Summary: I share some of my process creating a faux Rolling Stone magazine cover of the Ramones. Giclee prints of the image are also made available! One of the assignments for my MFA program is that we are asked to create an illustration by look back into illustration history and finding an artist whom we admire, then we […]
via Studio Bowes Art Blog at http://ift.tt/1XgS0ut
"Then a strange thing happened.
The house whirled around two or three times and rose slowly through the air. Dorothy felt as if she were going up in a balloon.
The north and south wind met where the house stood, and made it the exact center of the cyclone. In the middle of a cyclone the air is generally still, but the great pressure of the wind on every side of the house raised it up higher and higher, until it was at the very top of the cyclone; and there it remained and was carried miles and miles away as easily as you could carry a feather.
It was very dark and the wind howled horribly around her, but Dorothy fond she was riding quite easily. After the first few whirls around, and one other time when the house tipped badly, she felt as if she were being rocked gently, like a baby in a cradle.
Toto did not like it. He ran about the room, now here, now there barking loudly, but Dorothy sat quite still on the floor and waited to see what would happen.
Once Toto got too near the open trap door, and fell in; and at first the little girl thought she had lost him. But soon she saw one of his ears sticking up through the hole, for the strong pressure of the air was keeping him up so that he could not fall. She crept to the hole, caught Toto by the ear, and dragged him into the room again, afterward closing the trap door so that no more accidents could happen."
It was from this text in the Wizard of Oz, that the initial spark of inspiration flew for this piece. I was particularly struck by a few things here. One, that there is so much emphasis placed on the 'centered-ness' of not only the cyclone but Dorothy as well. Here her reaction is quite relaxed, what a Taoist might call the Wu Wei, or going with the flow. Secondly, there's the strangeness of the floating dog in the center of the room, that just sounded fun.
I owe a great big Thanks to everyone who helped me through out the completion of this piece; Zelda Devon, Rebecca Guay, Randy Chavez, Paris Raupach, and to my friends and family who helped keep my spirits up, thank you. The amount of learning that happened during the course of this illustration would be hard to quantify, certainly at each turn there was someone there to lend a helping hand.
Process wise, this piece was done in an effort to create a well composed, dramatic image, with a strong underling value structure. Consequently, it has seen numerous revisions along the way. This idea was germinated from the assignment options for the Illustration Master Class held earlier this year, due to personal reasons I was unable to attend and from there I realized that there was no need to hurry this piece along. In hindsight, that certainly allowed time and space for many small details to mature.
There will be another post later on reviewing some of the process tips I picked up and the journey from blank page to painting, but for now I hope you enjoy the image.
Finely, the Troll image has made it onto the board! The next step will be painting, which can be a hair raising experience. This all took a little extra time due to a family emergency that came up. Now things are in order, and we're getting back on track. It's all part of the process.
The color study proved to be quite useful. It's done at about 25% of the final size. There were a number of smaller issues that either got worked out or became obvious that they will need to be worked out in the final.
As the painting was happening, I noticed a few items that hadn't shown up in the value study. One is that because I dove in for the darks first thing, the Troll's left foot all the sudden became the center of interest because of the strong value jump. Not that it's not a foot worthy of attention, as far as Troll feet go, it's a pretty nice one, bunions and all. But it ain't the center of attention, which I want to be the key hanging from the Troll's hand.
Another 'Key Issue' (oh hardy har har) is that the values are backwards between the key and the background. The key needs to be dark and the background needs to be lighter.
The biggest issue that there is the shadow shape behind the the elf. It meets the cliff that she's standing on, and is really odd. It is too flush and creates an unintentional tangent. That'll have to go.
Over all, the colors are in order, I'll just have to take care that the values are correct. I really want the sense of depth between the foreground and background. If all goes according to plan, the middle ground will be atmosphere.
Well, now, that brings us right 'round to the final painting. Right now I've transfered the drawing on to final board. I like to use a 500 series Strathmore plate finish bristol board. It's nice and thick and holds the watercolors well. It also dries flat which is great later on when it comes time to scanning and such.
His bowl was empty. Poor little bear.
My portfolio is getting a little bear heavy. I just can't seem to resist. I need a bear project to work on (hint, hint). We're thinking of getting a dog. Am I crazy?
For this illo, I wanted to stick with a limited palette. This is very hard for me. I automatically grab complementary colors. We'll see if I can manage it with pencils. Must control myself, because I really like this.
As I was writing this post, I realized the birds don't stand out, so I revised it like this.
By: Brian Bowes,
on 11/25/2015
By: Laura Zarrin,
on 11/2/2008
His bowl was empty. Poor little bear.
By: Julie Fortenberry,
on 11/28/2007
So sweet!
Love your little bear!
Hi Laura,
I absolutely love your work, it is just brilliant! No, you can never be too 'Bear heavy' (know what you mean though!)
BestWishes,
Liz
Aw, cute!
Oh this is too sweet and adorable! I love it!
www.indigeneartforms.blogspot.com
Adorable!
So LOvely! I also like your cute banner! =)
Such a huggable little bear!
Maybe you could name your new dog Teddy!
if you get a dog, your sketchbook will probably start to fill with pictures of it! Pets are amazing
he is adorable
so cute! I love your colors and simple shapes.