Zodiac - Cancer In Progress

Progression for Cancer.

When I first get a description for a piece, I start with sketches and thumbnails. In the case for this zodiac series, I was given a series of keywords and colors. I like working with this kind of very loose guidance for a commission because it leaves me free to come up with my own connections to the concepts. In this case: the crab, water, nurturing, the reflective surface of water (for the colors), focus on the family, protective, sensitive.

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Once I have a basic sketch worked out, and the composition pieced together in Photoshop, I send it off for approval from the art director. When I get the okay, then I start to flesh out the details and correct anatomy with references if needed. In this case the latter required looking up pictures of seagulls, crabs, and lotuses. When I do the first concept sketches I don't worry so much about the accuracy of things like that, wanting instead to capture the flow and mood of a piece.

I picked up a couple of Audubon books for fairly cheap the other day from Costco with great references for all sorts of birds and animals.

Though of course the internet never fails for image references as well.

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Transferred to the final painting surface (Strathmore 500 series illustration board), I refine the details even more. By flipping the image back and forth several times during process, it allows you to get a fresh perspective on the composition and work out any imbalances that might otherwise be overlooked. Working on a piece for too long, everything starts to look right. Flipping also helps for spotting strange anatomy flaws. When working with a symmetrical (or even semi-symmetrical) piece, looking at it in reverse is extremely useful.

All set for painting now. Just awaiting the final okay from the art director!

Gencon Exhaustion & Etsy Update

Whew, back from Gencon. Pretty exhausted now, but it was a good weekend. Thanks everyone who stopped by the booth!

I was introduced to the art of Omar Rayyan, who was the guest of honor this year. A different approach to the application of watercolors from my own with a whimsical fairytale touch. Which he somehow managed to maintain even when he painted gritty or bizarre subject matter.

Just this very quick update before I go crawl into and fall unconscious in bed (MY bed! It always feels so good to be home after a trip). But I wanted to post a bunch of things on Etsy. So here they are:

*14 new original paintings available* - these were the pieces that I did for White Wolf's Mage Tarot a while back. The Cups suit. Prices range from $125.00 - $275.00





*a bunch o' pendants* - new designs and old. As always, if you ever see a design I've sold in the past that you like, I'm happy to recreate it. $25.00 each.

Zodiac Scribblings - Virgo & Libra

Another two. 5 more to go! More to come after I get back from Gencon next week.

Sketch for Virgo:
Sketch for Libra:

Zodiac Scribblings - Gemini

A few more sketches. It was hard to motivate myself to get much sketching done today because it was so hot! I wanted nothing more than to stretch out on the couch with the fan next to me and a tall glass of icy water, and maybe snooze a bit. But I'm trying to keep myself to an early schedule for the next couple days because I leave for Gencon on Wednesday morning, in Indianapolis, and I'll have to be getting onto that earlier time zone. Might as well stick with the hours I've been doing lately and make things easier for myself.

Going to try and get all 12 sketched out before I start painting. Partially because for now I'm still awaiting feedback from the art director, so I can't really proceed anyway. But also because the deadline for the cover piece comes first, before all the interiors! Marketing department needs a cover to start advertising as soon as possible. This makes things a bit tricky for me since it means I have to figure out the gist of all 12 paintings within the next two months so that it can be incorporated into the cover.

Dreamscapes 2 had a similar situation, where the cover was required far in advance of the interior material. That was easier to deal with however because the cover didn't necessarily have to reflect the interior pieces, just to encompass the general theme.

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1st sketch. Toyed with it a bit. Might use it someday for something else, but it wasn't really calling to me for this.

2nd sketch. Liking this one much better. Hopefully the art director does too.

Had to modify the format of the image a bit too from the sketches I did the previous few days, as my contact initially forgot to mention that the pieces didn't take up the full page area. The right margin of the 12x12 inch calendar is needed for all the astrological information.

Zodiac Scribblings

It's always fun to embark on new projects. The current one will be a zodiac series that Llewellyn has commissioned me for, for their 2011 astrological calendar. I've always wanted to do a zodiac series, so I'm eager to get going on this.

As with the tarot, the challenge is to try and find my own approach to images that have been rehashed over and over by so many artists. Maintaining the meaning and symbology while applying my own touch.

Some of the early designs I've got simmering in my sketchbook:

Offerings

"Offerings"
Size: 14x20 inches

Medium: watercolor

From the moment I saw this banyan tree while hiking in Hawaii I knew I had to paint it. It was tangled around an enormous boulder in the middle of a stream. The roots draped down around the curve to settle in a living curtain of verdant green and brown, and the canopy stretched out to fill the empty space of the sky.

I'm always drawn to the ancients of the woods, whether they are my own familiar oaks and redwoods, or denizens of stranger paths. When coming across these twisted elders in the wilds, it is easy to understand animism, for how could something so glorious and unique not have a spirit?

In progress shots:
Part 1
Part 2

Offerings in progress part 2

Snarled roots and figures hidden among the spirals of the foreground. The progess after one day's worth of painting. I've started to lay in the base colors for the upper areas too with a wide flat brush. It's a mixture basically of whatever greens and purples I had on my palette. I'm not too particular about the exact shade, as I'll be working up the layers on top of this to define the color. Mostly done with the lower areas, though need to paint the figure and lily pads still. I'll probably leave that til the end so I can figure out what color she needs to be. At this moment though I'm thinking bright monarch butterfly colors.



I continue to layer in green mixtures to to the upper corners to build up the color intensity. Also, the interaction of the layers helps to create textures even before I start to paint in leaves purposefully. It becomes a mixture of purpose and randomness.

I don't really work on any one specific area at a time. I kind of jump around in the canopy to wherever I feel like painting for a while, as the textures emerge.

Darkened the golden tones in the middle area as well, the better to pull out the contrast of the light around the figure and in the water.

Hope to finish this off tomorrow!