Shiny garden - a step by step artwork
Hello friends!
I have a new drawing for you :) I had some very hard-working and disorganized time in January. I was following fantastic blogs of other fellow Steemians, but didn't have much opportunity to post myself. I felt inspired countless times, and now there are several new things that I would like to try in the close future!
The drawing below is a first one of my experiments. Namely, I was getting frustrated with what happened to the black areas of my scanned drawings. One could see easily the texture of the paper, the marks left by pen and markers, and different colour shades of black- bluish, reddish, greenish. And as I'm a happy owner of an Intuos Pro tablet, I decided to finally modify one of my pieces in order to get rid of these defects. You can see the result below. Maybe I'll create some art from scratch using a tablet, we will find out soon I think :)
Pen and ink on paper, edited with Intuos Pro, 29,7 x 42 cm
This piece was meant to be an entry for @opheliafu's contest, however I was late for the deadline. I decided to post it anyway, as another postcard from Shiny Forest. Here we can see a forest ghost who is a key keeper, guarding a secret garden in the middle of the dark forest.
Funny how the bright part of my drawings almost always lands on the right side. This may have something to do with the fact that I'm left-handed, but perhaps it's simply related to the usual orientation of written or visual narrative (from left to right).
Would you like to know how I drew this piece? I documented the progress with my camera, as I couldn't use my scanner at the time that I was creating the posctard.
STEP BY STEP PROGRESS
I started with a pencil sketch,
which I then repeated using a pen.
And after this point I immediately proceeded with shading and filling shapes with black. To those who are in love with craftmanship and don't have a self-healing cutting mat, I must tell you that I freaking love my green mat, even though it doesn't do for a great photo background ;) But it sure is practical, it protects the surface of the desk (which in my case is demolished anyway, but that's just me), I also use it as a ruler and I make some small lino cuts on it.
In a close up you can see that I used more defined stippling for the forest, and a fine and bright one for the garden wall. I wanted the wall to look ethereal, and a bit glowing.
Well, this kind of art takes its time to get finished. At this stage it's me, pen, paper and lots of time and patience ;) But I as I find stippling very relaxing, I don't really mind!
Another close-up showing almost ready piece.
And a photo of a ready piece.
I wasn't satisfied with the final scan, because the paper was folded, besides, my art had some minor defects, like the smudgy black or some marks.
So using my tablet and a Brush tool in GIMP (colour black and white, with different levels of opacity), I started to modify my piece. I wanted the darkness to be deep and impenetrable. I also got rid of the paper folds, and some minor lines or marks here and there.
I had to revisit my piece, because I left out a fold on the garden wall. This time I have only this small, modest GIFfy for you, showing only the last, digital steps of my artwork. I'm very happy that I could edit my art digitally, I'm pleased with how it worked out, and I'm surprised that I managed to do anything at all :) haha!
There may be a postard in the future showing the inside of the secret garden. I've started to negotiate a little tour with the guardian ghost, but he's not very convinced to this idea. I wonder what imagery could we find in there. Some archetypical symbolism, perhaps :) Well, we'll have to be patient and wait for the ghost to make up his mind. Would you like to visit a secret garden like this?
I hope you enjoyed seeing the secret garden from the outside, guys ;) And as always...
Great pen work! I especially like the feel of the plants.
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Thank you @ashleykalila :) I accept! Cheers, Klaudia
I absolutely love your forest ghosts! You're amazing! You make me want to get my album kicked off just so I can get some artwork from you for it :P
Thank you @caleblailmusik, you're too kind :)
I'm not even joking! I literally wrote a new song yesterday cuz was so ready to get the ball rolling for this album :P
Cool, is there any way to listen to your songs?
You can just google my name :D
What I'm working on now is a lot more different and, um, mature(?) than what's online right now though.
Well, you've got some seriously beautiful voice. The first song I've heard though was Frickin Dead Christmas EP and I was a little bit confused as I picture you as young fellow, and the voice sounded too mature to be yours... Now I know it was a voice of your friend :) Hah! So far I've listened to Cannibal's Anonymous and I think it's pure delight! I'm very glad. I'll listen to your other tracks :)
Oh my gosh, you're the coolessst. <3
You talked about some fault in the drawings but i found none. I think the drawing is impressive from all angles.
You said you used scanner to scan pencil drawings. Did the drawing leave any pencil shade on the scanner glass? I am asking because i want to scan some of my pencil drawings. I am kind of afraid that it will leave pencil marks on my scanner glass. Do tell me about this.
Hello! No, no pencil marks were left on my scanner, but I use a hard type of pencil, so maybe with a softer and darker ones there could be some marks left. However I had several experiences when different types of artwork left e.g. paint marks and I simply cleaned the scanner glass afterwards. I think it's safe to do it in most cases. Good luck!
Graphite is usually hard to clean. I usually use soft and dark pencils. May be this is the problem. I think i am now gonna have to smartphone based scanner. They also do a pretty good job.
Cool, I didn't know about smartphone scanners. I'm gonna check them out. Thanks for the tip!
Very cute style, and a lot of effort in the details... I like it a lot!
Thank you @madmilo, I appreciate your kind words :)
The sanctuary!
This one is strangely peaceful...yet guarded.
Your posts are becoming more and more organised and detailed. Terrific work @shinyforest.
Thanks, man! :)
This little forest ghost is so adorable <3
I hope he will let us tour the garden, I am curious! ^_^
I'll do my best to reason with him ;)
Thank you @shlomit for your kind support <3
<3
You have so gentle and recognisable style! I love the key on the neck it adds more mystery to the drawing
Thank you @marinaart <3
Again, this cute forest ghost! I really love her (him, it?) and perhaps she is responsible for the light on the right side... maybe her spirit glows more to the right :-D
I like your drawing very much, because there are so many details to explore, e.g. the star like flowers behind the wall and all the other things which are concealed by the darkness. But I am not sure if there is a secret garden behind the walls or if it could be an overgrown old burial ground. I like the mystical quality of your drawing very much... so many stories are hidden in there.
Directly resteemd :-D
The gender depends on the case, this one here is female. I guess :) What you said reminded me of the animated series called Over the Garden Wall, which I can totally recommend if you're into magical and whimsical forests and stories :) Thank you @neumannsalva so much for your interesting insight, it's always so cool to hear from ya :) Love, Klaudia
On nooo... I never heard of this and have to research it (because whimsical forests are the best - ok maybe all forest are the best :-D) I have to counter: Do you know the French illustrator Michel Gangné? I love his book 'the saga of rex' and 'the story of rex'. Full of mysterious and magical creatures (at least I remember it as lovely... I do not possess the books) Of course not so cute as your forest ghost :-D
Big hugs to you <3
I will definitely check out 'the story of rex'! Thank you for your hint, @neumannsalva :D ah, 'Over the Garden Wall' was soooo lovely, I wish I could back in time and rewatch it for the first time :) I'd love to hear your opinion :)
Love,
Klaudia