Today I am sharing the process and steps that went into the
Marketplace painting that I created last year. This painting is part of
The Grand Bazaar of Ethra VanDalia project and helped with creating the
(Irritated) Girasol as well as a little bit of world-building on my end. This piece led to many of my ideas finally coming together regarding the Grand Bazaar and helped kick off my major push to focus almost entirely on this project. To start things off, here is how the final painting of Marketplace turned out.
Marketplace
11 x 14 - Acrylic on board
Original - NFS
© 2016 Christopher Burdett
Even with my work, there is always a digital thumbnail(s) to start things off. I shot my reference as needed and work out my ideas digitally till everything is working, and I have enough to move forward into my final drawing. When it is a personal piece, I am only ever working on one thumbnail since I respond directly to what I am working on and do not need to show an art director multiple ideas and concepts. I very much went into this piece with an intended plan and vision. I wanted the shadow to fall over the face of the
Girasol, with her eyes glowing in the darkness. Her items for sale would surround her, and I hoped the piece would be a quiet moment as the Girasol waited for customers. I did consider some legs of customers to be in the extreme foreground, but I did not go with it since legs would detract from the main figure and complicate the piece unnecessarily. Here is my thumbnail for Marketplace.
Marketplace - Thumbnail
11 x 14 - Digital
© 2016 Christopher Burdett
All in all, it was a straightforward concept. I knew how my wife needed to pose for the image, and I think it all came together in the thumbnail. With everything working, it was time to work all the details and flesh out the piece as a finalized drawing.
Marketplace - Drawing
14 x 17 - Acrylic on board
Original - Currently not available
© 2016 Christopher Burdett
With the drawing completed, it was time to get to work on the painting, which became the most challenging part of the piece. Actually, the most challenging part was the early stage - the ugly stage - of the painting. It was just not coming together, and the entire piece was just not working. I thought I had it all worked out, but pieces were not falling into place. I spun my wheels with the background and color choices for way too long. I work back to front, and I was bogged down in the back with no clear way to work up to the front. I finally began to make progress when I switched gears, really focused on my reference, and started fresh with the foreground elements of the bowls and baskets. That was the eureka moment, and the entire painting began to come together for me. I focused on something I could look at and relate to, and the rest of the painting then responded to those initial referenced pieces. I changed some elements along the way and made sure everything was working better together. You should see the struggle in the process images and how things began to change once I started working on the foreground elements.
Marketplace - Process progression
Once that fruit bowl took shape, painting came together. I never expected that I would have so much fun painting those bowls, but I did. Here is an animated progression of the painting to get a better look at the evolution of the piece.
Marketplace - Animated process
As mentioned before, this was the first appearance of the
(Irritated) Girasol. I would revisit her when I created the official drawing that would be used for the chapter on the Irritated Girasol in the book. Here is the final drawing for the Irritated Girasol.
Irritated Girasol
11 x 14 - Pencil on paper
© 2017 Christopher Burdett
Finally, another look at the final painting for the Marketplace to see how it compares to the
Irritated Girasol. Keep in mind these are not the same Girasol. The Grand Bazaar of Ethra VanDalia will share more about the Girasol people and why they are irritated. More on this in the coming months!
Marketplace
11 x 14 - Acrylic on board
Original - NFS
© 2016 Christopher Burdett
That is all for another exciting Wednesday on the blog, see you back here on Friday! Until then...
