🐉 Creating a series of illustrations from scratch 🐉 (Patreon)

Hello Patrons !

I am going to have my first solo show in Japan later this year (at L Gallery, Hiroshima), and still have to create a bunch of paintings before mid September !
The process is long and complicated for me, because I don't really feel comfortable being pressured to create - and I thought sharing it with you would allow me to understand it better !

1. Concept ideas

I found that the best way for me to be creative and productive is to make series of  illustrations around the same theme (just like I did with the Celestial Friends illustrations) :

This time, I thought I'd use a limited color palette (that was the main goal for this series), and started thinking about aesthetic that I like that only has one or two colors. And I remembered how fascinated with Chinese ceramics/porcelain from the Ming & Qing dynasties I was. The hand painted blue designs on plates, vases... are just so beautiful and the details so meticulous. 

2. Reference pictures

I looked at pictures on Pinterest for a few days, and decided to use the dragon as a main focus (it's the Emperor's emblem and symbolizes good luck, power, a favorable environment and nobility of soul). I like to know what symbols mean so I can "play" around with them. Using reference pictures is the best way to respect the original designs.

3. First sketches

Once I understood how the dragons looked and occupy the space, I was able to start scribbling some ideas in my sketchbook. Since I knew I wanted to make 3 illustrations again, I sketched a few ideas and picked my 3 favorite. 

Let's use this little sketch to make an illustration :

4. Clean sketch (using Procreate of my iPad)

I start by using the quick first sketch as a reference and add details over it on my iPad. The sketches I do on my iPad are going to be very helpful for the actual painting on paper so I try to make them as detailed as possible.

Here I am trying to find the perfect shape for the dragon - nothing felt right :

Until I realized it needed some structure to be more geometric, so I drew a square and circles to help me make a better composition :

Finished sketch :

5. Picking a color palette

The color palette is very important for me, because I like my illustrations to look simple yet harmonious. The point of this series of painting was to use a very limited color palette, so of course I went with blue and grey with a little bit of pink & red to balance the whole thing (I love to create a contrast with colors, too !).

That's it ! Here's the first sketch for this Dragon series. I want the characters to have a Dragon friend, I also want to pay homage to art and of course, have fun with the shapes and details from these amazing Chinese paintings 💙

I don't know if you like this kind of posts, let me know ! It's nice to take the time to write down my thoughts and creative process ! 🥰 it will be a good reminder for when I don't feel creative, and I hope it can help you too !

Thanks again for your support on Patreon !! 💙🌷✨

Hugs,

Sibylline