Little Moon Rabbit

Short post for today. I really liked the Moon Rabbit design I came up with for the teacup I painted a few weeks ago, so I decided to try a watercolor version of it in my sketchbook. Here's what I've got so far.

 

Not quite sure if this is the "final version" or if I want to try again with less yellow. We'll see.

onward and upward,

Bethnay

"Phoenix Warrior" painting commission process

Back from break and I've got some new stuff to share! Right before taking some time off, I finished up a painting commission for my friend Brandon. He asked for a piece of fantasy art with an epic looking warrior in it. After a lot of brainstorming, I came with the idea of a warrior silhouetted against a fire bird. Here's my initial composition thumbnail. 

I did a bunch of rough sketches to figure out the armor, helmet, and weapon details.

I also did a small, painted thumbnail to figure out what colors to use.

I even did a digital mock up version to help me think through how the lighting would work.

With all the prep work out of the way, there was nothing left to do but start (which is always really scary!)

(Also, sorry for not including a picture of the drawing before I started in with the watercolor. I never seem to remember to take pictures of paintings when they're in the drawing stage! :-/)

Painting this was definitely a nerve-wracking process. One false move and the whole thing could be ruined. But through persistence (and praying), I got through and am pretty happy with the final results. Brandon really liked it too and it's now happily sitting on his wall. :-)

onward and upward,

Bethany

MerMay '17 pt. 2

Three more mermaids for MerMay! These might be my last ones. I kind of wish I'd done more of them, but my heart wasn't in the challenge this year like it was last year. Fortunately for me, mermaids can be drawn at any time of the year, not just in May! ^_^

Also, I will be taking a two week break from blogging starting next week. I've decided to schedule more art breaks throughout the year in the hopes of avoiding burn out and other unpleasant things. See you then!

onward and upward,

Bethany

MerMay pt. 1

MerMay (an art challenge to draw a mermaid every day this month) has come again. While I haven't been as consistent this year as I have in the past, I've been sneaking in a mermaid here and there. Hopefully I'll be able to get a few more done before the month is over!

onward and upward,

Bethany

Portrait of Japser

Got something fun to share today!! ^_^ A few months ago, my sister-in-law Amy asked if I would be able to do a portrait of her corgi Jasper. I agreed and over the past few weeks, was able to make some time to get it done. Here's how the final turned out.

Since this portrait didn't just spring fully formed from my hand (which I wish would happen ever...T_T), here are some of the less glamorous steps in the process. 

As usual, I start with exploration sketches that always look terrible to me because I haven't learned the shapes and proportions yet.

By this point, I felt I had a reasonable grasp on how to draw a corgi (and have it actually look like a corgi!). A seated pose seemed like the best option and I drew it a few times to make sure I had the details worked out.

I also did a few studies of Jasper's coloration and coat markings. Getting the eyebrows to not look evil/angry was tough. 

After that, I started the final drawing. Fortunately, this one came together in one try; sometimes I have to redo the final drawing several times before it's right. Then, with much fear, trepidation, and praying, I moved to the inking stage. The inking stage kicks up the pressure, because if you mess up the drawing, you have to start over. But I love the quality ink brings to a drawing, so I put up with the pressure. :-P (Also, I forgot to take a picture of the inked drawing. Sorry about that.)

And thankfully, the inking turned out well, so I moved to the watercolor stage. Watercolor adds yet another level of pressure/trepidation/praying, but again, I really love the end results.

The hardest part of coloring this particular portrait was getting the eyebrows right and getting the right level of shading. Shading adds so much dimension to a piece, but can also ruin it, which is very intimidating. (Hmm, I'm seeing a trend in all my artistic choices...) For this portrait, I kept things simple and I think it paid off. 

I'm really pleased with how Jasper's portrait turned out and Amy was very happy with it, too! ^_^

onward and upward,

Bethany

December '16 Christmas illustration!! (and process work)

Guess what?!?! My Christmas illustration for 2016 is done!! :-D It actually turned out to be quite the challenge, but I'll explain that below. First, the finished work.

I have to say, I'm quite pleased with it! ^_^ Which is good because this is the second version. Here's the story. I wanted to do a Christmas illustration with Yeti, like last year, and after considering a few, rather complicated ideas, I opted for a simple image of him reading by a snowy window. I brainstormed a few ideas, (the final version was actually the first idea I had), and decided to try drawing him sitting on a window seat with a blanket, books, ect.

After several attempts, I came up with a thumbnail I liked.

It took 3-4 sketches (plus practice drawing Yeti) to get a drawing I liked. I inked it successfully and moved on to the watercolor stage. Unfortunately, the watercolor stage didn't go well. Here's were I ended up.

