I began working on this piece in June 2010, and finished December 2011. At long last, I am finished. To think that I was under the impression that I’d be able to get it done in one summer… It was intended as a gift for my sister’s birthday (July 2010… kinda missed that mark), and the subject matter and coloration were chosen accordingly (to my estimation of her tastes, that is).
The media are archival and water-based inks (line work and background shading) and gauche paints on a 19.5x36” canvas. I started with pencil (and quickly discovered that it can be very difficult to erase pencil on canvas), and completed the line drawing with a Pigma brush pen (several, actually… the tips on those things wear out like crazy). Finally, I colored with gauche because it has a kind of vibrance and maintains the pleasing texture of the matte canvas.
Below are the development shots. The intermediate images are digitally colored versions of the line drawing photo that I used to test out different color schemes before putting anything down permanently.
The colors in the final image are a bit off. At the moment I don’t have access to a computer with a properly configured monitor, so I didn’t spend much time trying to make them accurate. I’ll try to fix that up later.
Inked Drawing:
Basic Colors:
Various Color Schemes
Final Image:
