Well I'm always of the mentality that my ink drawings are finished pieces. And I'm not breaking from them -- they are finished pieces in themselves. But sometimes (more and more lately) I find myself using them as springboards for paintings as well.So here's a piece that will be based on the recent ink drawing "Offerings". It's a big tree full of twists and crooks and curves! I can never resist those!
Starting with the rough pencil sketch on my usual favorite, Strathmore's 500 series illustration board, about 20x14 inches. It takes quite some time to sketch this out on a larger scale. All the twisting roots of the banyan tree -- I want to maintain the freshness that the original drawing had, and it's an easy thing to lose when re-drawing many times over.
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Two lazy days of sketching later (I figured I was entitled to distractions after having worked hard all of last week at Comic-con), I'm ready to start painting.Sometimes an inspiration for a piece comes to mind complete with color and lighting. It's nice when that happens.
This is not one of those times. Scratching my head to figure out what colors I want to use for this, and the only thing I do know for sure is that I want the upper tree areas to be mostly monochrome. I'm torn between shadowy eldritch purples, or mossy mysterious greens.Greens win out. Did I mention I'm stuck on Greens these days?
Besides, my palette is full of random green mixtures at this point, after my last couple of paintings, and it would be a shame to waste.
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Moving along the foreground. Keeping a golden glow to the area around the figure, and down into the waters, but the rest will be deep greens. First layer of purple and viridian green on the lower right area, then once that dries, filling it in with abstract textures. I don't really bother to sketch it all in beforehand. That much pre-planning would make the painting phase itself boring. I like to see what just evolves under my brush as I go.
Im really enjoying this piece...and did i mention, my favorite color is green! :) Lovely!
ReplyDeleteI loved this sketch the moment I saw it (and the banyan refernce pic you posted the other day too) so glad the mossy greens won out - can't wait to see this one finished - I can already tell it's gonna be one of my favs !!!
ReplyDeleteps: I hope the lady has dark hair ;)
ReplyDeleteI so enjoy the process. Thanks for posting your process now and then. I know it must be a tedious thing to do. But it brings me, and others I'm sure, as much enjoyment as the finished art. :)
ReplyDeleteAmy, after doing two technique books, a scan here and there for a piece is nothing too hard. :)
ReplyDeleteI was hoping you’d make a painting of the "big ole tree ball".
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to see the finished work. There will be 11x17 prints, won't there? :3
By the way, it's fascinating how your palette somehow looks like a work of art as well. x)
Hehe, I almost never wash my palette unless I need a very bright and clear yellow. Otherwise I like all the subtle mixtures that form on it.
ReplyDeleteI came here through Deviantart, where I have added the complete painting as my fave. It's truly fabulous indeed! Must visit your gallery now...
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