The Birth of Timebird

My sister, Karen, is a writer. She wrangles her words over at KarenElizabethBrown, her writer's blog. 


Recently Karen joined a crazy fun challenge called the A to Z Challenge, where one must write a post for 26 days straight, using the corresponding letter of the alphabet as the base of the topic.

I was happy to be able to help out on "A" day by lending some images demonstrating the process by which a painting comes to life, and Karen used this as a great analogy for the writing process.

What intrigued me was a comment a reader left, describing the process as a "painting being born". Being born! I loved that... the idea of a "birth".

I don't know about other artists, but I suspect most of us feel very much that way... it's our "baby"!

So... I thought you might enjoy seeing another birth! I hope you enjoy the peek behind the curtain. :-) 

I don't have sketches from the very beginning, but you can see some of the process below, including my expensive pencil holder--the spam can! :-D

 (Can click any pic to enlarge)

Here's my set up with the Caran d'Ache Neocolor II's used plus some watercolor pencils, on black illustration board.

At one point, I ran it through photoshop, to check values, and adjusted as needed.

 At this stage, there is no water yet. Just the neocolor II's and WC pencils.

 Almost ready for water.

 Starting to carefully brush on water.

 More water, more neocolor II highlights and color adjustments.

 Final color tweaks and all done... Timebird is born!

Happy painting,

Retta