Spellbound

Tout est parti d'un croquis fait au hazard des coups de crayon il y a deux semaines ! J'ai aimé le visage qui en est ressorti et j'ai continué à le travailler en pensant à une magicienne qui pourrait venir d'un autre monde nous envouter avec sa magie .. l'idée d'un personnage plus atypique aux cheveux bleus m'a traversé l'idée, je lui ai rajouté quelques tatouages et "Spellbound" est progressivement né ! :) 

It all started with a sketch a couple of weeks ago, without any precise idea just for the pleasure of sketching. I loved the face that came out and I started adding elements to the initial sketch, thinking about a magician, an enchantress which could come from another world to enchant us with her magic. The idea of her having blue hair crossed my mind, I added a few tatoos on her face to make her look more mysterious and "Spellbound" was created ! :) 

Autumn treasures

Aux portes de l'hiver, voici quelques photos automnales et quelques fois insolites que j'ai prises au cours de mes balades ! En espérant qu'elles serviront de références à des futurs dessins !! :)

With winter coming along I wished to share with you some Autumn pictures I took a couples of weeks ago ! Hopefully they will serve as future reference for my paintings !! :)

First painting of the zodiac serie !

   Le Bélier -21 Mars au 20 Avril

Un signe de feu, masculin et gouverné par Mars. Il est le premier signe de la roue du zodiaque et débute à l'équinoxe de printemps. J'ai longtemps réfléchi à ce signe !! Il y a tellement de symboles et d'éléments que j'ai du choisir ceux qui me parlaient le plus.

Le signe du bélier c'est le commencement; la jeunesse, la fraicheur du printemps et l'impulsion du feu ! (J'ai préféré cette approche à celle du guerrier :) )

C'est mon premier personnage masculin et j'ai eu pas mal de difficultés à le dessiner ! Je le trouve un peu efféminé.. mais après de nombreux croquis c'est le mieux que j'ai pu faire pour l'instant ! :)

J'espère que vous aimez mon interprétation de ce signe et j'ai hâte de me mettre aux esquisses des prochains signes !!Si tout va bien le suivant est le Taureau !

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  Aries - The Ram (21 March - 20 April) 

Aries is a fire and masculine sign ruled by Mars. It's the first zodiac sign and beginns at the Spring Equinoxe. It took me so much time to paint it ! The zodiac is so rich in symbols that I had to choose between all the elements the one that appealed the most to me. 

Aries represent for me the new beginnnings, youth, the brightness of Spring and the sparkle of a flamme.( I liked this aspect better than the war God and warrior aspect of Mars.)

It's my first male character and I found him a little too effeminate but I made various attempts and that's the best I can do for now ! :) 

I hope you liked my interpretation of this sign and I'm eager to start sketching the other signs !! The next one will be Taurus ! 

Autumn Greetings !!

A little card  to celebrate Autumn's magic !!

Jewel of the Sea finished painting !!

I'm so happy I managed to finish it !! :) 

I really wished to create a sea maiden, which will looks a little bit otherwordly with a greenish skin and hair the color of seaweeds. I wished her to be one of the jewels of the sea, one of the gardian of the undersea world  dressed in shells, coral and pearls. I'm quite happy with the results ! 

I hope you like this new painting and the walkthrough I created !! :)

Jewel of the sea painting process-part 2

Second part of the painting process ! :) I begun to paint the coral above her and the seashells on her dress. I mixes various roses, purples and blue/greys, then I add some rubbing alcohol to create some sort of light texture. 

I also begun to add some details on the first seashells of her dress with white acrylic.

More seashells !! :) I took various books and pictures as references for she seashells as I really wish them to be the more realistic and detailed as possible. Here there are not completely done as I'm planning to add more texture on them with white acrylic. 

I use mixes of quinacridone gold, alizarin crimson, colbalt blue and cobalt violet to try to reproduce the shimmering colors of the seashells. For the sparkling aspect I add a light glaze of watercolor iridescent medium.

I'll add more depth on the maiden's skin and her as I really wish she looks a kind of fantastical and otherwordly and I'll also add more details on the seashells.

Jewel of the Sea walkthrough- painting process part 1

I wanted to play with complementary colors and I choosed various greens for the sea and a fiery mix of orange and red for the coral. 

Here's a first scan of the background in progress !

The color of the sea is a mix of various layers of Terry Harrison's "country olive" and "midnight green " (a deep olive green and deep forest green) and of Daniel Smith's "undersea green"( a more yellowish green). This green is simply wonderful ! It seems to be made out of seaweed !

I let each layer dry before adding a new color and I used sea salt and rubbing alcohol to create texture.

The coral has been created by mixing Windsor and  Newton's "Brown Madder" and Daniel Smith's "Quinacridone deep gold" and by adding sea salt and table salt when the paint was still wet. I'm so happy with the texture it created when drying !! :) 

The maiden's skin is a mix of both the sea and the coral colors to really create the impression that she is an underwater creature and that she is part of the sea. Her hair are a strong mix of Terry Harrison's "country olive" and "Daniel Smith's "undersea green".

I added more structure to the coral and painted the seaweed using the wonderful "undersea green" color from Daniel Smith ! Just perfect for underwater landscapes !!! :) 

Any comments or questions ? Feel free to ask or leave your impressions !!! :)