Control-Shift-U to desaturate this layer. Then, go to Filter > Other > High Pass and set the Radius to 2 px. After that, change the Blending Mode of this layer to Vivid Light and name it Overall Sharpening.

You Made It!

Congratulations, you have
succeeded! You’ve learned how to create a party flyer Photoshop template.
Here is our
final result:

Did you like this party flyer templates PSD design tutorial? Then you may also like:

• 

  How to Create an Awesome Dispersion Action in Adobe Photoshop

  In this tutorial you will learn how to create an amazing dispersion effect. First we will create several patterns that we will use for creating the dispersed…
• 

  How to Create a Promotional Flyer in Photoshop

  Photoshop is great for graphic design, but it can also be a great tool for print designs—ones you can later import to InDesign. This tutorial will help you…
• 

  How to Create an Energy Effect Action in Adobe Photoshop

  In this tutorial you will learn how to create an amazing energy effect. Everything will be explained in so much detail that anyone can create it, even if…
• 

  How to Create an Enchanted Photoshop Action

  In this beginner’s tutorial, you will learn how to create an amazing, enchanted effect in Adobe Photoshop.