Small Paintings from Illuxcon Part 3

 Mermaid: Peridot

I decided to do another mermaid before I realized how popular mermaids had become with other fantasy artists.  They're everywhere now, and a frequent subject at IlluXcon.  I wondered what color of skin a mermaid would have before I started on the finish.  Would she have a color that camouflaged her from predators in the sea?  Or would Mer-people be the top fish in the ocean?  Maybe her skin is green simply because of the filtered light from above.   The original is 7.5" by 5.25", oils and graphite on shellacked acid free bristol board, mounted with archival boards and materials, and matted to size 11" x 14."

Happy Holidays,

Jody

Small Paintings from IlluXcon Part 2

The Stars in Her Hair

This small painting for IlluXcon was made from the fuzziest photo I may have ever used for reference.  I was at a convention in Iowa many, many years ago when I took several pictures of a very lovely young girl whose mother was shepherding me, as artist guest, about the con.  I saved those pictures for years and years and only in the last decade did I bring them out and make some drawings and paintings from them.  She had a clear, victorian kind of beauty and so inspired this tiny homage to Dante Gabriel Rosetti's "The Blessed Damozel."

• The blessed damozel leaned out
• From the gold bar of Heaven;
• Her eyes were deeper than the depth
• Of waters stilled at even;
• She had three lilies in her hand,
• And the stars in her hair were seven.

Needless to say she has more stars in her hair than seven, because that amount just didn't look right. The whole effect makes me think of the spirit of sleep and nighttime. Below are the other small paintings I did from this same model.  All 3 little paintings are sold now.

The Pearl Circlet

The Pearl Earring

Jody

Don't let the bedbugs bite

Small Paintings from IlluXcon Part 1

Cavalier Cat

Available as a print at my etsy shop

This started as a small drawing I did while waiting for my child to finish a sports practice.  It was just from a picture on my iPhone of our siberian cat Rumble Roar, nothing very deliberate or with much planning.   After 30+ years doing very meticulous art for book covers, its rather a relief to do little works that will be finished in days instead of weeks.  I expanded it to put him in a cavalier costume, for he is a very even tempered gentlemanly cat, and I have a nice large book of Van Dyck paintings for reference.   I then put a layer of shellac over the graphite to seal the paper and painted the finish in oils.  It's mounted and matted with acid-free papers.

Rumble Roar with his portrait, pre-paint

Matted and mounted for IlluXcon

I'm hoping to do more animals in costume.  That was a lot of fun, especially learning how to make that silk effect on his doublet.

Jody

Me, feeling a bit poked at this season.

Fantasy Book Cover: Closer to Home

Closer to Home

This is the color comp for the latest Mercedes Lackey Valdemar novel.  For this book I was given a synopsis by the author;  she is in the process of writing the book.  Our hero, Mags, the former mine slave, has finally graduated from his trainee grays to his Herald whites.  He is the first Herald-Spy, so we've returned to the city of Haven, and obviously he won't have his Companion Dallen, his blue eyed spirit/horse, close by when he's spying on people.  For that reason I decided it would be a change of pace to not have them in the same physical space.  Mags is a mind speaker, so he is constantly in touch with Dallen.

First of all I started with just little idea scribbles in my sketch book.  Then I moved onto drawings for the color comp.

Here is my pencil sketch for Mags.  I wanted masks to symbolize the different personas he takes on as a spy.  These are drawn in graphite, but I scan them and make them darker.

His Companion Dallen.

And the city of Haven.  Below are three of the black and white digital comps I made to show the publishers my ideas of how the cover would look.

They chose the last one, and then I did a tightly finished color comprehensive because their publishing deadlines for the sales catalog were moved up.  They needed art faster than I could complete the final finish.  I also decided to split the art in two, so the designer could be more flexible on the positioning of the Companion on the front, and then use the full horse on the back cover.  These were done in oils after printing the drawing onto paper and at the printed size.  The first image in this post was the final comp - minus the lettering - that was used for the sales catalog.

I usually do a final drawing to size, but because the color comp was so finished, I just enlarged them right onto the gessoed illustration boards for the final art.  Below are some of photographic reference I shot of my son and some small models I used to figure out the lighting of Mag's faces.

The final art was approximately twice the size it would be printed, done in oils on gessoed illustration board.  The publisher didn't want Mag's faces to look like masks, so I added in hair on the final art.  One of the characters Mags portrays is supposed to be a deaf mute, another a street tough, and that is reflected in the faces he holds.

My drawing board with the finished art and color comps.  I know I should have taken pictures in the process of painting, but I forgot.  Honestly, I'm a bit insecure that my art is ever going to turn out well, so I probably did that on purpose. 

Mags in "Closer to Home."

Dallen in "Closer to Home."  It was really fun to work on a horse this big.  I could make big brush strokes for once.  The designer will fade out the darks for the front cover so the type will pop, while on the back he'll probably let the art print like the original.  The book comes out from DAW Books in October.

Jody

www.astudiobythesea.com

www.jodylee.org

Off to a Good Home

Three Lovely Little Cats

These three small oil paintings on Bristol Board are going to be packed up and sent off to a new home today.

Jody

"House Wars: Battle"

My Drawing Board

I've finished the cover art for "Battle" by Michelle West and am turning it in today.  The center character is a master mage named Mairelon, who has risen into the air to fight a demon.  He has magically formed his armor about him and his sword, and since he has a special connection with wind and air, his sword doesn't look like it's made of steel, but of glass and swirls.  The field of sleepers concerns the problem the characters are contending with, which is a mysterious sleeping disease that has fallen upon the city of Averalaan Aramelas.  I hope I spelled everything correctly.  The strange butterflies in the air are the dreams of the sleepers, which if crushed, will kill the dreamers.  I didn't want them to be too pretty, so they are designed with bones, cobwebs, thorns, and points.  The finished painting is surrounded by my color rough, final drawing, and other reference.  I will take off the masking tape in a moment!

CraftWestport

Here are a few paintings I exhibited last weekend at CraftWestport.

"Hiking Hard"

"On the Run"

"Rounding the Mark #2"

And of course I showed my portraits as well. All of my paintings were original oils on paper or canvas.



"Jessamyn 18 Months"

"Ty 8 Years"

Jody

http://www.astudiobythesea.etsy.com/

http://www.jodylee.org/