It took me a long time to finish this piece, the second of the three spot illustrations for The Year of the Fairytale simply because I hesitate if I don’t see on the paper how I want the image to look before I even touch pencil to paper. From there, I need to figure out how I am going to make the finished piece, what steps I need to take. It’s tricky, with watercolour, I find. It’s a whole different ballgame of putting light colours on first then darker.
This time I went out and bought some liquid mask (awesome!!) which I painted over the characters, left to dry, then painted in my background for the most part. Once the paint was dry, I easily rubbed off the resist to show the white paper below and added pencil detail to the prince and bear. Then I added the newsprint coloured with watercolour pencil and then more watercolour overtop. I was torn as to whether I should add colour to the characters or leave them as is. I like them as is. I think they do too. 🙂
So much fun!
Now onto the third spot illustration!
Oh, it’s so so so fabulous! Whimsical and magical and perfect! I love the expressions you’ve managed to capture on the faces, the mottled colours, the words in the tree trunks… it’s all really brilliant! <3
Thank you, Melanie! Wow, you are so sweet and thank you so much for your inspiring words! <3
Oh wow, this is absolutely amazing! I love, love, LOVE the contrast of the black-and-white characters against the colored background. Outstanding work!
Thank you, Elizabeth! All these encouraging words on my blog and the FB site are just warming my heart and making me a braver artist with a happier soul. Can’t wait for you to join in! 🙂
Oh, my goodness. Brilliant. I love the combination of techniques. Thank you for explaining it all…I always want to know about the process!
The whole mixed media is very new for me – it takes me time to do a piece as it is but trying to incorporate different media is a challenge, albeit fun!
Oh! Oh! You are blowing me away! I loved reading about it before scrolling down to see it! Just stunning! LOVE the use of the mask for this. The characters are the stars and that is staying a lot with that amazing background.
Like Melanie said, I love the expressions as well!
Just wonderful! xx
Oh, I love all this support – it’s lifts up my soul energy sooo much! xxxxx
This is great! I love seeing the process and I really love how the characters stand out from the background. It makes them pop front and center!
Thank you, Megan! I have learned much from other artists explaining their process and it’s nice to share the steps that led me to the final piece. 🙂
This is gorgeous! Thanks for explaining the process, I have yet so much to learn with regards to watercolour and this really helps … I like it that you left the figures colourless, it’s a nice contrast.
Thank you. I find I am growing as an artist from the inspiration of others 😉 and trying new techniques while using my own pencil drawing style. This is new for me and I am finding myself really drawn to working this way. More to come!…