Menu
sketchblog
As the Garden Gate takes shape everything else that is in the image also needs to be designed. Textures and foliage are fun to experiment with and invent on the fly with brushes and scribbling and even some photo textures. But all of the more important props, the things that can create a rich story world, they have to come from design and research. I’ve realized that I really love the research part- I get to dig in and read history about the various fleeting ideas that had come into my head in the concept phase. Usually when I have an idea it is vague, sometimes even superficial and just based on how something could look- a shape or visual motif. Research helps to develop why it might look the way it does, to add rich details from life, and then, in a forward-looking way, to imagine how it will function and interact with the story. I added a niche to each side of the gate. I thought this could add visual complexity to an important part of the environment, it creates a visual link to the classical architecture of our world, and it serves as a place that has been touched by our characters- they will light the candles that are in front of each sculpture each night. The sculptures will need to be meaningful to this place, they will need to be beautiful- balanced, interesting, symbolic. So I started with snakes, obviously. I read about the architecture and the encoded symbolism of secret societies. The transformational work of these groups was repeatedly mentioned: members would enter as novices and devote themselves to a practice of transformation, sometimes called the great work, usually about a spiritual transformation towards some idea of higher character. The balanced duality of pairs of opposites found in nature was seen as a philosophical goal: how can we unite opposites? The journey from chaos to balance was symbolized through decorative elements of architecture including wrought iron posts and gates with the caduceus as a symbol for balance or unification of opposites.
This felt like a rich visual language that I could use to design sculptures for my niches. I wanted to create a transformation as well: a mixed pair instead of two of the same. My rough ideas are usually shape based and in the end, I essentially have a scribbled, tangled ball of snakes to represent the before chaos and a caduceus to represent balance- very 19th century. Artist Jason Ward and I collaborate on ambitious projects under the name Hansen Ward and our most successful collaboration to date has just been published as part of Spectrum 25! Spectrum is an illustration annual that comes out each November to showcase contemporary fantasy illustration in all it's forms. Above is our piece called Triassic Hunters. it depicts two coelophysis dinosaurs coming down to the water for a drink. Mid-way through we realized there was too much uninterrupted division from one shoreline to the other. The all-water foreground seemed like maybe the viewer is in a boat, or safely isolated from the scene and the animals in it. I thought more tension could be created if we could develop more passages for the dinos to run from one side to the other. I immediately thought of dappled light and large-ish boulders to create a bridge from the left side to the right side of the painting. I drew something up in Photoshop, very much a rough-draft, just trying to visualize what some options could look like. After a conversation Jason took the sketch and painted his version into the piece. The painting was developed back and forth with both of us collaborating on the composition design. After it reached a stage where it was starting to look realized, but maybe not entirely finished we photographed the large 48" x 60" oil painting so we could continue on it in Photoshop. I used groups of colored lighting to further carve out the characters and really define the lighting from above and the bounced light off the water onto the rocks. These dinosaurs are meant to be camouflaged, but from a storytelling point of view I felt that they needed to pop more from the background to create an impact and so they didn't get lost. My solution was to use the blue lighting to further carve out and reinforce their three dimensional forms, as well as use warmer bounced light on the rocks behind them to create temperature contrast. Its so exciting to see our work in league with so many fantastic artists! We are grateful to have been included in Spectrum 25, and also very proud. It feels good to really work and struggle on something, have it come together in the end, and on top of that success for it to be recognized feels great! So thanks again to Spectrum, now we have to get finished on our projects for the next one!
|
AuthorI'd like to share my process including research, designing an image, painting studies, and final painting techniques using both traditional media and digital tools. I am an artist and illustrator with diverse interests including concept art and children's illustration. Archives
March 2020
Categories
All
|