Hello everyone! A week ago I announced my newest project plan and today I will share with you the full details. Planning a project ahead is very useful as you can get many awesome ideas before you even get started with the work.
Cover art is by me, @kristyglas
I've drawn a lot of unusual dragons, but I still lack a lot of experience. It's easier to appear like a pro if you specialize in drawing something, but I want to expand my skills and enjoy learning something new.
To achieve better results I will be doing lots of studies based on photos of underwater world. Nature is an amazing and important source of references. I want my work to be original so it's best to avoid referencing other artists.
The process steps
Since I've seen the Blue Planet 2 documentary I've wanted to try drawing more water creatures. It's surprising how much of the underwater world is still unexplored and unknown. Some of the things look like they are from a different planet. Also I'm devastated by the pollution and the way it affects the nature in general. I've always wanted to see the Great Barrier Reef since I've read about it in grade school.
I will also look for inspiration in old folks tales and legends and share what I find with you in my many posts to come. However, after compiling my schedule I realized that there are many things I wish to learn and draw, that one month might not be enough for everything. So I've decided that I'll make posts as often as I can without rushing too much.
I'll try to post daily, but I will probably alternate between posting daily and every 2 days based on my progress. To make things less confusing I will count the days based on the below plan regardless if more days pass.
Last note: doing art studies and watching tutorials is never enough. You have to apply the knowledge to really learn it. The sooner you draw something new and original after the lesson the better. This is why I added occasional Mermaid designs throughout the plan.
Let's begin!
Day 1- Pencil Fish Studies
There is an incredible amount of various fishes of many fascinating colors and patterns. Also they live in many different conditions and have evolved some very unique traits to survive.
I always seem to discover a new fascinating kind of fish that I've never seen before, so there are a lot of new references I can use.
Day 2- Fish Studies in Color
Digital art studies and/or color pencil studies.
Day 3- Aquatic Dragon- for @juliakponsford 's contest
The theme this week for art explosion is "No theme", so it would be a pity to miss the contest. I definitely want to draw a dragon for the contest as I find dragons easier to make with the limited time. I might draw one of the aquatic zodiac dragons like Aquarius or Pisces.
Day 4- Rough Mermaid ideas and concepts
This is where I'll try applying the basic ideas from the previous studies. Expect the sketches to be simple and somewhat generic. The more sketches I make the easier it will be to design something unique.
Day 5- Coral Studies various mediums
I don't want my designs to become repetitive by constantly using only fish for reference. You should look for inspiration in as many places as possible, but don't get too sidetracked.
Day 6- Female pose studies
Most Mermaids are expected to have half humanoid bodies, often female. So studying female poses is the first step. Ideally I should study as many different bodies as possible from both genders, but that would take a lot more time. Personally I'm more interested in painting female Mermaids, but I want them to feel more alien than human; a bit like in the movie The Shape of Water.
Day 7- Coral Mermaid Concepts
Here I'll apply what I've learned so far and possible combine various references into a bit more detailed concept art.
Day 8- Scale studies
Scales are often an interesting way to make a Mermaid or a dragon stand out.
By me, @kristyglas
Day 9- More Body Poses-Mixed Gender
Body poses are the hard part of the project, so doing more is necessary for better art.
Day 10- Seashel studies
Sometimes it's useful to make a work "sfw" as it's easier to show around. So seashels are an easy way to cover the blasphemous female nipples, but I don't want to use the generic Ariel shells!
Day 11/12- Other water creatures Studies
There are so many other incredible aquatic creatures that it would be a shame not to use them in the designs.
Day 13- More Mermaid Concept Art
Now it's time for non fish Mermaid designs. It's crucial to constantly practice Mermaids and this is one of the faster ways to improve specific drawing skills.
Day 14- Portrait studies
I haven't done portraits in a while and I feel very rusty, so this is a must do. Facial expressions can make a painting much more engaging and captivating.
Day 15- Breasts studies
No generic Mermaids means no generic breasts, right? :D
Day 16- Pose Studies
I'll look for interesting poses that I could use for the final art.
Day 17- Part 1 Mermaid Thumbnails
By now I have to concentrate more on creating interesting compositions. Where is the Mermaid? Why is it there? What is it doing? What kind of lighting is there? Focus on telling a story without any words.
Day 18- Part 2 Mermaid Ink
I'll pick one of the thumbnails from the previous day and try to make a more complete drawing which I'll ink with a pen. If there is time make a few more.
Day 19- Part 3 Color the Mermaid
Use color pencils or digital to make a complete the Mermaid from the previous day.
Day 20- Environment Studies- Pencil
Adding environment to a drawing makes it feel more complete and professional. However, it's important not to make it distracting.
Day 21- Environment Studies in Color
Day 22/23- Other water Creatures studies
More studies. I might add a more specific theme here, but it might not be necessary.
Day 24/25- Concept Art with Environments-Digital
Combining different designs can be difficult. It's important to balance it well and to have enough time to complete it.
**Day 26/27- Digital Mermaid Concepts in Color **
Here I want to create more realistic Mermaid concept art. Something like you see for games and movies ("The Art of" books).
Day 28/31- Full Illustration
This is the hardest step where I have to apply everything I've learned into one detailed complete painting. This step could last even more days as I expect to spend over 8h on this one artwork. I will post progress as long as it takes and after it's done I will make a nice long post with all steps for an easier read.
Also to make things more fun I will include fascinating facts or stories as well as one favorite song and artist per post. For me music is a strong source of inspiration, but a warning- I love the most melancholic melodies. Those make me feel stronger emotions and often make my mind drift away into daydreams.
I'm currently hosting a new contest! This week the theme is quilling :D It's really fun and the smallest entry size accepted is A5 ^^ I'll judge based on which entry is most fun!
@artwatch , @enternamehere , @katalinaooma , @hiddenblade, @adamada , @gotmeens , @nanosesame , @arepazo , @claucor20 , @mrichter, @jodekss, @cryptocariad
If you'd like to be tagged/untagged in my posts for notification, please let me know! I will only tag you in long posts.
Congratulations to @marinaart ! Thank you for resteeming my previous Sunday post. Same giveaway is this week! I will send 1SBD to a random resteemer after this post's payout. Minimum rank is 30 to avoid spam. Thank you very much for helping me spread my art <3
And the last thing! :D I will start working on raffle prizes for delegators any ideas are welcome. You can expect some new page dividers and adoptables for start. I'm also thinking of making mini (>50SP) and mega(<51SP) raffles ^^
Thank you @enternamehere for being the first to delegate!
Thank you for reading and have a great day!♡