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einahpetsWalkthrough of 'Source and Mirror'
A BBC Merlin fanart
Medium: Watercolor and metallic paint pens.
Dimensions: Each panel is 6''x16'', the piece of paper used is 13''x18''
I'm a traditional artist and I never usually have inprogress shots of my paintings.
However, I remembered to take photos of this piece which was worked on (off and on) for about a month.
If you have any specific questions about the piece, or my techniques, just ask!
In my fanart career I don't usually find myself doing any preliminary sketches (I blame drawing nude models in college).
I get a mental idea of the composition/characters and find reference pictures to match.
My research/picture acquisition for pieces is always extensive.
Though once found the final drawing begins.
This particular piece took the record for reference images. It required me to find many pictures of the same type of objects.
Those objects varied from Roman and Arabian arches, tile work, flowers, mythological symbols, celestial objects, stained glass, art nouveau posters, celtic knot designs, animals, and the characters/actors themselves.
I had close to 50 tabs open in my browser for all the images! (I would have saved the pictures but my laptop was on it's last legs and I really just needed the inspiration from the visuals to give me a sense how things should look).
Let me tell you, I held my breath every time Firefox crashed.
For this piece I was inspired by art nouvou/tarot cards/stained glass.
So those factors were the main influence for the composition and dimensions.
I used a ruler for the basic straight lines (the ones seen in the first picture) and then free-handed the rest.
In these drawings you see the inverted arch on the left change as I was dissatisfied with my original idea (you'll see changes like this through the drawing process).
The bottom image is the completed drawn out background.
Now adding the characters to the piece.
I usually work from the top left then to the right bottom to avoid smudging the pencil.
Though I don't always follow my own advice (as you can see in this piece) and just needed to draw Merlin first.
I actually used some tracing paper to help place the people into the piece. Just the 'skeleton' was drawn (circle for the head, rectangles for the body, neck, arms, and hands ... more like geometry than an actual human ... perhaps one day I'll do a tutorial on how I draw figures) of Merlin and Arthur and then I just refined the people on the page.
The inverted arch on the right was also altered as I was drawing Merlin in.
The last picture shows added embellishments to Merlin's inverted arch.
Painting begins!
First the skies (behind both the characters and flowers), then the tiles.
Arthur's tiles were actually inspired by peacock feathers.
My watercolor technique tends to be more pigment than water.
I like rich, bold colors.
Painting of the background continues!
First the flowers, then the Celtic banners.
And now onto Merlin and Arthur.
Starting with clothing then onto skin and weapons.
I had the hardest time getting Arthur's skin right.
My watercolor technique is sorta backwards sometimes.
Usually you're supposed to leave the paper through for whites, but most times I take concentrated white from the tube and paint with that to get whites if I need too. I should probably start using gouche.
Filling in the 'in-between lines' with black.
Changed Arthur's dark blue eyes to silver to complete my vision.
Gold and silver metallic paint pen finishes the piece!
Close up images of faces.
You can see my backwards watercolor skills on Arthur.
Specifically his hair and eyes.
On a side note, I scanned this at a ridiculously large resolution.
Also, if anyone wants a specific section of the piece zoomed in just ask!
Final piece can be viewed at my deviantart.
In-progress photos also found at my deviantart (it's fun to open all these up in order and click through it fast. Lazy man's gif).
A BBC Merlin fanart
Medium: Watercolor and metallic paint pens.
Dimensions: Each panel is 6''x16'', the piece of paper used is 13''x18''
I'm a traditional artist and I never usually have inprogress shots of my paintings.
However, I remembered to take photos of this piece which was worked on (off and on) for about a month.
If you have any specific questions about the piece, or my techniques, just ask!
In my fanart career I don't usually find myself doing any preliminary sketches (I blame drawing nude models in college).
I get a mental idea of the composition/characters and find reference pictures to match.
My research/picture acquisition for pieces is always extensive.
Though once found the final drawing begins.
This particular piece took the record for reference images. It required me to find many pictures of the same type of objects.
Those objects varied from Roman and Arabian arches, tile work, flowers, mythological symbols, celestial objects, stained glass, art nouveau posters, celtic knot designs, animals, and the characters/actors themselves.
I had close to 50 tabs open in my browser for all the images! (I would have saved the pictures but my laptop was on it's last legs and I really just needed the inspiration from the visuals to give me a sense how things should look).
Let me tell you, I held my breath every time Firefox crashed.
For this piece I was inspired by art nouvou/tarot cards/stained glass.
So those factors were the main influence for the composition and dimensions.
I used a ruler for the basic straight lines (the ones seen in the first picture) and then free-handed the rest.
In these drawings you see the inverted arch on the left change as I was dissatisfied with my original idea (you'll see changes like this through the drawing process).
The bottom image is the completed drawn out background.
Now adding the characters to the piece.
I usually work from the top left then to the right bottom to avoid smudging the pencil.
Though I don't always follow my own advice (as you can see in this piece) and just needed to draw Merlin first.
I actually used some tracing paper to help place the people into the piece. Just the 'skeleton' was drawn (circle for the head, rectangles for the body, neck, arms, and hands ... more like geometry than an actual human ... perhaps one day I'll do a tutorial on how I draw figures) of Merlin and Arthur and then I just refined the people on the page.
The inverted arch on the right was also altered as I was drawing Merlin in.
The last picture shows added embellishments to Merlin's inverted arch.
Painting begins!
First the skies (behind both the characters and flowers), then the tiles.
Arthur's tiles were actually inspired by peacock feathers.
My watercolor technique tends to be more pigment than water.
I like rich, bold colors.
Painting of the background continues!
First the flowers, then the Celtic banners.
And now onto Merlin and Arthur.
Starting with clothing then onto skin and weapons.
I had the hardest time getting Arthur's skin right.
My watercolor technique is sorta backwards sometimes.
Usually you're supposed to leave the paper through for whites, but most times I take concentrated white from the tube and paint with that to get whites if I need too. I should probably start using gouche.
Filling in the 'in-between lines' with black.
Changed Arthur's dark blue eyes to silver to complete my vision.
Gold and silver metallic paint pen finishes the piece!
Close up images of faces.
You can see my backwards watercolor skills on Arthur.
Specifically his hair and eyes.
On a side note, I scanned this at a ridiculously large resolution.
Also, if anyone wants a specific section of the piece zoomed in just ask!
Final piece can be viewed at my deviantart.
In-progress photos also found at my deviantart (it's fun to open all these up in order and click through it fast. Lazy man's gif).