The Leap - WIP (work in progress)

I am SO excited about this commission because its a major break from what I have been doing! Wow, they are just going so well its beautiful! Anyhoo, every now and then you get a request that allows you to just paint what your heart desires. How do they stay happy? Well I asked her for a list of her favorite things and if there was anything specific she wanted. So I added some elements (poppies, birds, fairy, movement, silver/blonde hair, and there will be a thunderstorm behind her with light shining through) that reflected the client and from there just had fun.

Again I'm going to try and record my process. I'm not very good at keeping up to date with it, but I get so many questions as to how I go about my work. So I keep trying. Maybe someday I'll actually get from start to finish. :P

Be sure to click the images to see a larger and clearer view!
**NOTE** The images you see here have been reversed to their final direction. I work on tracing paper in reverse so that I may transfer the image easily to watercolor paper. More about this with the inking stage below.


So first I have the initial sketch. Its loose, quick, and really its just to get all the elements together and to get the feel. The reason I leave it loose is if the client doesn't like something or wants something to move. This makes it very easy, as if I spent hours cleaning and touching it up before consulting with them first...all of that time would be lost.




Then here's the new step in my work which is VERY recent. I bought a light board for tracing (some commissions need that) and thought "Well...why not really clean up the sketch before I get it to watercolor paper...which is where I regularly clean it up?". So I did....and boy oh boy, how exciting. Even though its tracing and rendering one more time, the inking process should go so smoothly I'm actually looking forward to it! (inking is kind of a mundane step T_T)




Inking is next. I ink my pieces with MICRON pens in the brown/sepia color. It doesn't scan so well tho. :\ Before I ink I flip my tracing paper over (thus its the reverse than what I initially draw) with the pencil facing down onto the watercolor paper. After taping it down I go over the entire piece several times with a silver spoon. I have found this works the best and its safe. Quite the arm work out too! Within this process a few things change, but not much. Maybe a few more lines in the hair, I thinned out the stems of the poppies, added more folding and rugged tips to the poppy petals, decided to change how the swirls were gonna look, etc. Once the inking process is done, then comes the second most exciting part of the piece....the painting!!



Finally some paint! Whoo hoo! :P
Now, there are a few things I could have done...but didn't. Those were 1) tape the edges to keep the paper flatter and to have crisp edges; 2) mask everything but the background so that I could be sure not to get bkgr colors all over my foreground. Heh, but I didn't. Why? Well because for one I don't enjoy masking very much and I like the watercolor to have its own life. Also I didn't tape it down because with this kind of background I wanted to be able to have complete freedom in moving the paper around without an pain in the butt board.
I tried to give the background a stormy feel where the clouds are moving, there's a feel of depth, and the feel that it's still day time...around afternoon? Its very loose and slightly different in how I work with my backgrounds, but I think in the end it will have just what the piece needs.


Once I have that down I then go back in and add more color. This time I added lemon and ochre yellows. Having a suggestion of sun behind in the clouds is important to me and I think to this piece. At the end more highlights will be added to the clouds (that silver lining of the sun type thing). I'm very interested in seeing how the foreground interacts and stands out from this background. :D


The Leap finished!



Please help me keep up with this by providing feedback (its always a great motivator) and give me your thoughts on the process, the piece, or if you see anything off! Thanks! :)

-Ebay Listing for week 3/18/07

Okay, hold it against me if I don't keep up with ebay listings from here on in. This girl's gotta get organized! :P
My auctions have received a revamp (as mentioned in a previous post) with a cleaner look, a bit more information, and a new day...Sunday...to be listed. The piece to your left is titled "Birth of Twilight" and here is what the auction offers for this image:

- Open Edition Print
- 5 x 7
- Sealed and protected, like all my prints, in a plastic sleeve with a back board.
- Flat rate shipping of $2.30 (this now includes all shipping/supplies and for international as well).
- Priority Shipping is still offered - $4.05 for US/Canada; $9.05 for international.
- Insurance is still offered upon checkout.
- Handling fee is still $1 no matter where you are!

- A beautiful detail is now included within the listing's description which allows for a full image of the piece to be placed for your viewing in searches.

Please visit the auction if nothing less than to view the new layout and larger images of the piece.



