Final Calendar Artwork! [PART 2]

Ok, Part 2 of the final pieces for the calendar!

After I sorted out the artwork for the pages, I tackled the cover (and back, since the art is going to be the same this time).

I already had the beginnings of an idea in mind for this one, although it did evolve quite a bit during the sketching process (I detail all of this in this month's video).

It started with an idea I first sketched out years ago in the back of one of my Inktober booklets, that I can't for the life of me find in my files anymore, sorry.

Anyway, that's what that first sketch below is.

I couldn't quite get excited about it though, so it very quickly evolved into the other 3 drawings you see above.

I struggled choosing between the stars falling out of an open body, or the stars being from the skin falling to pieces. I wasn't sure I could pull off that second one, but decided to give it a shot.

Below are my references. 

 I kept the composition fairly simple and opted out of having a background, both for the sake of speed and also for clarity ; I want all the focus to be on the stars and where they come from. I also needed space to add the calendar year for the cover.

I blocked out the stars with masking fluid and used gradual washes of blue for the background. 

I also chose not to the have the stars illuminate the interior of the body, as I wanted it implied that they started glowing once they fell off the person, and that they don't have a light of their own before then.

I used a combination of acrylic and pencils for all the pieces you saw in this post and the previous one. 

I want to experiment with adding texture in pencil in my pieces, to reconnect a little with the roughness of sketches, plus, my yellow Polychromos are perfect for creating glow!

And so here is the final cover piece!

I thoroughly enjoyed painting this piece, it has its flaws but overall I feel I am slowly getting a hang on dramatic lighting. :)

My last task was a quick revision of the below piece, Lucent. 

I was always a little bothered by how thick I made my outlines and by the look of the stained glass, which were the main reasons I didn't initially consider this piece for inclusion in the calendar.
However, it fit the theme well and got a positive reception when I asked on social media, so I decided to slightly improve it instead. 

All the revisions were done digitally on Procreate and Photoshop.
If time was on my side, I would have probably completely repainted it, but it wasn't, plus, this was meant as a fairly basic concept exploration piece, so if I was to decide to spend more time on it, I would probably do so in order to create a bigger, more complex piece instead of redrawing this one.

My only qualm with this revision is that I couldn't get the face to have quite the same soft expression as the previous version, but overall, I'm happy with the result. 

So there you have it!

I have all the pieces for the calendar, and it is now being manufactured!

I look forward to seeing the final result, and sending them to everyone. :)

Thank you very much for reading, I hope you like the pieces and that you are all well!

See you soon for a new Deep-dive video!

All my love, 

M