The Transformation of Daphne Painting Process

The first painting for 2014 is for an upcoming exhibition opening next week, it is available for purchase through my Etsy shop or during the week of the exhibition. The theme for the painting is based on the Greek myth of the transformation of Daphne. Daphne is a naiad who in order to escape the amorous attentions of the god Apollo cries out to the gods for help, the gods respond by changing her into a laurel tree. Here is a nice quote I found while researching for the painting;

...a heavy numbness seized her limbs, thin bark closed over her breasts, her hair turned into leaves, her arms into branches, her feet so swift a moment ago stuck fast in slow-growing roots, her face was lost in the canopy. Only her shining beauty was left.

And here's the process behind the painting - enjoy :)

Inks I used to make the darker sepia colour

Some of the paints I used

and while I was working I was visited by a little friend at the studio...

Minnie (a dingo cross) eats a rice cracker

The Rescue - New Watercolour Painting

Here's a painting I just recently completed, it's my interpretation of the moment of rescue where The Little Mermaid rescues her prince, whether or not she is bringing him up to the surface or dragging him down under is up to your own interpretation ;)

I was inspired by a great contemporary artist Arantza Martinez who also painted this beautiful moment with the Little Mermaid and her prince which is also called The Rescue. If you haven't heard of Arantza before I highly recommend following her work you can see the image that inspired me at the end of this post :)

Below are images depicting the process from thumbnails to completed painting. Materials used include; cartridge paper, kraft brown paper, Arches 300gsm medium watercolour paper, coloured pencil, graphite, masking fluid, gummed tape, various sized brushes, white gouache, white ink, watercolour paint; Art Spectrum, Windsor & Newton, Cotmans.

Enjoy.

Concept

Thumbnail Sketch

Finished Drawing

WIP 1

WIP 2

WIP 3

WIP 4

Finished Painting

Framed Print

Prints are available of this painting. They come in 2 sizes 8 x 10" $15 and 11 x 17" $25. The prints are on Epson Lustre paper and are of a very high quality. They can be purchased through my Etsy store here
The original can also be purchase for $200 and it's size is 27.5 x 37.5cm it can also be purchased through my Etsy store here 

The painting that inspired me.

Marvel's the Dazzler

Here's my latest Marvel hero... the Dazzler! I couldn't decide which to post so I've posted both versions I did of her, one using a brush and the other a quill. Let me know if you prefer one over the other.

The Dazzler painted with a brush

The Dazzler drawn with a quill

Pathfinder Iconics - Lini

After getting a positive review from a Paizo Art Director at GenCon last year, I have finally got around to starting the Iconics she suggested, starting with Lini. The final is in pencil and ink on watercolour paper (which has a slight texture to it). I will do the next Iconic on a smoother paper to see the difference it might make. The Iconics will be in grey-scale first, then be coloured in Photoshop. 

I am also working on a Marvel character sheet having already done Luke Cage (70's version) and The Wasp (60's version). The character sheet theme will be a progressive chronology of their first appearance in Marvel comics. Look out for The Dazzler, she'll be posted next.

Lini and Droogami

thumbnail

 

basic sketch

tight sketch

final sketch with some inks

Wonder Woman in Ink Wash

Pencil Sketch on Watercolour Paper

Indian Ink Wash

This is where the sketch is as of today, I may go in at a later date and colour it digitally. I used watercolour brushes for most of the painting and used a Chinese calligraphy brush for the hair. I also used Winsor & Newton non-waterproof liquid indian ink on Bockingford 300gsm Medium Surface.

Revising some old art

Last year I had a go at paying tribute to Frank Frazetta with my own version of a warrior princess painted in watercolour and gouache. Recently I have been going through my art in order to put together different portfolios suiting the various requirements of the companies I am approaching for work. One of these companies requested black and white and grey-scale images. When I came across my old warrior princess painting I discovered the tonal range was terrible and a lot of contrast was lost once changed to grey-scale, so I decided to go about adjusting the contrast using dodge and burn tools, a level adjustment layer and a gaussian blur layer. I also fixed the horn on the right side which had been bothering me since I painted it (I have no idea how I managed to get that so off balance in the first place). The resulting process can be seen below. I find myself slightly happier with the grey-scale image then the colour one.... however there is something not quite right that I just can't put my finger on....

Original with automatic grey-scale

Grey-scale adjusted manually with levels and de-saturation layer

The final image with some added dodge and burn