My GREAT day: the horned bunny of DOOM!

The Horned Bunny of DOOM! January 2012

(graphite & vine charcoal underdrawing, digital painting.)

I had such a great day that I wanted to share this fun and silly illustration!

After completing Sherlock Holmes (in my previous post) I immediately wanted to create a Children's illustration using the same underdrawing method. I have also been wanting to try using Vine Charcoal, as opposed to my typical graphite, for the underdrawing! So I created a children's illustration using graphite, vine charcoal and digital paint! It was so easy (which might be helpful if I get the job, I interviewed for today), and it was SO much FUN!

The pencil is great for technical things with defined edges and shading, however the charcoal is so versatile and dynamic it's great for letting things evolve (foliage, brick wall, fur...etc) until it looks RIGHT! The girl was completely preplanned, but the background and the narrative for her surprised look appeared as I started playing with the vine charcoal...this method of slow evolution was especially helpful for the tree trunk, the rabbit's fur, and the stone wall.

The other thing I did for this piece was fall back into my watercolor mindset, of a cool and warm underpainting...of which ended up being my foundation for the rest of the colors. Since I am not one of those artists that can decisively throw down a bold color that magically relates to the others in the composition, almost ALL of my colors are a result of me adding layer after layer of light washes of color.

In the next day or so I will post an illustration I completed as a commission (and was paid quite well for it too.)