I was given the challenge to make a photo realistic watch face. I found a wall clock that I liked. Here is the original and my final image on the right.

My goal in this project was to better understand different aspects of what makes something photorealistic - shadows, highlights, and the small imperfections that we don’t notice.

To first better understand the clock, I sketched out every shape that I could possibly see. I started with the basic outlines of the actual clock. This would give me a good baseline to create each vector shape.

The the very first step I did in putting this in Illustrator, was to take a break down of the entire clock, and to create each of those lines. I focused more on the actual form of the clock (the face, the hands, the minute and hour markers). The process of creating the shadows and highlights at this point would be far too messy, and not needed at this point.

The next step for me was to take each of the form’s I had created lines for, and get the color. The color picker can be a bit tricky, since I am grabbing from pixels. I knew that this was subject to change, once I added in gradients and other textures. I knew I needed to keep this quick and simple.

The next step was to start adding highlights and shadows. I created this through either creating a gradient, in which I would bring down the opacity, simulating glass reflections. I would then create shadows through the shape builder tool, creating a thin edge and adding some blur.

One of the give aways for a vector image is the almost perfect nature. So I gradient some “noise” by creating a texture and placing it on top of the image.

The hands were the pieces of hardware that have the most detail. From the highlights, different reflections, and their shadow. I had to go through a few iterations.

Some final adjustments to different highlights, an addition to the typeface, and I was able to create a vector version of the photo. For the typeface, I found the the font 'Minion Variable Concept.' I then made an outline, made the 'O' smaller, added a line, and I was able to recreate the typeface.

Here is my final vector wall clock.

Below is a side by side of the original photo and my vector image.