Sacred Black: An Art Order Challenge Entry

I've been following The Art Order for awhile now and have wanted to participate in the challenges, but hadn't yet... until NOW! This challenge was a cover for F(r)iction #2, an art and literary collection. The guidelines were the color blue, surreal in nature, and inspired by the mysteries within the murky depths of the ocean. It was time to get sketching!

I've been reading Pale Blue Dot by Carl Sagan, so of course the mysteries of the cosmos was on my mind. I think it's interesting how there are so many unknowns in the vastness of both space and the oceans right here on our blue planet. I started sketching a concept of a woman looking up into the sky which would transition to a strange, deep-sea mermaid within her imagination.

In the book, Sagan mentions the idea of "sacred black" and I was hooked on that phrase. He connects the adventure, awe and draw of the blue skies on our planet to the vast blackness of space. The chapter also goes into the different colors of the skies on various planets and how color works, so of course I was intrigued. I had my title. I still wanted to work in the girl staring at the stars and sky, but was finding it difficult to work as a cover. I was also concerned my concept of the mysteries of space and the ocean being connected might not be read well.

Some mermaid sketches and notes.

 

I decided to scrap the girl staring at the sky and instead focus on space meshing with sea. I'm also interested in black holes and the many unknowns about that phenomena, so I decided that would be the space connection. This way the illustration would focus on the deep sea mermaid and not be torn between two main characters.

Some final notes and planning.

Then it was drawing time!

Coffee is essential

I wasn't quite sure what pose I wanted the mermaid to be in, so after sketching some small thumbnails of mermaids in movement, I decided to get up and take some poses!

Posing. Posing with my arm. Posing...

Sketching from my references.

Then many coffees later....

The finished drawing!

Once I liked the drawing, it was time to ink.

Finished ink.

Then... PHOTOSHOP TIME. 

I listened to a lot of Coast to Coast AM.

And voila! The finished product!

Dat bioluminescence.

The Art Order challenge is still open for two more days, until June 14th! So if you have the time or a piece ready that fits, submit your work! 

Reference Informs and Inspires: Jellyfish are Awesome

Another post in the series "Reference Informs and Inspires!" I have quite the collection of reference photos I've shot over the years in various places and I thought it would be fun to share these. Reference is so important to artists and illustrators, both for specifics and inspiration.

Today's reference comes from my trip last summer to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. This is a pretty sweet aquarium. If you're anywhere near Monterey, it's totally worth the drive (although I'm not sure if I personally would travel a very long distance JUST for the aquarium). If you're in Northern California or plan on visiting anytime soon, make sure you take this place into consideration!

beautiful sea anemones... 

There are plenty of exhibits and displays in the aquarium, but I was really there for the jellies. They did not disappoint.

their color and movement was beautiful to watch...

I hadn't realized how many different variations of jellyfish there are...

I loved the squashiness of this one, especially how it changed in appearance when it moved.

These were super transparent and gorgeous. I'm pretty sure they were called ghost jellyfish or something.

It was a great experience and I took a ton of reference photos--although I still feel like I could have taken more. I was visiting with family so I felt a little bad dragging behind taking my 90th picture... but there's just so much to see!

If these photos inspire you I'd love to see what you create!