I walk down to the post office this morning to drop off the disk with the first several chapters. Cinnamon bun from the bakery to munch at on my way back. I take the long path up past the creek and among the trees. Hit the off switch on my ipod once I can hear the rushing of the stream instead of rumbling cars and trucks, and let the music fade to be replaced by the music of the water instead. Let the sound wash through me.
The book's a fun change of pace from most other commissions I work on. It's mostly my own direction; no art director to tell me to make changes to the art or to tweak compositions. On the other hand the limitation is that once I start scanning a step-by-step, the decisions I make have to be rather firm. Waffling on color choices or making changes to a sketch midway through a piece is fine when it's just the final result that I'm concerned with. But when I'm trying to make the process a cohesive single pathway, decisions have to be made and stuck with to the end. The chaos of my usual creative process does not lend itself to teaching very well.
A couple of previews for the art:
Heart of the Wood7.5x10 inches, watercolor
This one might look familiar to some, as it was based off the ink drawing I did a while ago. I love the golden browns of oaks, blanketed by coverings of spring-green moss. Peeked out the window to fix the color palette in mind before setting to work at this.
Apple Tree Man5x7 inches, watercolor
Used to have an apple tree in the backyard of the house where I grew up. They were oh-so-sweet. Apples in the bag to lunch every day at school. Apple pies. (Mmm...why does my mind always come back to baked goods?)
These are beautiful! I really see the influence from the Tarot card series you did coming through in these pieces. The calming colors are wonderful! Can't wait for your next book! I love your Dreamscapes book and love to see how you tackle the details in your paintings!
ReplyDeletehow funny - on my way to college we always passed apple orchards and the fruitless trees always reminded me of twisted old men. (even make reference to this in my wip) thanks for sharing those pieces love the mottled effects in the top one !
ReplyDeleteSeeing more of your sneak peeks for the next book makes me giddy to see the finished product and giddy to get involved with the process myself! I have a feeling I will have to tone down my own chaos as well. I'm far too prone to tossing colors upon colors and using whatever mystery color has mixed itself in my palette, which I have most often have no clue what its parent was.
ReplyDeleteI really like the subtle tones of that first image, especially. Can't wait to see it printed larger in all its lovely detail.