So here is it, a poignant moment from the story of the little mermaid. The moment when she becomes a human woman. It took me some time to actually reach this idea, both with the narrative and the composition. Initially, I had a two figure composition, Ursula in the middle ground and the little mermaid in the foreground facing away from the viewer. I had done the thumbnail this way because I wanted the chance to do a really awesome mermaid witch! However, I was asked to change the point of view so the viewer could see the front of Ariel. I was not as excited to do it that way, I really wanted to focus on the evil character.
I set up a photo shoot for the revised idea, and also worked up an alternative idea. Something I could be more excited about, since the main focus of my initial thumbnail had been changed. Something magical happened!! As I was working up the original idea, I began to fall in love with it despite having reservations about it after having been asked to revise it. I came to class with both a new thumbnail, a tight drawing, and a semi tight version of my new idea. The first image below is the thumbnail for what eventually became the painting. The second is the tight line drawing of the original idea. I can't show the other drawing because i drew over it to make the final drawing for the painting, so it no longer exists.
So after a relatively long discussion, the new idea was actually picked. The idea being that the narrative is better for cover art. Becoming human is not only a specific part of the story, but also a main theme behind the story. After the new idea was picked, I was asked to explore a few new points of view just to exhaust all possible options. Eventually the first point of view was the best, but below are two upward views I sketched.
So back to the camera I went. I set up a new photo shoot to make sure I could get the ascending Ariel just right. The image I worked from is a composite of a few photos I took. When I am making my reference I will often review all the images for slightly different variations and gestures to get the best reference possible. It's important when working with a model to talk them through the idea your working with and get them to move slightly or reposition themselves so you have the most information to work with when you get back to the drawing and painting. I will use this photocomp in both the drawing (which acts as an underpainting) and the final rendering.
I also collected many images from the internet for landscape reference. Something that is extremely important to remember is to get your idea on paper before using any found reference. Make everything your own and once your have the composition laid out and the basic shapes in place, you can safely use found reference to inform your decision making without inadvertently stealing someones work. I drew up the rocks surrounding the main figure as much as I could before turning to my found reference.
Once I had reference prepared, which I always print and keep next to me, I began to make the final drawing.
With this drawing I attempted to add depth and variation to the landscape, which is something I don't actually think I succeeded with, but that is part of the process. Once my drawing was finished, I scanned it and brought it to photoshop to begin the painting. The digital painting process is a major reason I print my reference, having the whole screen to work with is much more effective. putting your images next to your painting on the computer can end up slowing your down and being restrictive in my opinion.
I go through a few steps digitally before I begin to render a piece digitally. I first delete all the white out of the drawing. I do this because it's easy, quick, and avoids using a multiply layer, which isn't bad, but not having to use one is better. after I have isolated the pencil work, I block in values under my drawing to get a better idea of how the composition will work as a whole.
Once this step is finished, and I'm satisfied with the results. I like to experiment with some coloring tricks to get an idea for a palette. In this piece, 2 gradient mesh layers, a hue saturation layer, and a colorize layer got me to a place I liked. The first image is without the colorize over the figure, the second also includes the background, which is all color picked from colors I had in the foreground elements. In order to colorize the subject I first had to use a layer mask on my gradient mask and hue saturation layers so she was just in grey tones again. This was actually quite easy because the initial block in was on it's own layer so i could select her silhouette with one click.
From this point I began the final rendering. I painted opaquely over the whole thing, only selecting colors you see above. Sometimes I would increase or decrease the value to maintain the palette and the local color of certain objects. Again, here is the final piece. One thing I tried to keep in mind was playing with color temperature as well as value to create the illusion of form. I don't think I was successful, but the decision making involved was enjoyable regardless.
The painting was a great experience, I was able to learn a lot from this piece. I had been experimenting a lot with difference techniques and in this painting I was able to tone some of that back, and bring some of it foreword and synthesize it all into something slightly cohesive. overall the piece is a little plain looking to me. Some of the modeling on the figure falls short, and the landscape is just short of compelling.
Thanks for reading, I hope I could teach you something, and there is definitely things I could learn. Please comment with thoughts, criticism, and anything else on your mind.
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