I am thrilled to share another new piece from The Grand Bazaar of Ethra VanDalia! This illustration is for Book Two: The Completed Circle. This is one of the numerous pieces of spot art throughout the book. Depicted here are a pair of boots that have ended up wrapped around some wires. It is not so much the boots or the wire that is the story in this piece, but more of why when a species determines it collectively needs covering for its ambulatory appendages, within a short amount of time, they eventually end up tied together and placed somewhere far out of reach. This seems to be a universal manifestation, making it much more curious. I present Boots on a Wire.
Boots on a Wire
The Grand Bazaar of Ethra Dalia - The Completed Circle
8 x 10 - Pencil, ink, and acrylic paint on paper
Original - SOLD
© 2024 Christopher Burdett
Boots on a Wire - Drawing
8 x 10 - Pencil on paper
© 2024 Christopher Burdett
Related to my post last week regarding reference and inspiration, I wanted to add a few thoughts about this piece. I mentioned that a lot, if not all, of my personal work is autobiographical. This piece is no different. The boots are referenced from a pair of shoes I looked at every morning at the southernmost point of my morning walk. It ends at a small park, and above the greenway entrance was a pair of shoes slowly rotting. I use the past tense because in May, when our neighborhood was hit by two tornadoes, the polls, wires, and shoes were all destroyed. When I could return to the area on my walks, there were new polls and powerlines in the areas, and the shoes were long gone. I am grateful for taking a moment months ago to take several photos. In addition, the background is based on a photo I took on our last night in Venice, Italy, on our trip in May when the tornadoes were hitting our neighborhood. So, this piece has a lot of personal layers as well as the importance and connection to the book I am making.
This is one of the many pieces I completed so far this year. It has been a blur of pencil and paint. Nice to finally be sharing them. Here is a look at the sketch for the Boots on a Wire to show where it began.
Boots on a Wire - Sketch
Digital
© 2024 Christopher Burdett
As a bonus, I have some images of the rendering process of this piece so that you can get a better idea of it taking shape. I made a small mistake that couldn't be addressed in the piece and was corrected digitally. I wasn't watching close enough, and the lower right corner flares out a bit more than it should. I fixed it digitally, but on the original, you can tell that it curves out a bit at the bottom. No biggie, but I try to be a bit more careful than that.
Boots on a Wire - Process
© 2024 Christopher Burdett
That is all for another exciting Monday on the blog. See you back here on Wednesday! Until then...
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