Blue Moon Atelier Journal

Well, almost! Some of lj user "owllightstudios"'s recent artwork has put me in the Samhain mood:

"Pumpkin Priestess"

"In the Pumpkin Patch"

They're both on 4" x 6" Canson Montval coldpress watercolour paper - and, obviously, I've not started painting the second one yet - I've only got it inked! :)

If there's a market for fairy wings, surely there's a market for Fairy Veils! :D

Further along on Galadriel...it's the hair that's killing me - it's much darker than I wanted (I wanted it almost white), and doing realistic hair in watercolour is a huge issue for me...I just can't quite get it looking like I want it to!

I made my hometown paper this week ("hometown" as in where I was born, not where I currently live):

So far, that's the only publicity I've gotten that I know of. It's not been in the News & Record, because we get that one and haven't seen it, and I don't know about the WS Journal, or the High Point Enterprise, becase we don't get those, and I don't know anyone who does. I'm not sure about Yes! Weekly, because I haven't been able to pick one up since I sent out the information about the book.

When the article hit the Dispatch, my cousin called my Mom, who rang my Aunt, and apparently the talk wasn't so much about how I'd been included in a soon-to-be-published art/poetry collection, but how I didn't use my maiden name or "claim any of (my) family" in the information I sent to the paper, so no one will know who I am or who I "belong to". :P

Random MSN Messenger snippet:

Graham John Layton says: are you feeling patriotic?

Mary Layton says:
emmm....well, yes, if you mean in the general sense

Mary Layton says:
Not in the "George Dubya is my daddy!!" sense

(Graham and I have "offices" (studio-office, in my case) across the hall from each other in the house, so we IM instead of shouting across the hall. :)

Here's Galadriel inked, and the first watercolouring:

Just starting on a new artwork - here's the sketch (click for larger view):

I just snapped it with the digital, because the scaner doesn't always pick up sketchy-pencil stuff, so it's a bit dark, but I think you can see most of the main bits. I haven't titled it yet, but it's to be a Mucha-esque (well, as near as I can get) image of Galadriel, peering pensively at Nenya, as she prepares to return to the Grey Havens.

You MUST check this out:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5990868795

This lady does fantastic pet and wildlife art, and whoever wins this auction will be getting a gorgeous piece of original art for a STEAL!

Here's her website - go look at all the pretties!: Art by Cas

And, here it is! The finished painting. I used "Sepia" and "Burnt Siena" in the hair (mostly Sepia for the darkest washes), and deepened the skin tones some more using the "Burnt Siena" and "Alizarin Crimson". Further washes on the dress and cloak, as well. I used "Payne's Grey" and a bit of "Hooker's Green" to make the shadow/contour colour for the blouse.

Click image for larger view:

Defined and detailed the trees some more and began the first washes on the figure. "Alizarin Crimson" and "Burnt Siena" for the skin (in keeping with MZB's description of Morgaine as having dark skin, and "Cobalt Blue" for the crescent on her forehead. For the dress, a mix of Alizarin Crimson and Indigo for a nice burgandy wash, and for the cloak, "Phthalo Blue" and Alizarin Crimson with a bit of "Indigo". For her hair, I started with a light wash of Burnt Siena and "Sepia" which will provide highlights in her dark hair.

Click image for larger view:

Tomorrow - the finish!

I wanted the celtic knot edge to look like silver, so I masked off some highlight areas with masking fluid and painted the knotwork with "Payne's Grey". I added more shading to the trees using "Sepia" and finished the grassy areas using more washes of the "Hooker's Green" and "Terre Verte" with a touch of Payne's Grey. For some of the highlight areas on the grass, I added in a bit of "Opaque White".

Click image for larger view:

Tomorrow, more tree work and first washes on the figure.

I decided to deepen the backgound (inside the moon) and outer border washes (just adding more of the same colours used previously). I've also done the first wash on the trees, using a mix of "Sepia" and "Burnt Siena". Since the trees are mostly backlit, I'll be leaving some of this lighter colour visable on the edges when I finish working the trees. I've also made the ink outline of the lower part of the crescent and the knotwork. For inking, I've used Pitt artist pens in black (lower crescent) and sepia (knotwork).

Click image for larger view:

Tomorrow, working on the celtic knot and more background details.

Now, I begin the background washes inside the moon. Using "Indigo", and a mix of "Burnt Siena" and "Alizarin Crimson" I lay in the sky washes - I want this to be a sunset scene, so the darker blue (night time encroaching) is in the upper sky whilst the Siena/Crimson wash (sun setting) is in the lower sky. The ground wash is of "Hooker's Green" with a tiny bit of "Terre Verte" blended in.

Click image for larger view:

Tomorrow, more background work and inking.

To the moon! I've done the moon in a wet wash of "Payne's Grey" and while it was still very wet, I went along the outer edge with "Indigo", allowing the Indigo to bleed into the Payne's Grey. Then, I salted with regular table salt for added texture.

Click image for larger view:

Tomorrow - more background washes (inside the moon)!

In this installment, I have begun the initial washes for the painting. For the outer background, I've chosen to do a salt-wash using two brownish tones, "Burnt Siena", which has more of a reddish tint, and "Sepia" which is a truer brown. I began by mixing lots of water and pigment together for each colour, then quickly applied them to the background. When doing a salt-wash, it's best to work as quickly as possible because the wetter your paint, the better the salt application will perform. I used a mixture of regular table salt, and coarse sea-salt on the background, brushing off the excess salt once the painting had dried.

Click image for larger view:

Tomorrow - the moon wash!