Or visit the pieces gallery page on my website Birth of Twilight.

So many new and wonderful things are happening and this is a pleasant one. Again, if you have any questions about my auctions please feel free to email me at dreamflierstudios@yahoo.com

Many Blessings!

New Ebay Schedule

Greetings!

Whoooo spring is in the air! Everything is melting and it's almost 60
degrees outside, how exciting! I hope everyone is enjoying some nice
weather right now. :)

I wanted to inform you of the new ebay schedule. I've been doing some
more research and have decided to move the listing day from Thursday
to Sunday. I'm not sure how this will work, even in my schedule, but
willing to give it a try. The look is also changing, so if anything
that will be worth seeing! ;)

So here is a week for heads up and if you're wondering why there
wasn't one started last Thursday. It's a ways of wait, but I have
some new work that will be offered including one more matted print!

I also want to take this time and say thank you to all of you who
support and fund my work. Even if you are here for the updates only,
thank you!!! This year has hit it off so well and I am looking
forward to more excitement down the road!

Many Blessings to all of you! :D

Rising from the Dead

So its been awhile, and if I remember correctly (without reading back) I was going crazy and insane...as one reader put it. :P Yes, we all have our days, we're human. Fighting for your life can sometimes make you appear insane or unbalanced. But since then, its been quite the journey.

The piece you see first is a commission requested by a woman who loves Jesus so much and has decided to tattoo Him onto her body. Something many have done, but because of that was looking for something original, unique, and as she saw Him. Not an easy task. I feel very blessed to have been chosen for this job, for I haven't sat down and painted a portrait of Jesus yet in my walk. What a wonderful opportunity and by His grace it must be time for me to do it. This was the final sketch for the piece.

Another thought about the timing...my grandmother just recently passed away and she left me with something, given by her to me some time ago, and its a card they hand out to the children at her church. Its a drawing of Jesus laughing...something we both agreed you don't see too often. On the back of this small lamented card says "I promise I will follow you when I learn and work or play. And when you speak to my heart I will listen and obey. Every day and every night, I'll let your light shine through; 'cause even though I am a kid, I can do big things for you!".

This piece couldn't have come at a better time. It was requested right after her passing and so I dedicate it to her, a smiling Jesus titled "Prince of Peace".

Because of the piece's nature (being a tattoo) it will remain in a monochromatic scheme. I hope to someday paint Him in lush colors. :) I want to share the process of this piece with you. But first some updates.

- I am now a member of The Fairy Society (http://www.thefairysociety.com). A wonderful group of highly talented (the best of the best in fantasy illustration) artists. Please visit the site to learn more about the artists and more about what we're about! Not only that, but the design of the site is stunning and very enchanting.

- My grandmother, like mentioned above, Lucille Butcher, passed away January 26th. She was such an inspiration, safe place, wonderful and beautiful woman. I will miss her so much its beyond words. But she left a seed in my heart that will continue to grow and blossom. Much of my work right now has a little bit of her in it.

- You can now purchase sig tags and tubes of my work at CILM (http://www.creativeimagelicensing.com). Their site is full of fantastic artists and designs!

For more updates please visit my home website Dreamflier Studios (http://www.dreamflierstudios.com).

Now back to the piece "Prince of Peace".
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After transferring the image to watercolor paper (which you will notice it is now reversed) I ink the piece. I try to keep the lines simple and thin. Sometimes I will go in and add line width and weight but not here. The inked drawing will be saved as a .tiff file for the tattoo artist so that they may transfer the image to the body with ease.








Finally I get to start adding paint. The commissioner wanted the piece to be black and white so instead of sticking with gray scale I added prussian blue to my charcoal giving a beautiful slate tint. I'm tempted to add a warm color, but not sure yet. At first it was hard to see Him through the slate because its such a cool color, but He's starting to warm up as I work.

In this photo if you look on the right side its not as worked in as the left. I wanted to show you the first layer of paint, the under painting if you will, before I start going in with darker values. I decided to add in some almost pure prussian blue to give more definition. I am really enjoying this piece, for not only am I painting my savior and source of life, but also it gives me time to myself, God, and my grandma. :)

More soon!