"Tink" Revisited

Click for a larger view.

I've returned to an old subject but with a different approach. Usually, once I do an illustration I can move on to the next one. When I can't move on, when I feel compelled to try it again, I know something is wrong. Such is the case with "Tink," an illustration I did back in March. I was very happy with the first illustration but I still felt compelled to take another crack at it.

This time I simplified everything. I worked primarily in watercolor and color pencil  with just a little gouache. She looks much more innocent and "fairy-like" than my first attempt.

OK, I think I can move on now.

Elizabeth Taylor, Final

Click for a larger view

I finished this illustration using watercolor, gouache, india ink and colored pencils on illustration board.

"Elizabeth" In Progress

 

Pencil on Illustration Board

Click for a larger view

I'm working on this painting (of Elizabeth Taylor) for fun. I plan to finish this piece with watercolors and india ink. I found a really nice photo of her from the mid 1950s that I'm using for reference.

Indiana Jones

Watercolor and India Ink

Click for a larger view.

This is an illustration I did just for fun. I used watercolor and India ink on Crescent cold-pressed illustration board.

Indiana Jones is one of my favorite movie characters. In my opinion, Raiders of the Lost Ark is the best of the "Indy" movies. One of my favorite scenes is when Indy and Marion reunite in Marion's bar, in Nepal, having not seen each other for 10 years. The ensuing argument between them is one of the reasons I think the sceenplay written by Lawrence Kasdan is so excellent.

The Dragon Slayer Final

Watercolor on Crescent Cold Pressed Illustration Board

(Click for a larger view)

I've finished  my watercolor illustration of The Dragon Slayer! The slayer is engaged in an epic struggle with a fiery serpent. He clearly has experience with this sort of thing; his armor is crafted from the hide of a previously dispatched foe (note the horns in his helmet, the dragon scales  on his various guards, the under-belly plates protecting his chest and back, and the dragon teeth dangling decoratively from the tassels of his armor). Even while the death grip closes in around him he does not give in to fear. He steadies his aim, waiting for the moment when his enemy will expose its one weak spot (the roof of its gaping mouth).

As the dragon prepares a sulfurous blast of flame it is already too late. The slayer's arrow is set to fly.

The dragon slayer can't win on his own. He needs his brave horse to carry him into the thick of  battle. Perhaps the slayer's worthy and courageous friend  is soon to be fitted for some handsome red armor.

The Dragon Slayer Sketch & Underpainting

(Click for a larger view)

This is the original rough sketch for a piece I'm working on now. It involves characters from bedtime stories I've made up for my kids since they were little. I think this dragon is too cute to kill or be killed (he looks like he wants to play "fetch") so I made some refinements to him and to the Dragon Slayer for the underpainting below.

Now that's a face only a mother could love. This is the underpainting for the piece. I'm using watercolors on Crescent cold pressed illustration board. I'll probably throw in some colored pencil and maybe some pastels by the time I'm done.

I don't always do a full underpainting in this manner. But in this case I think it will help me create the atmosphere I imagine for the scene. The Dragon Slayer and his trusty horse are wrapped in a warm embrace (a VERY warm embrace) by their fire spewing foe who may have just opened his mouth one too many times.
The whole scene is shrouded in fire and poisonous fumes.

Is the Dragon Slayer about to be fried or will he deliver the death blow to his adversary?

"Horse in the Meadow"

 

Watercolor on Strathmore illustration board.

Click image for a larger view.

I did this painting several years ago but I like it so I decided to post it. It expresses the idea of freedom; a horse standing in the middle of a wind-swept grassy meadow with no fences to keep him and no pressing deadlines (er, cowpokes) to stress him out.