Geeking Out: "Plight of the Bumblebee"
That's right, I actually have a name for this piece! And there was much rejoicing.
For those of you who have been following me for a while, you might remember seeing a black and white version of this a while back. A long way back. It eventually grew dusty on the shelf as I debated getting a tablet to learn how to color things on the computer as many comic artists do, so now I finally had the chance to break this one out again. Hope you like where it went!
Materials Used:
- 11x17" Strathmore Smooth Bristol Paper - Though it was eventually scanned, I did my original sketching and inking out on this
- Lead Holder with 2H lead
- Prismacolor Premier fine line marker - Black .03
- Prismacolor Premier brush tip marker - Black
- intuos 5 touch professional pen tablet
- Corel Painter 8 (materials within the program: Pens - Flat Color, Airbrushing - Soft Airbrush 20)
Process: Here's the simplistic play by play of how I did this for those of you interested: First I sketched out my drawing idea and then inked over it with a .03 black pen, trying the comic style that often uses crosshatching. I used a brush tip pen to do the trees, which was definitely quicker at creating the look of leaves than had I gone in with a fine tip. I probably should just use a darker pencil next time since I eventually had to redo the ink lines in Painter anyway so that they could be layered over the color, so I will keep that in mind for my next drawing of this style.
In order to create the color I used the pen with flat color in Corel Painter to put a base down, and then went over it with the airbrush tool (Soft Airbrush 20) to add highlight and shadow. This was the first time experimenting with the airbrushing and I loved it, especially after not really enjoying the watercolor tool. I kept the opacity between 5-10% so that I could build up the lights and shadows, slowly creating depth. This also created an interesting blend of the crosshatching and typical shading tools that I use.
Idea Behind The Art: The original idea was just to start working with panels in my artwork, so this was just something I came up with that could be fun to make as I learned how to use my tablet as well. But eventually it became something more in my mind, and I came up with this idea about imagination. It probably would have worked better if I was 5 years old, but I am still a kid at heart considering I have that helmet to begin with, so the idea was just how the world changes through the eyes of someone exploring their imagination. The helmet comes on and the world is full of color, but when it is off we are back to the simple world.
Up Next: Still waiting for a commissioned pet portrait to come through, so I think I might go with Couple's Counseling #3: "Team Rivalry." Remember, if you have any ideas for that series then please feel free to share them!
Until Next Time! Lauren H.
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