Friday, November 10, 2006

Clear

I love a dark pond. Especially the way a pond looks in the autumn. The water has cleared of the summer muck and is now dark and still. Mysterious. This is my entry for this week's Illustration Friday.



This is the inspiration for a new story I’m writing titled, Shellless. It’s the story of a boy who is always ignored. His only friends are the imaginary shellless that live in a city park pond. But more on that later...

This painting is also a blatant Monet rip off. I saw the Monet exhibit at the NC Museum of Art last week. How can I do a pond without including Monet?



Sketches: I’m starting with a much larger sheet of paper than I normally use (approx 4’ X 2’ ½). It’s also dark, like the pond. So this is all new for me.



First layer: My biggest struggle at this point is style. Getting past Monet, getting past Pollock, and finding Ian. I know it’s in there somewhere. I just have to keep looking.

Last Thoughts: The final(see above) isn’t finished but it is as far as I’m going to take this painting. The new materials gave me some grief. The colored pencils wore down incredibly quick on the rough textured paper. They also didn’t write on the acrylic paint. I like the large sized paper but might need to switch to pastels to create the affect I’m looking for.

15 comments:

J. E. Morris said...

Very nice, I really like the final result. Wonderful colors. Thanks for including some info on your process.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful illustration; it's absolutely transfixing.

Michelle Lana said...

really cool! great!

Designing Fairy said...

the colors are amazing in this piece

jordan said...

Outstanding! I love the colors and the line work.

neilornstein said...

this is gorgeous

Ginger*:) said...

It's beautiful Ian. Your colors and "Ian" shine through loud and "Clear".

Anonymous said...

Hey, it's NOT "ripped off"! Merely inspired- and nicely inspired, too!

Brine Blank said...

Great style and nice work...but I understand your frustration with the media sometimes! I've done an item for a series, got a good result, but realized if I had to continue with the materials for the next pieces I would probably jump off the nearest bridge! Again, super look you have acheived. Ever consider painting full sheets of paper then cutting out the items (like your critters) and then reinforcing some of the form with additional painting if needed? Again, great style and hope you pull it off!

Natura said...

This is a really beautiful work!

Anonymous said...

They really look as if they're suspended in the water! You've put such a lot of work into this! Good job!

Willie Baronet said...

I love a dark pond too, except sometimes I can't find my gold fish in there when it is too dark... :-)

Cez said...

great work and idea...love it!!

nicole falk said...

very beautiful...

Jeannetto said...

very cool. i love turtles.