It's not the worst thing ever, but I wasn't happy with it. It didn't draw me in like last year's illustration had; the colors lacked warmth and richness. I knew I would have to start over, which is always discouraging. :-(

After some color analysis and water color thumbnails, I found a direction that would lend to more vibrant colors. It also meant changing the composition back to my original idea.

I did a new sketch, which actually only took one attempt (yay!!) and managed not to ruin it in the inking stage. I did several pallet tests and watercolor practice thumbnails, just to make sure I had really thought out my color choices this time.

And then, with much prayer and trepidation, I started the watercolor stage again. And this time, it turned out much better. ^_^

There are still a few things about this version I might do differently if I could. Also, I think I'll use a different paper next time because this stuff wrinkled up something terrible! But all in all, I'm very happy I took the plunge and restarted. The illustration feels warm and inviting, plus Yeti ended up looking cuter and more naturally posed!

If you've made it this, thanks for sticking around! And thank you to everyone for your support this year! I feel like I wasn't as art focused as I would like to have been (I'm blaming the new house...), but I really appreciated everyone's encouragement, even when all I had to show for myself were scrappy sketchbook drawings! :-/ 

This will be my last post till January! I hope you all have a lovely Holiday season and I'll be back in 2017! ^_^

onward and upward,

Bethany

"Waiting" illustration + process sketches

This illustration has kind of an involved backstory, so I thought it might be fun to show to talk about how it evolved. But first, the final painting.

This idea started out as this weird little doodle. I was thinking about waiting periods and what they feel like, which brought to mind the early stages of plant growth. What I ended up with was this sprout girl waiting inside her plant.

I liked the concept, but this sketch felt a little unrealized. I wanted to develop the idea further and make something a bit more cohesive. I did some rough, exploration doodles of the plant bulb and sprout girl. She ended up being a bit more "plantish", which I really liked.

My first attempt at this illustration was a dissatisfying, but useful learning experience (although I did initially think of scrapping the whole project!) In trying to make a robust image, I over complicated it and the initial simplicity and mood was lost. After a bit of analysis (and a break), I figured out how to flesh out my original idea without going overboard. 

Which brings us back to the final product. Over all, I pretty happy with it. It still feels like a weird, potentially confusing idea, but I like it anyway.

onward and upward,

Bethany

Space Fairies

I had Ok Go's latest song/video stuck in my head and I doodled my way to the concept of Space Fairies. I dunno, I'm a little odd sometimes. Anyway, I wasn't sure how I felt about the final result at first, but now I think it's ok. Maybe if I feel inspired to draw more Space Fairies sometime, I'll develop the idea a bit more. 

onward and upward,

Bethany

Christmas Illustration '15

Very excited to share my Christmas illustration with you guys!! ^_^ I've been working on it for the better part of the month and it has definitely gone through all the usual art project phases, from "yes, this thing is going to look awesome!" to the "oh no, I totally ruined it!" Over all, I think it turned out really well and I like that it has the Christmas vibe without being too obvious. And who doesn't like a group of forest creatures hanging out with their yeti friend around the fire at night?

Anyway, this is my last blog post for the year. I'll be taking Christmas and New Year's off and starting up again on January 7th with an important art announcement for 2016, so stay tuned for that! I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas, New Year's, holiday season, etc!

onward and upward,

Bethany

Harmonica Rabbit

I actually have something to blog about that isn't an environment study I threw together at the last minute!! Hooray! (Although, I did finish this up today...) Anyway, this guy showed up at a late night doodle session this week and I felt like he was final(ish) illustration material. I really love the melancholy but peaceful vibe the image has. Also, I've very proud of me for using purple as the color of choice, instead of my default blue. It's good to break out of habits and try new stuff every now and again. 

onward and upward,

Bethany

Christmas Godzillas Illustration

As I mentioned earlier, I decided to do a Christmas themed illustration this year, and since December 25th is only 1 week away, I present to you Christmas Godzillas!!!

Back story time: A few weeks ago, my cousin Meredith mentioned wanting a sweater with lots of tiny godzillas working together to decorate a Christmas tree. I thought the idea was completely brilliant and, while I'm not ambitious enough to knit a sweater, I decided I could do an illustration. Getting the godzillas to look right took some practice, but once I had that down, everything else came together pretty quickly. I finished coloring it in Photoshop last week and now I finally get to post it! 

This will be my last post for 2014. I'm taking two weeks off for the holidays, but I'll be back again on the 8th of January. Hope that everyone has a wonderful Christmas, New Years, and holiday season in general!

onward and upward,

Bethany