Creative Couple Portrait - Joni and Jethro

I was recently given a commission to create an illustration for a local guide. They saw my painting of "Cody" and wanted me to do something similar. I had a week to come up with it, so with the sketch approved I worked on the painting over the weekend. I sent it off on Sunday night. Then today I got a call from the publisher... they decided the painting wasn't suitable for the style of the guide. Nevertheless I decided to share this painting and will be giving the couple the painting as a thank you. I hope you can enjoy it.

This was the initial sketch

I decided I wasn't happy with Jethro's pose (plus he looked like a dirty old man...) so I thought a cheeky look would be better

The Finished Painting

Asteria - Nymph Painting Process 3 of 3

Process 1 - The Thumbnails
Process 2 - Experiment 
Process 3 - Refinement of Ideas
Process 4 - Rough

These steps I skipped as I was painting this after having already painted 2 other nymph related paintings. You can see them here The Little Mermaid and The Water Thief.

Process 6 - Detailed Pencil Drawing

As you can see this image was not so tightly drawn as The Little Mermaid. I left the image simply drawn so that I could be a bit more free with the watercolour painting. Again I was deprived of a scanner so I had to use my digital camera to capture the various stages, please forgive me for the poor quality.

Process 7 - Painting Progress

Process 8 - The Finished Painting

Here's the finished painting as I submitted to the Artorder Nymph Challenge

I also did a more modest version of the above painting using my Wacom tablet and Photoshop (upon request from a viewer on facebook). It was pretty tricky trying to match the digital to the traditional, I think I did ok...

A few weeks later I decided to add some highlights in iridescent blue acrylic gouache, I was pretty happy with the result, but the only way to see the result is by angling the painting in the light. This brought back fond memories of my childhood when I used gold and glitter to paint unicorns, fairies and princesses.

The Water Thief - Nymph Painting Process 2 of 3

The Water Thief

Process 1 - The Thumbnails
Process 2 - Experiment
Process 3 - Refinement of Ideas

To be honest I skipped these steps as I was inspired while working on the Little Mermaid

Process 4 - Rough

Process 5 - Cover Rough

Skip...

Process 6 - Detailed Pencil Drawing

Unfortunately I didn't have access to a scanner at this point so I had to make do with my cheap digital camera and bad lighting... plus I forgot to take a photo of the detailed sketch so this image is the earliest capture I could get. As you can see, I originally painted the nymph as only clad in a leather thong.

Here are some progress shots. 

Process 7 - The Finished Painting

Process 8 - With Text Treatment

This is what I ended up submitting to the Artorder Challenge. The text submission divided the juror's opinions;

hmm i guess i am the voice of dissension on this topic, but i disagree, i don't think you should put type on pieces unless you want to be judged on the type as well as the art. in this case it would be fine to have done the blue framing because it is important to the layout of the bubbles, and have left it at that. 
Lauren Panepinto

I think it really helps sell the image as a book cover when you take the time to mock it up.

Jeremy Cranford

I particularly like the effort made for the cover layout. It makes for a very interesting graphic design.

Daren Bader

Next week - Asteria Nymph of the Stars.

Dragon Tea

This was submitted to the online competition "Artorder Dragon World Challenge"
Medium - Watercolour and gouache on 300gsm watercolour paper
Size - 240mm x 265mm

Dragon Tea

I imagined a culture such as ours back in the Edwardian times when Orientalism and tea was really popular that traditional Chinese Dragons would be both the mascots and guardians of teas production and consumption. I also imagined that the Tea Dragons would be a ladies best friend, keeping the tea warm once poured, guarding a ladies secrets from gossipers, transferring messages to lovers and providing companionship.

This painting can be purchased here

2013 Front Room Portrait Show - Emily, Sophie and Cody

Here's 3 portraits I did for the 2013 Front Room Portrait Show, Emily and Sophie are my nieces and Cody is a friend of mine. They are available for purchase through my Etsy store. If you are interested in having your portrait painted you can contact me through my facebook page for a quote.

Emily

Sophie

Codie

Update on The Little Mermaid

I just thought I would post a picture of my professionally scanned painting (admittedly the aquamarine is a bit more intense than the original but it's pretty close). This painting is now available for purchase through my Etsy store I also have giclee prints available at 8 x 10" $35 and 12 x 16" at $65.

Here she is :)

The Little Mermaid - Nymph Painting Process 1 of 3

So here it is as promised the first of 3 posts covering the painting process for my 3 submissions for the Artorder's Nymph Challenge.

Process 1 - The Thumbnails

This is where I work out my ideas (plus an anatomy study) . There are a few elements of the story that I considered addressing including the number of oysters attached to her tail (there were 8). I mainly focused on her admiring the statue of the prince in her garden and considered various poses.

Process 2 - Experiment

Here I experimented a little with colour, wash and masking.

Process 3 - Refinement of Ideas 

this is where I started coming closer to my final design - this time including a friend. And here's my reference for the whale.

Process 4 - Rough

Again here I had 2 final book cover concepts to choose from. I was going to go with the left thumbnail and started creating a sculpture I could work from for light and shadow reference, however the clay I ordered was delayed and I was about to start house-sitting so I chose the one on the right and used this image for referencing the face of the Little Mermaid. I was also influenced by this artists' underwater photography - the next best thing to seeing a real mermaid!


Process 5 - Cover Rough

This is where I worked out the basic layout of the cover with title placement (again I deviated slightly from this as I felt the whale was too obscured by the text).

Process 6 - Detailed Pencil Drawing

Here is where I was finally able to let loose on the picture, putting all the necessary elements into it - bubbles, coral, fish, whale, beautiful girl. And in case you were wondering about the flowery garland on her head it is in reference to Hans Christian Andersen's Little Mermaid;

At last she reached her fifteenth year. "Well, now, you are grown up," said the old dowager, her grandmother; "so you must let me adorn you like your other sisters; "and she placed a wreath of white lilies in her hair, and every flower leaf was half a pearl. Then the old lady ordered eight great oysters to attach themselves to the tail of the princess to show her high rank. "But they hurt me so," said the little mermaid. "Pride must suffer pain," replied the old lady. Oh, how gladly she would have shaken off all this grandeur, and laid aside the heavy wreath! The red flowers in her own garden would have suited her much better, but she could not help herself: so she said, "Farewell," and rose as lightly as a bubble to the surface of the water.

Process 7 - The Finished Painting
 

When I got to this point I was so glad to have it finished I forgot that I didn't have a scanner on hand as I was house-sitting at the time and with not having a car I caught a bus and a train to get to the most convenient office supply store to get it scanned.

This is how the painting looked after some colour correction and levels adjustment.

And this is how the picture looked once I had placed in the appropriate setting for the "Book Cover" theme as part of the Artorder's Nymph Challenge. (On reflection I wish I had submitted the simple white border version without the title treatment as most people only submitted their pictures that way. However the competition was so talented I don't think it would have made much of a difference if any).

Since this competition I opened an Etsy store and received my first contact from a customer wishing to buy the original. At this point I realised I had best make my painting more presentable and set about cleaning up the border and adding the gold frame as I intended. I also added some iridescent paint to add another dimension to the painting.

I am currently in the process of getting the painting properly scanned so that after it's sold I will have a decent copy of the original. I will be offering prints of this painting once I receive the file and confirmation of print costs, so keep an eye out for that. If you have any questions feel free to contact me on facebook.

NEXT TIME.... THE WATER THIEF!