A Reign of Hope

This photo is called Phantom Queen and has been the inspiration for more than one piece of artwork.

She has kind of been nagging me of late so chances are there will be a few more pieces to add to the Queen Collection.

As soon as I get at least Part One of HELL AND HIGH WATER published I plan to take a break from writing and get some art done.

That, my friend, is going to happen ASAP. Part One is just about ready to go - a final edit and I can get it into print.

As for the Queen artwork ... the colors aren't going to let me go. I've got to invest in massive quantities of cobalt blue and metallic gold.

I've got a big square canvas staring me in the face. 

I've got it reversed, an experiment to see how it works to do my 'sculpted', high textured paintings within the protection offered by the framing of the stretched canvas. My thought is that I can then add glass to the framing without damaging the painting.

It's worth an experiment.

At any rate, a couple of things are in my head at the moment, both of them based on the above photo.

One is to do aspen leaves in gold over a cobalt background, of various sizes scattered all over the place.

The other is to use the texturing and see what I can come up with in terms of an interpretive piece of the Queen.

We shall see what we shall see.

My first step is going to be to get the back (actually the front, but in this case it's going to be the back) of the canvas coated with stabilizing paint - several coats I'm thinking, of plain white. Then a top coat or two of that liquid rubber I have for my boots. It dries to a blue color that I'm hoping won't clash with the cobalt. It will be on the back and won't really matter, but it's the principle of the thing.

And my gut tells me to do the Queen painting first so that's probably what I'll do.

I can get the photo into my projector and use it for a guide. Because the 'experiment' my sister talked me into trying fell flat on its face, I'm going back to using plaster. It will mean working very fast and not having any wiggle room for 'fixing' but will be worth it.

The texturing means I'll have the bulk of the painting done in white on white (plaster over white paint with another coat - or two - of white paint over the top of the plaster to help protect it). Once that's done all I have to do is put the colors on.

I'm only going to do the central stand ... the trees off to the sides aren't going to be there - I think. To get the square instead of the photo's rectangle I'll just carry the sky and ground out to the sides leaving the Queen centered.

Yep.

That ought to do it.

Because it's an interp piece I don't have to follow any rules.

The cobalt can go straight down to the bottom of the frame if I want and I can just leave the ground totally out of the picture if I want. White and black for the trunks, gold for the leaves. The texturing will make the 'front' leaves pop but I can still use shading and highlighting to emphasize the depth.

So that's what's on my agenda.

What the Queen will actually decide she wants remains to be seen. For all I know she'll just opt for gold highlights over cobalt including the trunks.

Yep.

Gotta get this Story done I surely do.

Dunnottar getting close to being cover ready

Yeah it's a little hazy there - I was going to re-shoot the photo, then looked again and realize I kind of like the look ... go figure. I will have to do the finishing touches on this piece and get another photo of the final thing, but this will do to go on until then.

The portraits of the Younglings of Dunnottar are also works in progress ... rough pencil sketches with colors added, similar to this process - pencil, seal, tint, seal, pencil, seal, tint, seal ... ad nauseum, ad infinitum LOL !!! Not really; it just seems that way!

Most of the portraits have their first tints; everything is experimental, learning as I go along here ... Merri, for example is going to get her mother Alianora's hair instead of the straight hair the sketch shows, just because; Diann's tinting needs toning down and touching up - her hair's too bright; Dothann's is going to need its hair fixed; Corrbed, however, may well be finished as is - I'm afraid to touch it for fear of messing it up ... Brann and Rua are still pencil sketches. So all you get to see here with any color is Corrbed - the others might shoot me if I put them up before they're ready to go. When they are ready, the current plan is for them to go onto the cover photo with Dunnottar centered among them. 

Here are the pencil sketches of the Younglings:

My Lord! Look at the eyes on that boy! Not his natural color here - those are even more stunning.

These are my current works in progress, and joy it is to work on them!

Experimenting for the Youngling Cover

Yeah, I know ... 

'Really, Shiela? Experimenting NOW? On a COVER? AGAIN?!'

Um ...

This time I'm conducting my experiment in an orderly fashion, I'll have you know.

*laughing*

I've got the horses and ponies sketched onto the 4x6 foot painting fabric, and instead of trying to remember what worked and how I did the ones for Perth and Tarnos, I've decided to not experiment directly with the big one.

So I've got myself a dish towel stretched onto my window frame easel (ironed this time, believe it or not) and am going to sketch the basic outlines onto that and go with the paint. 

This might take a while.

Here's a photo of the blank 'canvas' for you to gaze at while I go sketch.

# time gap

Okay, this is how I do some of the paintings. My own 'style' being more on the abstract or impressionistic side, when I want the conformation and such to be more 'accurate' I cheat. Pulling up the photo I want to enlarge on my computer screen, I hook the computer up to my handy dandy projector.

I can make the image any size I want, from big enough to fill the 4x6 foot painting 'frame' that I like, to small, to in between like the following photo. This is the image projected onto the fabric stapled to the window screen easel (three window screens hinged together, but I'm only using the top of one of the screens for this). Whatever's on my computer screen is what shows up.

I've had to do things the hard way for so long that I automatically take that route first, no matter what. I know that trying to draw on low thread count fabric is not going to work well. I always try it anyhow.

Then I try to make it easier by trying to seal it, this time with a spray sealant.

While I was waiting for the sealant to dry, it dawned on me that I've got part of a roll of actual canvas, so out I rolled it in my sewing room and cut a hunk to fit the screen easel.

Having neither the time nor the patience to get the heavier canvas 'stretched' onto the screen easel, which isn't exactly designed for any such thing, I looked around for another alternative. In front of my eyes sat a stack of pre-stretched canvases. These are the ones I use for pencil sketches of actual people, but really ... there's no law that I know of that says I can't sketch book covers on them. 

And so I did. 

Hung one on the pegs I put onto one of the screens for exactly that purpose, adjusted the projected image, and it took a whole ten minutes or so to get the horses and ponies sketched in.

Not only can I sketch more easily on the pre-stretched canvas, I can paint on it, too.

That means this experiment can continue with the dawn's early light as I try to figure out how to get Merri's Percheron a fiery red chestnut, Diann's Arabian white, Corrbed's Arabian black, Dothann's Welsh Pony a sort of bay, Brann's Welsh a gold palomino, and Rua's Shetland dapple grey. 

I have a plan, really I do. It's an experimental plan, but it MIGHT work!

Mm-hmmm.

I see those heads shaking and those brows raising.

Oh ye of little faith!

What is life but an adventure?

Yup.

And this one is only just beginning.

What I would like to know is how on God's green earth I'm going to get any details at all onto the faces of the Younglings who are destined to ride these steeds. They'll be about the size of a quarter ... thank goodness I have a very good pencil sharpener.

Ah well, I'll fret about it tomorrow.

'After all, tomorrow is another day.'

If I'm to be up by dawn's early light, I'd best find some rest.

*laughing*

I just thought to check the 'sealed' fabric - it actually seems to have maybe done some good, so I can use that one to test the colors on!

By the time I'm done experimenting this book cover is going to have half a dozen preliminary experimental versions!