I am pleased to be sharing this image with you today. This digital painting called “Tucked Away” was done by a contemporary illustrator, a fellow student of mine at the Illustration Master Class 2008 and friend named Eric Deschamps. Eric is a young up and coming artist and has done work for Wizards of the Coast, Activision and Upper Deck amongst others. This particular image appears to be in bookcover format based on dimensions and the space left for text that typically is designed into an image to be used for that purpose. Obviously a fantasy piece, this image portrays a young girl, who with her friends and “alien” companions have made a trek through some near earthlike (if not actually earth) forest and have found a mystical bauble of unknown origin and purpose to the reader. The imagery alone, assuming it is to be a bookcover affectively gives the browser alot of information about the contents of this book.
In analyzing the composition of this piece, it is worth noting that the color palette is bright and vibrant and it is obvious that Eric chose it due to the subject matter which relates to young adult fantasy. This genre is often illustrated with this type of palette which help emphasizes youth and youthful vibrance and energy. There are a number of compositional things that make this a very strong image. There is movement created by the diagonals made by the creature’s wings, the top of the log and line of the water. A worm’s eye viewpoint helps to increase to size and depth of the background space while allowing for a direct focus on the main figure considering she is at ground level. Movement is also created by the curves of the creatures wings, the water rings expanding from the point where her arm meets the water, the floating leaves in the foreground falling to the water and the girl’s hair which is being affected by gravity. Eric has used another compositional technique relating to color in which the girl is associated to her creature pal and the glowing bauble by color, a color that is not used anywhere else in the painting. He has also chosen a loose split complimentary color scheme of orange, blue-green and blue violet which in addition to a few analogous colors to this frame color scheme adds strength to the design. Ultimately, this is an extremely strong image due to Eric’s obvious attention to design detail and fundamentals. If this image is or becomes an actual book cover, I’ll buy it. And I would like to also thank Eric for allowing me to analyze a piece of his art.
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Jasper Francis Cropsey
The Spirit of War. This image has such a mythical feel to it, from the castle tower in the setting sunlight to the immense mountain in the left. There is so much color and movement in this piece, the greens, the complimentary reds, blues in the clouds, oranges in the sky and on the ground outside the gate. There is a great amount of detail it is hard to analyze, especially since I am brain dead at the moment. I think I will let this one settle in my psyche and pick this up tomorrow. To be continued… Monday: Ok. Now that I am a bit more lucid, I feel I am able to look at this image more analytically. I have been taking these images and setting them as my computer wallpaper in order to not only look at them, but to let them affect me subconsciously. What I was able to determine was that the strength of this painting is in its underlying abstract composition. I have attached two other images, one of the detail blurred out and another of the value patterns in this image. When the detail is removed, the image still retains and interest abstract pattern of shapes and colors that are contiguous, interlocking and interesting. Looking at the value image, again we see an interesting set of values with darker values at the bottom for weight, lighter values on top and the highest value smack dab in the middle of the heavy dark values creating a focus point due to the high contrast area. Adding the color and detail to these two immensely powerful compositional characteristics simply makes the image better. But the in underlying composition is the key.
Herbert James Draper
The first oil I ever did was a reproduction of Herbert James Draper. It was for me Painting like the Old Masters class in school. Of all the artists in history, I choose Draper. Draper was friends with Waterhouse, a student of Leighton and Bouguereau and an instruction at the Royal Acedemy. Many people are familiar with his painting, the Lament for Icarus, but not many of his other works seem to be known. This one is called Calypso’s Isle. I had to send away to the U.K. to get a book on his works. I was not able to find an image of this painting on the net, so I took a lackluster photo from the book. It is a beautiful painting of which I am very familiar. I also did a master copy in oil of this piece which I have attached at the bottom. It is slightly cropped from the original, but showssome of the detail to a slightly clearer degree. I have attached two studies that Draper did as well, showing that his process was textbook acedemic, doing sketch studies of figures and value studies before ever getting to painting. This piece brings to mind illustions of Penelope awaying the return of Odysseus. Classical mythology was often the inspiration to the Pre-Raphaelites of whom Draper was one. Draper has beautifully rendered the alabaster skin of his figure which holds a mirror which she does not look into. She is holding pearls and jewelry in her other hand, covered in linen or silk, sitting atop a finely rendered draper (of which I am sure there was a study). She at the edge of the bay and gazes out into the empty waters. The limited palette on this painting was a joy to work with as it fits my aesthetic interests. Ochre and umber colored rocks and stones surrounding a prussion blue/green waters surrounding the lovely alizarin crimson drapery. Warm shadows on her arm and face contrast the coolness of the waters. The sensuality of the figures bare neck and back are extraordinary. I love this painting. I love Herbert Draper’s work.
Fabian Perez
Ok. I have no idea if anyone has seen Fabian Perez’s work before. He is a contemporary painter, born in Argentina now living in Los Angeles. While doing research for a painting idea I had, I stumbled across his work. This one is called El Paseo. I do recommend taking a look at more of his work as he does capture a certain sense of romance with a touch of noir feeling. This piece depicts a woman walking away from the viewer down a street or alley in someone anonymous city. She wears a black cocktail dress, high heels and is smoking a cigarette. There are some compositional things that I am noticing about this painting. There is a channel in the road the bisects the painting in half. But rather than running straight away from the view, it curves at the end towards the lighted area of the painting on thr right. It also separates the woman from the light and the warmth on that side. The warmth on one side though is balanced by the weight of the woman on the left and the weight of the cooler tones surrounding her. You d get a sense that if the woman follows the channel in the road, it will lead her to the light and the warmth, yet we have no indication that this is the choice she will make. I love the big painterly brush strokes that are evident in Mr. Perez’s work that are balanced with a slightly more rendered treatment of his figures. The sheer effect that he achieves in the woman’s dress is a nice touch as well as the organic feel of the hardscape that he has achieved with the previously mentioned brush strokes. And I do love noir.
John Maler Collier
I am awestruck by this painting, yet I am unsure as to why. This type of painting is reason why I started this blog. I heard Charles Bernard, fastasy illustrator state that people may have trouble expressing why they like an image because they don’t understand what makes an attractive picture. I am trying to understand why the aesthetic of this piece is pleasing to me. On a visceral level, I love the female form. It is one of the most beautiful things ever created in natural in my opinion. Ivory skin with red hair was always attractive to me as well. Those same reds in Lady Godiva’s hair are mirrored in the horses bridal and blanket (I am sure there is another word for that). The streets are empty as the story tells, the doors closed and locked. Godiva has a look of defeat and shame as the only way to help the people was to deal with this indignity. Her indignity though is offset by the noble look of her steed, it’s head held high in opposition to her head hung low. There are wonderful details in this piece such as the embroidered lions on the tapestry (is that what it is called?) and shields on the bridal. Then there is the gold bit and the chain links meticulously rendered as well as the iron bolts on the door, whose wooden texture is only surpassed by that of the texture of the town’s stone walls. There is a wonderful flow and path for the eye to follow starting at the steed’s head, down along the bridal, up Godiva’s arm to her face.
No this, I would hang on my wall…