For my next assignment, I wanted to attempt something more whimsical and Halloween-ish. I love bat silhouettes and put a few riders on them, coming from a belfry in the distance.
Then I played around in PS and put a town in the sketch and played with colors. I liked the colors but the town didn't really tell a story.
Then the idea of a creepy forest and tree hands reaching out to grab the little guys, preventing them from spreading Halloween cheer and suddenly I felt a story was here that wanted telling. Here's a rough sketch.
Next I worked up a value/color sketch. and then waited for the critique...always with a bit of trepidation.
First and foremost, there needed to be more definition of foreground, mid-ground and background. The trees are too similar in size and occupying the same space. AND they needed to look more human...among many other things.
Made some of those changes but still needed to re-position the trees and create more movement with the bats. Basically, right now, I have a sketch with three columns.
Finally got the trees working for me. They are fairly grumpy and each wanted to be the "Foreground Tree". The left one won and then I went to work on the bats and their riders. They were much more cooperative, although each one wanted a light to hold. Made some other changes and then did a value study in PS.
Still had a few tangents and changes to make. Whew...what was I thinking...taking on such a complicated illustration? Why didn't a simply paint a cute little pumpkin??
FINALLY a final sketch.
I took a nice piece of rag Stonehenge paper and put a coat of gesso on it. Then, while holding my breath, I printed my sketch on to that. AND surprise! It really worked great. Next, I coated it with a wash of gouache paint, concentrating on the areas of temperature changes.
Next, I started lifting out the negative spaces and lite areas.
These are photos, so the colors are not very good.
More lifting. Needed to define some of my sketch with a sepia colored pencil.
Next, I put a coat of oil on top (terrible picture). Lifted out and started filling in some of the opaque areas.
Will post the final later this week.
10 comments:
hello Kim,
i loved reading and seeing how you went about this, amazing way of working. Such a wonderfully detailed and scary piece!
Kim,
I really need to learn how to do digital work I think it would be great fun!!!TFS, BTW can you email me it's about another " Battina ".
Blessings,Flora
Wow. So much to take in! I've been switching back and forth to try to understand all of your modifications. The end result (well, the tentative end result) is beautiful, and it certainly tells an exciting Halloween story.
Thanks so much for sharing the progress shots. They're so much more interesting than simply the finished product at the end. Love the characters! Love Halloween!
Oh my goodness, your rough sketches have so much life and beauty to them. I can't wait to see the finished product.
Your illustration is looking great -- can't wait to see the final! You've inspired me to make a new painting for Halloween, too...think I'll do some sketching this afternoon and see what happens. :)
I really like the direction you are taking with this project and the subject tells a great story. Any chance of selling a print of the finished version?
Oh ... can you please elaborate about your term "lifting"? Is the gouche paint wet or dry when you do this?
Thank you all so very much. And Brian, the gouache is dry when you lift it. All you use is water. This is a fairly old technique used by many illustrators, like David Grove and Robert Barrett. In fact, I learned about it via Barrett's download from Folio Academy.
Thanks Kim. I will be sure to check that reference out.
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