Postcards: Almost Watership Down

Looking at artists like Nick Bantock and Alexandra de Kempf, I feel like I need to work on more complex backgrounds for my collage.  I have a Brownie on my work table; why not try that?  

But that's not the point, right?  This is a background, dammit, and I need to add stuff.  So add stuff I did.

Postcards: Erasers On Our Pencils

This is one of my recent favorites.  I have a copy of Fallout Protection: What to Know and Do About Nuclear Attack.  I bought it to chop it up for collage, but so far I have been unable to.  

I really like this illustration.  It's not quite six inches wide, so I thought I'd redraw it to match the scale of the blank postcards.

You know me, it needs more.  I pulled in another quote from the Bluejackets' Manual, but then felt I needed a third element.  Boom!  Add a jewel encrusted skull.

Postcard: Look, O'Malley

Look at this dog's unsettling eyes.  It looks like a painting a Scooby Doo villain is hiding behind.

Then there's this guy.  He was offering his opinion on fallout shelters before I cut him out.

A couple of chops...

and now he is a picture with a Scooby Doo-esque villain behind it.

And then some texture-y stuff.

Barista Powers: Queueing, and You

Postcards: Aaron's Moth

After painting Dagny's Moth, I had moth fever!  And by that I mean I knew I had to paint at least  one more.  So I went with this guy.

The Isabella Tiger Moth, the end result of the Woolybear.  See all those gradations?  That subtlety?  Subtlety is my natural enemy, but I went for it anyway.

Kick off with the usual "does this fit here."

Get some colors in there.

The right wing is what I was aiming for, but I accidentally darkened the left wing too much.  It was very disheartening.

I decided to darken the right wing to even things out, and then move forward.

 

From there, just some finishing touches.  I emphasized some shadows to make edges clearer, and the antenna were added in with white paint.

Barista Powers: Shake It Out Shake It Out Ooh Whoa

Postcards: Dagny's Pet Moth

Dagny found two cocoons.  When the first one hatched, it was a male polyphemus.  She posted this picture of it on her hand, which I used as my primary reference.

As usual (but not always), I began with just trying to make sure it all fit on the card.

That looked pretty good. I know things always move around a bit as I add color; might as well start laying down some paint.

The background in the primary reference photo looks good in the photo, but I was not confident I could lay down my greys in a way that looked good.  To add a little interest, I went with a background inspired by the next photo she posted of the moth.  Here the translucency of the wings is apparent, but I don't think I have the skills yet to pull it off.  

It was at this point I asked myself why I had decided to draw in the screen.