Deep Haul
The complete series of illustrations
for
@verbal-d’s novel They Didn’t See It Beneath Them
I posted it up and @Verbal-d commented that he had a potential collaboration in mind, that he would like to discuss on Steemit.chat. He had already written a story and was looking for some illustrations to go with it. I gave it a read and thought it was quite fun with some nice action - perhaps more for younger audience, but quite thrilling still. The story featured prehistoric underwater monsters , which I thought would make for some interesting drawings. Also I really enjoyed the beginning with the fishing as it was one of my favourite things to do when I was kid(beside drawing - i did draw a lot of fish at a time)and I did put some of those memories into the drawings. So, the idea was to use the illustrations along with the story on Steemit and possibly in a book aswell. After some negotiations we came to an agreement and things started rolling. Before each picture I woud read the chapter a few times and we woud then talk over some ideas what would work best. I would then do some research as necessary and produce a rough sketch. After the sketch was approved by verbal-d, I would continue and refine it to a finished drawing. Every now and then I would show the progress to verbal-d and he might come up with something to add and would always push for more details, while I would on occasion preferred a more expressive look. There definitely was some adjusting to the role of illustrator from many years as working as fine artist following only my own vision. In the end i was really happy how the drawings came out. Here they are: This where it all started, the idyllic fishing scene. I tried to be sensitive to the mood of the text and reflect it in the style of each picture. I wanted to make this very light in contrast to what would come up next. The first ancient creature makes a quick appearance here. I imagine it would've been quite a horrific and surreal experience and i tried to capture that feeling most of all. A lot of the crazyness comes from the water. We get to see the shadowy silhouette of the mysterious creature as it's chasing a school of fish. The pattern on mackerel is something that i've always found very intriguing. The Dunkleosteus makes a jump going after the boat. These were always exciting when the creature would pop out.. there is definitely a pattern going on here. Also I had good fun with the water on this one. Once again i got to fall back to memories on a boat. Here we see some detail of the dunkleosteous armor plates and the eye. I spent a good amount of time trying to make that reflection work and i'm quite happy how it turned out. The dunkleosteous flees as a new creature is approaching from below. I liked to play a lot with the black and white in lot of the drawings. Trying to work out the trail of the boat was a treat. This one was a little of a pickle. For this one i wanted to do the sinking boat, but verbal-d also liked the goblin shark. So we ended up doing this fun split image. There was a lot going on in this picture. I liked the play with the triangles and fin shapes which sort of picks up from the previous image as things are starting to get more hectic here. The divers get to have a close look a the Megalodon as its chomps on the poor dunkleosteus. I remember we were very excited to get to this one. Again lot of elements in the picture like the chains and the dissolving blood clouds making the action. Then it was time to chill with the blue whales and drones. verbal-d wanted some random letters on the side of the drone but i always like to put in little easter eggs. _ Megalodon dives after the whales. This seems pretty straightforward drawing but there were some kinks to it with the angle and the mouth._ This is the end. I did not have a specific reference for the Leviathan due to it's mythic nature. I initially thought it woud only be a big cavernous mouth with teeth, but these things tend to grow. Verbal-d suggested adding a few spikes on sides and below chin and i got carried away. We had to try few types of eyes that would give the right impression. And that was all of them. Thank you all for reading and thanks again @verbal-d for this project! This really was a good experience, can't believe it's over. I am looking forward to check out the story again with the illustrations. Here is link to the original story: I thought i would make a separate post for these but let's just throw them here at the end. throughout the process i made a lot of separate saves and after completing each drawing i would compile them to an animated gif, which was a cool way to show the process. So here is the encore of those aswell:
I made a series of 12 drawings in a collaboration with @verbal-d that started around may- april 2017 here on Steemit. I've now collected all of the drawings into this post. I hope you enjoy.
I've been playing with Windows paint for as long as i remember but i've only taken it semi-seriously for making art in the last few years, beside my actual painting. I like it for it's crudeness, it works simply but there is a challenge to it.
