Zodiac - Leo

"Leo"

Medium: Watercolor
Size: 10x14.5 inches
for Llewellyn's 2011 astrological calendar

The lion. Loyal, proud, generous, outgoing and with a flair for drama, glories in leadership.

Now that I've gotten to the painting part of this project, things are much more relaxing!

So finally something not-green. Well, at least not predominantly green!

There used to be a time years ago when I didn't like orange and yellow. But after forcing myself to paint the full spectrum of colors when I chose the color themes for the tarot, the windows were thrown open.

One thing I like to do when looking at other artists' work, is to identify the characteristics in the paintings that I would normally steer away from in my own paintings, but that work really well in their cases. Sometimes it might be the strong use of a color I don't like, or an odd compositional element. Identifying those pieces, figuring out why I steer away from it in my work (fear of "ruining" a piece? never thought to utilize something that way? old preconceptions that have become habit?) and then figuring out how I can incorporate it into a future painting, is one way of pushing myself. No need to attack problems all at once though. Picking small elements and focusing on that one thing for a piece is a major step.

Zodiac - Cancer

"Cancer"
Medium: Watercolor
Size 10x14.5 inches
for Llewellyn's 2011 astrological calendar

The crab, water, nurturing, the reflective surface of water, focus on the family, protective, sensitive.

Here we are, the first of 12. At last, after all that sketching, I can get down to the painting. It's a relief. I haven't had the opportunity to really paint since before Gencon, and it feels like forever since I've had a chance to take the brushes in hand.

Somehow I'm still in green mode, but that will change soon enough as I get to the fiery and air elements. I was actually toying with the idea today of (after finishing the 12 and cover for this calendar deadline) going back and doing second male (or female) versions of each of the signs. Because 12 paintings isn't enough, and I have to go and double it...yeah, 78 pieces for the tarot has made me a sucker for more pain I guess.

Monterey Bay Aquarium

A bit of late August heat spell hit the past couple of days. As if to remind that summer wasn't ready to lift its grip yet despite what had been for the most part a remarkably cool season this year. I had been slowly mucking about in the garage and basement attempting to clear out some semblance of "clear space" among the piles of boxes and packing materials to make room for the shipment of books I'm supposed to receive this coming week. The upside of hiding in the dusty basement is that it's actually many degrees cooler than the oven the house turns into on sunny days. Dust? or Heat? Take your pick.

So it was with not a small amount of relief that I hopped into the car with Dana yesterday for our trip down to Monterey that I had planned with my brother and his wife a few weeks ago. We couldn't have picked a better day for several hours in an air-conditioned car and an outing to a breezy seaside town, and the special exhibit "The Secret Life of Seahorses."

I managed to get many good reference photos for my upcoming zodiac paintings as well during our aquarium excursion. Jellyfish and crabs and fish! Great for Cancer and Pisces.

Zodiac - last 6 sketches

...and the rest of them.

Eager to start painting these on Monday!

Scorpio

Libra

Pisces
Aquarius
Sagittarius
Capricorn

Zodiac - 6 sketches ready to paint

I usually like to work on one painting at a time, from sketch to finish. My mind focuses on the image better that way, because even as I work on the sketch I start getting ideas for the color schemes and for little bits and pieces I want to incorporate when I get to the painting part.

Unfortunately, when working for a client, I don't always have that luxury. Sometimes I'll work on sketches for multiple clients at once, since the response time of ADs can vary, and the sooner I get approval for a finalized sketch, the sooner I can start painting it, in my own time.

Since this project is on a deadline, I don't want to waste days sitting on a sketch and waiting for the art director to get back to me about the pieces one at a time, so I have to work on several sketches in parallel. This art director was out of town for a few days, and I managed to make my way through 6 finalized sketches (all ready to go on the illustration board and set for painting).

I'm thinking that since I've gotten this far, I might as well finish sketching all 12 of them, and then I can settle into the painting part next week. The sketching is the hard part of a piece. It is the phase that I find most draining, because I have to actively brainstorm, think about composition, placement, and anatomy. Once an image is laid out, the painting almost happens by itself, even though it takes longer. It's meditative in a way.

Taurus

Virgo

Leo

Cancer

Gemini (was worried my male/female twins here wouldn't pass the AD approval, but yay it did!)

Aries

Shadowscapes Tarot Cover Preview

I got a preview of the Shadowscapes Tarot cover today, from Llewellyn. Exciting that the designers are finally getting to work on it! They chose the Queen of Swords image.

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.

* * *

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.

* * *

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!