When in doubt, draw a Satyr, this week's monster was created as a practice for inking. I bought a few new brushes to try out to see if the brushes would be an improvement from the Blick brush I usually use. I bought a Princeton Preferred synthetic brush and really liked the way the brush moved on paper. After the ink test I began to use it to ink larger illustrations I am currently finishing up. Later this week will be a process post on a new toned paper drawing. Stay tune.
The Satyr and the Will-o-wisps
Since a lot of the work I created lately has been more of the high fantasy side, I wanted my next piece to be more folklore based and not centered around weapons and warriors. The inspiration for the piece came from looking at illustrations by John Bauer. I was reading a book of Swedish Folktale with Bauer's illustrations in it. Like much of my work it starts in my sketch book and evolves into the final piece. I spent extra time playing in photoshop to create the lighting and mood I wanted.
I do plan to write a short story about the Satyr and the wisps, but it still needs more fleshing out before I release the tale. I haven't done any creative writing in 5 years and I feel rusty, so it may be a while from now when I post the story and some spot illustrations to go along with the illustration above.
The Other People printed edition
I received my printed copies of my book over the weekend when I went home for free comic book day. I was very excited to see that the print quality was great, though pricey for the resale so I wasn't able to buy extra copies to sell at Free Comic Book day. Lots of customers were asking for copies and got me thinking I might do a kick starter or indie go-go for people interested in purchasing a copy and allow me to get a bulk order so it will cost less per book. But that's for the future.
Here's some snap shots of the book.
Over the next few weeks I'll post some of the illustrations I've created for the book. But now to get back to painting.
Satyr sitting in his house
A new painting to share
Satyr Portrait
Here's a little Satyr Portrait I made while I was at work. I spend 6 hours in the illustration room and decide to relax with a painting that is not involve with my senior thesis. It was a nice break, but back to working on my book. Got two weeks left to finish my paintings before production then sending the book off to print.