DUST - Work In Progress

NOTE : The sketches in this post feature in the January deep-dive video for $5 patrons and up, which include commentary on my thought process and decision making when designing a new piece.

Hello everyone, 

I didn't manage much art the last few weeks, for obvious reasons, but the little I did manage was to do with this concept :

I had gotten to what I thought was a good stage a couple of years back, with this sketch :

But I never felt excited to pick it up and paint it, so it just sat there, waiting for my brain to figure out what was wrong or missing.

And so, a few weeks ago, I decided to have a go at it again. It has always been one of my favourite potential concepts, so I was always more or less actively thinking about it, and I finally felt ready to put pen to paper for it again.

I did a very rough Procreate sketch, which helped me settle on a new composition. 

The colour scheme and lighting are inspired by this illustration, Fallen Star, by Greg Mort.

I incorporated the sunset, blue and yellow palette, and shooting star, in my digital sketch, as a rough overview, which then led me to the subsequent decisions you'll see in the final mock-up. 

The desert dunes at night setting hit a chord with me right away, but I don't like settling on the first idea that springs to my mind too quickly, as it tends to leave me with more self-doubt and "what ifs" than is comfortable, so I like to explore a few alternatives first : 

I tried an environment with more life...

A different, warmer colour scheme...

And a less dramatic lighting scheme...

I like all of these, and I think they would work well for other pieces, but I found myself coming back to my night desert composition as the one that felt right for this concept, over and over again. 

And so, I finally settled on this :

There are many details that might change once I start painting, but this is a good rough overview of the direction I want to take with this piece. 

My next step will now be to take some reference pictures and build myself a reference folder for all the different elements (the desert, the sky, the lightning scheme, the dust, the colour palette...etc...). 

I have a number of pieces on the go already that I am keen to finish before I jump into this one, but it is nice to have another one lined up to look forward to!

Make sure you check out the deep-dive video I created in January if you would like to hear more about my thought process around this concept!

You can find it here : https://www.patreon.com/posts/78006536

Thank you so much for reading,
I hope you are well,
All my love, 

Myriam