2012
I learned a great deal about art while working on this drawing. For instance, I found some insight into blending colors in large spaces. Blending with colored pencil requires me to constantly monitor the paper’s saturation. Once the rough pores on the paper are completely filled, it becomes much more difficult to add other color. So, if you want to blend three colors, be sure to leave enough tooth on the paper so that it will accept the last color, otherwise, you’ll begin to squeegee pigment away in what will almost surely result in a mess. I also learned a great deal about color composition and the importance of creating a palette and sticking to it. Below is a snapshot of some smaller sketches I made while in the brainstorming and planning phase. Please see the completed piece at the bottom of this page.
Martian Mother
11/18/11
Martian Mother
I found shortcuts while developing this drawing. I used a copy machine to duplicate the background which I then used to make practice sketches of foreground objects.
Foreground Here are two practice sketches of the girl. On the color version, I changed the hair style to give a more dramatic look.
A Star is Born I made the bottle fluid in several colors before choosing a violet lavender mix.
Martian Architecture Here is the main city in pencil and color pencil. It was a blast to design a city, especially one on Mars! Basically, I took note of buildings on Earth and characterized the more unusual features. Then, I amped up the colors to give a futuristic feel. Below is a tiny sample of the hundreds of sketches I made on the way to finishing.
Martian Architecture Continued Below is the city as I originally conceived it. That’s a Martian flyer in the foreground. Although changing the point-of-view set me back time-wise, I learned a lot about point-of-view and perspective.
Moving Mountains At top is a mountain that to me, appears more craggy and rigid. I wanted a more wind-smoothed look such as the one at bottom. Stories of howling winds on Mars lead me to this conclusion.
Graduations Blending colors has to be one of the most difficult aspects of working with color pencil. Prismacolor offers a colorless blender. I have had mixed success with it. So far, my technique is to mix using white, or simply mix by using more of the same colors I intend to blend. These swatches guided me while choosing a sky color motif. Lisa Frank is one of my favorite artists. I tried to inject a bit of her style into the sky elements.
What Happens on Mars... Why is the baby in the bottle? Who is the young Martian mother and how does she survive in the alien environment? I try to draw pictures with a plot. Pictures where a backstory could easily be imagined as well as a likely follow-up to what’s shown. As a kid, and to this day, I dream of Mars and space travel. I imagine my grandchildren in one of those Martian high rises ordering an alien dish in a Martian restaurant.