Various Work In Progress - The Forest, Join Me (Stranger Things fan Art), The Beach

Hi peeps, 

I have been making slow but sure progress on the several big pieces I have on the easel, so here's a small update!

I am working on all 3 paintings at the same time, as I am still in the beginning stages (finishing the sketches, transferring, inking) and jumping from one to the other is helping me not get bored as well as keep a fresh eye. 

This first piece is obviously a Stranger Things Fan Art painting.
My very first fan art in fact!

I don't usually do fan art, as I have many ideas I want to explore already, and little enough time as it is, but there are several reasons why I have started considering doing it more : 

1) I really, REALLY enjoyed season 4 of Stranger Things, and many elements felt like they fit my style reasonably well. I also felt a special connection to Vecna, as the make-up and creature suit were created by colleagues of mine from my Game of Thrones days, so this piece also works as a little hommage to my old co-workers and their wonderful work.

2) I want to start exploring working for clients more seriously, which means putting together a portfolio that not only showcases my personal work, but also shows how I can adapt existing IPs to my style (and vice-versa), and more specifically, what my personal style can bring to the table.
Fan art feels like a good way to dip my toes into that!
I am also thinking of adapting The Sandman (I was a fan of the comics already, and the show was great, and surreal enough that it could be a fun fit), and potentially Elden Ring? Still pondering my choices, so if you have any ideas, leave them in the comments! <3

The good thing with fan art is that, as opposed to my normal work, I have direct references I can work from, which makes the preparatory stages a lot easier and quicker than my personal work.

My character references are pulled directly from screenshots of the show, and while I did do a bit of patchwork editing (the characters can't be found in those poses exactly, all their elements are collated together to make the final image), most of the ground work already exists. 

I also have a lot of clear themes and imagery in my work already, so I can combine those with my references to make an image that feels like it fits with my work well enough that it looks like my work, but is also recognisable as an existing, well-loved IP.

I am not trying to push the boundaries of my themes here, or create something that feels fresh and new, I am merely attempting to blend my personal style with an existing universe effectively.

And so far, I am rather happy with the result! (And I am having quite a lot of fun too)

I am done with the inking stage, and will now be able to move on to the painting stage.

The one element I have not inked is the tape ribbon unravelling (you can see the faint pencil lines over the characters' heads). 

My intention is for the tape ribbon to spell out "Join Me" (the line Vecna says to Max and the other characters he "takes" a number of times) in the sky. I don't want it to be too obvious, it should be one of those details that only really jumps out at you after you've looked at the piece a little while, but we'll see how it goes.
So far, I like the parallel between the ribbons of Max's head and the unravelling of the tape.
I just hope I will be able to do it justice with the paintjob!

Next we have "The Forest".

This piece is at a hybrid stage.
I am both inking and painting it at the same time.

This allows me to gain better control over the different planes of the trees and create a more subtle value gradient between the background, foreground, and middle-grounds. 

If you remember the colour map I shared with you in a previous post, I digitally colour-graded the different planes of the trees so that I had a map to follow while inking and painting. 

This is coming in very handy for this stage of the process, and I am basically inking one plane of trees at a time, starting with the foreground. Each time I finish inking all the trunks on one plane, I paint a light wash over all the areas BEHIND that inked one. Rinse and repeat.

This allows me to keep a good eye on the different trunks and where they all go relative to each other, while also building a slight gradient in both colour and value between my foreground and my background.

It is a slow process, but as I am jumping between paintings, I can leave my washes to dry while I work on another piece for a while, and when I finally go back to the painting, my brain feels fresher and more ready to delve back into the detail. :)

And then finally, we have The Beach!

This one is the one with the slowest progress out of all the big pieces I am working on, as it is quite a big bigger, as well as more complex.

You may remember the mock-ups I shared with you when I first started this piece, over 2 years ago.
The composition we settled on was this one, I believe :

The basic elements have stayed the same, but there are a few things I will change once I start painting. 

Here's a basic mood board :

The main elements I want to retain are the dark pebbly beach, and the waves crashing at the feet of the character. 

I do however want more light to the sky than I had initially envisioned.
I am thinking of painting a mix of the 2 top pictures in the board above, but more subtle ; very light rays and a slight golden tinge to the clouds.
Something to add some levity and hope to the composition.
This is not a light image, but I do not want it to be purely tragic either. 

Another detail I have added since picking this up again, is sprinkling some faces in the dark stones of the beach. These won't be obvious, and will be as dark as the stones around them, so as to not draw attention.
I want them as a detail that only really becomes apparent if watching the piece closely.

I also offset the character more in the final composition than it was in the initial sketch. I want the opposite movements of the elements in the piece to be at the center, like a dividing line between 2 worlds ; the wind pushing the hair and clouds to the right, and the waves crashing to the shore to the left.
I want to try and capture some of the chaos of shoreline winds, the way they buffet in all directions and create confusion and turmoil, in direct contrast with the peace of the sounds of the sea and the stillness of a beach at dusk...

I look forward to painting this piece, but I am taking it slow, as it means a lot to me. 

I hope you will enjoy following along :) 

Thank you for reading, thank you for being here, 

Have a wonderful week-end,
All my love,
Myriam