I had made a few drawings with paint on the weekends while listening live to one of the Steemit related podcasts on Discord, namely Votu and Steemit Talk. One of those drawings was this sharklike creature swimming(or flying, as you like) over a stylized landscape:
Flow, digital drawing, 2017
first sketch for chapter 1Chapter I
Chapter II
Chapter III
Chapter IV
Chapter V
Chapter VI
Chapter VII
Chapter VIII
Chapter IX
¨Chapter X
Chapter XI
Chapter XII
They Didn't See It Beneath Them by @verbal-d
Oh my Ohhhhh MY!!!! This is really beyond believable!!! Every image is worth a study on its own. Truly amazing @mikkolyytinen!! TRULY!!! You have an incredible talent, of which I got a small taste in the Collaborative Art Journey some time ago. Now I see why you have been absent---this really is a masterpiece!!!
You and @verbal-d make an incredible collaboration pair. What a blessing you are sharing this here on Steemit and that we all get to get in on the juicy expression that you both share. This is REALLy exciting and I'm so glad to be witness to it.
AWESOME job. Thank you for sharing!
Isn't his work amazing? So glad you got around to seeing this collaboration my dear friend! Thank you for resteeming this and showing it love an support.
More collaborations from our wonderful steemit community will be produced for sure, this is all just the beginning and what a beautiful thing it is indeed :)
With such talent, a good heart, and willingness to share, I have no doubt magnificent shall be. I love how excited you are about the joys of giving to this community. You're both an inspiration to this artistic community. Much love to you.
Thank you always, you too are just as inspirational. I do what I can when I can but ultimately who are we without the community? Individually we have talents and skills to offer and share but united are we impacting and stronger. I look forward to adding more art and future collaborations
It's really fun and powerful doing it together. I doubt that you can stop yourself from adding still more!!! That's just who you are @verbal-d!
Thank you so much @everlove! I'm glad you enjoy the drawings. This has indeed kept me involved but now that it is complete, I will sure be on the look for more opportunities to let that juice flow in other collaborations.
That was a lot of well spent energy @mikkolyytinen!!! What a great pair you made!
You can always come and give us a taste of your awesomeness again with the Collaborative Art Journey. We would be blessed to have another creative injection from you!
Yo @mikkolyytinen & @verbal-d, you killed this project! Those illustrations are sickkk!
Thank you very much bro!
thank you @edgarstudio
It's been a while since I saw a compilation of works that got me hooked into one post. I kept reexamining the details on each picture and it never ceases to amaze me how you do it.
Thank you, I'm glad you like it. With right click on image you can check out the full-size for more detail. It's little tedious to click back but maybe someday there is better way for that.
And I was following your sketch's for a very long time even you know that i guess so but this post really it's amazing because of the full collection bro i must say it's just amazing fenomenal out standing if I ever have a art gallery i would definitely hire you swear you have become my fav so good bro your art is can't stop praising
Thank you very much @rajaduttablogs, it is nice to hear you like it.
Wah now that is some serious skills!
BIG upvote, can only imagine how much time this has taken, I'm very impressive, love the GIF's as well 🙏🏼
Will stay tuned for your future art brother ✌🏼
Don't know your other interests but if you happen to be into travelling, vlogs, fitness, self-development etc feel free to check out my channel, in any case keep up the good work and I'll see you around!🙌🏼
Thank you
I've never used windows paint for anything other than the occasional doodle but you illustrations are wonderful - remind me of litho prints. Do you have any more projects lined up @mikkolyytinen?
Thank you. Litho was fun, though i've only done two pieces ever. I don't have nothing like this at the moment going on. I do have an exhibition coming in the july for paintings.
Awesome, i'm following now and looking forward to seeing more of your work @mikkolyytinen
very inspiring @mikkolyytinen..i love the shadows and lines, i do doodle but far from what you did
Thank you @journeyu
this is awesome, i love the minimalism in this pictures. you can feel the strength of the sharks, it is really amazing seriously, one of the best things i have seen in steemit
Thank you very much :)
nice drawings
cheers
Great work! They remind me of illustrations in children books I used to read as a kid for some reason. I've played around a bit with paint back in the days. It's amazing what you can create with such a basic tool. I would probably throw my computer out of the window after a few hours :p credits to you @mikkolyytinen!
Thank you very much. I've definitely been influenced by illustrations from young age, so i'm sure it carries through here.