Monday, 5 July 2010

How it came together

Whilst painting 'The Pieces Are Coming together' I took a number of photographs of my process. I am presenting them here in chronological order.

As is usual for me I worked from back to front, with the strongest highlights, from the magical effect, being added last.










The Pieces Are Coming Together


Acrylic. Approx 14" x 19.5"
Original Artwork for Sale: £500
© Wizards of the Coast.

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9 comments:

  1. Lance Red5 July 2010 at 20:24

    Thank you for sharing more of your painting process! I really like this painting; the detail, the composition, and the energy it has. About how long did this piece take to create?

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  2. mikeburns@mikeburnsart.com5 July 2010 at 22:38

    I really enjoy seeing these step-by-steps, thanks for posting them!

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  3. Ralph Horsley6 July 2010 at 09:59

    Lance; Thanks very much. This took about a day to sketch, then a further 2-3 days to paint.

    Mike; I have beeb trying to get into the habit of taking more photos as I go, and am suitably gratified they are found to be interesting ;)

    Thanks.

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  4. Nasan Hardcastle7 July 2010 at 22:54

    These process posts you've shared have been great! I never concidered masking thing out while working in acrylics before.

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  5. Ralph Horsley9 July 2010 at 00:21

    Thanks Nathan. I certainly have more of these to post, and will attempt to include a bit more explanation with the next.

    Masking off can be very liberating. No more painting up the lines ;)

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  6. Dann13 July 2010 at 00:31

    Thanks Ralph, that was great, I'm a real fan of your work. Am I right to think that the second to last image is where you stop the acrylics and move to digital? I'm also curious about the amount of planning and drawing that goes into it all. Do you have the final image detailed and firmly in mind before you start to paint? Thanks again.

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  7. Ralph Horsley13 July 2010 at 13:03

    Hi Dann,

    The last image is the final piece, after it has been scanned and colour corrected. The digital photos could have been tweaked to make them look a bit more like the original, as the jump to digital wasn't quite as dramatic as it appears here.

    The sketch is firmly resolved, and detailed before beginning the painting. Similarly I have a clear colour scheme in my heda, or quickly mapped out digitaly. This is necessary working traditionally, as you can't readily go back and change things, nor do yo uwant to be 'making it up' as you go laong. However there is scope for subtle changes of direction, and fortuitous discovery along the way.

    Glad this was useful.

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  8. Tyler James20 September 2010 at 23:17

    Thanks for posting more of your process. Since I work digitally I'm always intrigued by the limitations of traditional painting. Great work!

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  9. Ralph Horsley21 September 2010 at 12:15

    Thanks Tyler. Working traditionally does offer quite different opportunities, and constraints.

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