Watercolor Illustration Process

(for full size image go here: http://monisawa.deviantart.com/art/Watercolor-Illustration-Proces-175221360 )

As promised in my last post here is the process of my latest illustration:

First and foremost (as much as I HATE it and hate to admit) is to plan, plan, plan. If you plan you won't be left to either drown in a pile of garbage, or flounder for sanity amidst the heat of battle. Improv works...sometimes, but when painting (especially with watercolor) it best to have a good plan set in order. When i plan I try to anticipate as many problems/solutions before I run into them. Plus when you plan (as depicted here) it helps internalize the picture and everything in it. Basically I can account for every square inch of this entire piece and I can tell you EXACTLY why I did what I did.

Here is a brief description of the process occurring in the pic above:

1.EXPLORE SKETCHES: At this stage I am just getting the initial idea down. The point is for me to explore and search for key characters, settings, props, pic size, etc. I avoid worrying about following artist rules, systems, etc, and just draw to express the idea, or many others. (I only have 4 of my many sketches depicted).

2.FINAL EXPLORE: Utilizing the sketches from the previous step I set up the basic picture and NOW I worry about the principles of design (balance, perspective, focal points..etc). Normally, intermittently in this step and the next, I would do several thumbnails as well, but since I had a VERY good idea of what I wanted I didn't worry about it.

3.FINAL SKETCH: Printing out the completed sketch from step 2, I place another sheet of paper over it and utilizing a light table I quickly mark off the general shapes and begin to transfer and transform the sketch. Moving off of the light table I finish the pencil sketch.

4.LINEWORK: Taping the sketch from step 3 on the back side of a 9x12 sheet of 140 lb Watercolor paper I CAREFULLY trace or redefine the linework utilizing a colored pencil (Dark Umber Prismacolor) once again using the light table. (I had to be very careful not to smudge the linework...)

5.VALUE STUDIES: Scanning the final linework in, I printed it off (4 per sheet) and immediately began to explore the lighting and shading of the piece. The overall point is to try and exhaust all possible options so in the end I will be satisfied with my final illustration. This step is very useful for watercolors since it is near impossible to change once painted. (It seems for some reason I am really enjoying the obscure angled shadows...it helps me avoid rendering the pic completely lifelike..and plus they are just so much fun!)

6.COLOR COMPS: As you can tell I was a bit lazy with these...actually I spent quite a bit of time on them, but only ended up with two... haha! As you probably could tell I chose the 2nd one. I really wanted to have an overall balance of color, while being diverse, but simple.

7.UNDERPAINTING: Painting in the shadows with red, blue and violet, I establish the overall darkest parts of the piece.

8.HALFWAY: I included this pic to show how the underpainting reacts to the solid overpaint colors...pretty neat huh?

9.FINAL PAINTING: after hours of work, lots of watercolor washes, syncing, touch ups, and sweat (and taking care of a screaming baby at the same time) I completed the painting!

10. My easel: I included this to show how I set up for this illustration. As you can see I had both my value study and color comps prominently close. I also had some other watercolor studies studying the watercolor painting process for this painting above.

Well that is it. Comments, complaints? Would love to hear them. ^_^