February: Projects

Hi all! I'm just going to focus on publishing something at least once a month, which will usually be projects and such. I'm about to start my final year of university so there won't be too much going on apart from uni projects, but I'll be sure to share my thoughts on those as well.

I've been commissioned by extended family for acrylic canvas paintings and tattoo designs.

Canvas

The first one was from my cousin, who wanted me to paint a large canvas to suit the blue/silver/black colour scheme of their house.

The mock-up

The concept I wanted here was of freedom, that not even the sky is the limit- the dragon is seen emerging from the earth's atmosphere and into the areas of space.

Background gradient

I was introduced into the world of art with acrylic paints and pencils in my early childhood, but I had only painted on canvas twice beforehand, these canvases were quite small in comparison to this one. There were many days spent frustratedly trying to achieve the same smooth gradient that I had managed so effortlessly in previous works. The paint would dry too quickly, or my efforts would scrub up previous paint layers causing all sorts of unwanted effects. Eventually I got the above results, at which point I was satisfied with the range and depth of colours. 

Dragon sculpture

Using some Super Sculpey clay, I then sculpted the body of the dragon, wanting the dragon to literally pop out of the canvas to enhance that concept of freedom. 

This was my first time using polymer clay, and in comparison to other clays I've used, it was amazing to work with. I spent two days on the sculpting, I only sculpted parts that would be closest to the viewer, painting the rest on the canvas later. I also had to be wary of the length so that I could fit it onto the baking trays, though in the end no matter how much tail I cut off, I still had to cut the dragon in half to fit it flat on its tray.

Dragon sculpture after baking

After baking I super-glued it back together, this entire painting was a huge learning curve for me, and there are many things I'd have done differently, knowing what I do now. One example was not to bake both halves at the same time, the difference in colour illustrates just how different the oven temperature was in the top shelf to the temperature in the bottom shelf!
And unfortunately the cut edges warped a bit and the dragon has a mismatched bulge on its back and scar across its belly. It also shrank enough to comfortably fit on the smallest tray after all of that effort.

Canvas In Progress

The background was detailed some more before I added the dragon, I used some impasto gel and a bent kitchen knife to smear it across the canvas, creating all sorts of interesting 'cloudy' textures, I was able to add in some of the purple cosmic clouds using this method. The sculpture was glued on and smoothed out with the impasto gel, which was a bit like PVA glue. I added many coats of white paint to cover the clay colour and the beginning shadows of the dragons other limbs were blocked in. To get the 'stars' I dipped the tip of a dry roughly bristled brush in white paint and flicked the bristles with my thumb. I've seen many tutorials that mention using an old toothbrush, but there weren't any laying around to test this with, and my own improvisation worked well enough.

Finished Canvas

The end result. The sculpture was given a coat of glossy varnish to give it some more life and preserve the paint on it, and the entire canvas was sprayed with matte varnish.

Considering my limited experience with canvas painting, this project turned out pretty well, although I still prefer my watercolours and digital art over acrylic, there's less mess and better results in a shorter amount of time.

Update

Hi there to anyone who has been following this blog.
I have recently moved house and the disconnection from the internet that resulted has put the progress of my research back a few weeks. In addition, I have switched my focus to traditional painting in the hopes of being able to sell them locally, to make up for my current unemployed state. My tools of trade in this so far has been watercolour and acrylics. Hopefully this might also help get me exposure for more work doing what I do best.

During this time away, I plotted some ideas down and though I have little idea how I might end this plot, I've found at least one way to start it. I will of course brainstorm more up, as I've been taught that the first idea is not always the best. I'm putting them up on this blog as a record of my ideas anyway, in the hope that someone might add their own ideas to the mix too.

This idea is inspired by the Roman gladiator matches in arenas like the Colosseum, of course this aspect of their culture was not a widespread thing until centuries after the time setting of my story, but I'm doubting the arena/gladiator fights at the Colosseum were the first of its kind, it may be possible similar events were held on smaller scales in other lesser known areas prior to this.

Seraphinus and Ninurta are illustrated here being held in captivity underground

My previous blog entry has the character profiles of Seraphinus and Ninurta.
I copy and paste this straight from my word document, it's full of grammar and spelling errors but it serves its purpose of roughing out a narrative idea.

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Ninurta mauls a man of noble status for molesting a girl/young woman whom is the daughter of his stable hand (the person who is responsible for Ninurta’s physical needs, his handler trains and directs him but leaves the dirty work to the peasants). Ninurta has formed a bond with the stable hand and his family from the kindness they have given him. Family often appears during the final hours of his(stablehand) work- young sons and daughters to talk and play/help/see the dragon.

Their gentleness and thoughtfulness towards Ninurta after his sessions with his cruel/abusive handler help soothe the physical and psychological abrasions.

Ninurta is viewed more like a beast of burden, and thus when his attack on the noble is reported, the dragon handler is ordered to put Ninurta down/execute him like they would a dog. Someone else suggests Ninurta is taken to a gladiator arena to fight against the convicts sent there for the audience entertainment and the revenue it makes. The person has an eye for profits/business and believes the presence of a dragon in the arena would attract more spectators, he knows the arena already holds a captive bloodthirsty dragon, the murderous and greatly feared Evening Destroyer, named so because the dragon would only rend entire towns and villages to rubble and ashes in the evening hours. The arena is capable of keeping such a fierce dragon captive and would not have much difficulty keeping Ninurta, whom is the size of a pony. Ninurta was already more dangerous than the usual exotic predatory beasts brought into the arenas, such as big cats, bears and wolves and thus more valuable.

Ninurta is kept in an enclosure designed specifically for holding dragons at the arena,(specially reinforced to prevent escape and deter attempts) the arena animals are usually kept captive together with others of their own kind in small enclosures underneath the arena. The Evening Devil(Seraphinus) is already well settled into the arena/gladiator life by the time Ninurta is brought in, the dragons(and all the carnivorous animals) are fed the remains of the gladiators slain in battle. The dragons are kept chained at opposite sides of the enclosure so they would not kill each other as the humans would expect.

Ninurta is terrified of the Evening Destroyer dragon he overheard about in the fearful rumour talk of the towns people. The Evening Destroyer is aggressively hostile to anyone that nears him, and is especially aggressive towards people. This day he is even more intimidating to the people than usual, and in consequence Ninurta too as a first impression- the sight of another dragon caught captive in chains, and only a youngling, sends the Evening Destroyer into a deep rage.

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People call him the Evening Destroyer because they think dragons are like most other animals, simply far more dangerous, and don't learn of the dragon's true name, which is also due to dragons being unable to speak, except through telepathy. The more advanced the mind of the creature a dragon attempts a connection with, the more concentration and skill it requires. As such dragons can rarely speak telepathically with one another. 

Seraphinus attacks human settlements in evening hours because that was when his family - mate and hatchlings- was murdered by Dragon Hunters. 

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Dragon Delusion Sketchbook

Ninurta expressions experiment

Top: size chart, bottom: experiment with dragon ears + style

Dragon anatomy practice

Wyvern species concept

Adult Ninurta concept