"Fertile Worlds".....23

Added some more colors here and there - red earth, raw umber, emerald and light greens, sepia, and flaming orange...  once dry, further layerings will go over, refining further the rocks and vegetations...

"Fertile Worlds".....22

Have begun with coloring the figure, tho of course nowhere finished...   using FW flesh, sepia, flame orange, raw umber, both glazing and mixing wet-on-wet, slowly smoothing out the lit/shade areas...

and a wee more work on it...

"Fertile Worlds".....21

And the coloring has begun, first with the grasses in the shade of the trunk...

As well as the rest of the grasses on the right...

The Grisaille and the Color Influence...

In terms of influence, Maxfield Parrish ranks high regarding his grisaille technique, tho I never cared for oils [ too messy, stinky, and expensive]...  but in utilizing his technique with acrylics, colored pencil, and colored inks - as in the ongoing Fertile Worlds - it helps seeing how he dealt with it, and why it has always fascinated me from the time I first discovered it in the 70's...

http://www.bpib.com/illustrat/parrishc.htm

I mention this because someone has remarked on the figure with 

'blue skin' , as if not understanding that a grisaille is an under coat, and the end result is like to this, a close-up from "The Sighting"...

Still ticking...

Just a note am back from the op, so further renderings will shortly be resumed...

A first for me - have discovered, after a few weeks of WIPs, that the theme/title used identifying this rendering is different in my personal blogspot than is the case here...   and each is quite acceptable in the theming...  which, then, to use - and more importantly, why...   for the nonce, am continuing with Fertile Worlds if for no other reason than that it is a product from my imagination [tho quite possible it originated from seeing photos of the world around me long many years ago]...  being it as such from my imagination, am more inclined to see it as a visualization of some mental worlds, rather than actual places long ago seen, which would then be more as lands...  a small point, to be sure, but important in getting one's orientation correct in the creativity process - even as it most likely will result in 'fertile lands' becoming used for another imagined place in a far distant area of my imagination, and more likely a constructed one at that...  conundrums within conundrum and wheels within wheels, huh...   the joy of how metaphoric relationships work, and possibilities unlimited in the expressionings...

"Fertile Worlds".....20

The background is now done on the left side...

The background is now done on the right side...

And the grisaille is essentially done...   the sea area will just have to wait, as with the birds and the sky...  and the coloring, of course...

"Fertile Worlds".....19

The left side of the islet is now done, leaving just the rock isle behind on the left, and the distant mounds and cityscapes on the horizon...  then more grass, and the light wash shading, perhaps, if time before I shut down to get ready to go for the hip op Tuesday morn...

And the rock isle is now done......    the rest, such as it'll be, will be done tomorrow...

"Fertile Worlds".....18

Am now into doing the islet, beginning with the right side - and the figure with an inviting mode...   how much of the foreground grasses will be laid remain to be seen - as is a balancing of the truncated rendering, since the indication of ground in the fore  is already down...

There is also the question of washes, seen on the figure - is it to be on other parts? a good chance, as it is a light version of shading, for light areas [which is why used on the figure]...  it is still being done with the pen and nib, so a large area is not to be seen, yet many small ones could become so [such as some of the grass blades, and perhaps some of the ridges of the tree]...  in any event, this will be decided after the rest is all rendered - the left side of the islet, the rock islet, and the distant mounds and cityscape outlines...

"Fertile Worlds".....17

The deep shade of the tree will be in two sections - the intensely dark, what is now seen - and another which, while still dark, shows some reflected outside light from beyond, thus giving some measure of 'roundness' to the trunk...  some of this sense of depth can be seen thru the grasses which line the border of the bottom of the rendering, giving ground to the tree, even as it is obviously at an edge of land...   this way the tree can be 'trimmed' and more to the left of center at the same time, yet not making it too top-heavy...  there is more work yet to be done on the middle area, molding a roundness of sorts too, but not quite so starkly...

"Fertile Worlds".....16

Have now done the lit side of the trunk, and some of the grasses at the base, as well as beginning the islet, showing the 'belly' as it were seen from the left of the trunk...  next is to get the rest of the trunk down, and the right side of the islet, including the figure, then go back and finish the left side [and the fore grasses on the right]...

"Fertile Worlds".....15

A wee bit done on the trunk, beginning to shape it some, removing a bit of the supposed flatness of its initial look...  still using the same nib as before...

"Fertile Worlds".....14

Poor photo but does show the leaves now done all across the top...   next - the rest of the trunk, and the grasses across the bottom...

"Fertile Worlds".....13

Another section of leave done, leaving hopefully only one more  section to get out of the way by end of tomorrow...   then down the trunk and the grasses...  and, if time then, more of the deep shade part under these leaves, and their lighter back end parts....

"Fertile Worlds".....12

Adding more of the leaves, and getting close to the 'home stretch' on leaves...   hopefully, the rest can be done by the end of tomorrow - then be on to the rest of the trunk, and the grasses...   of course, there's the rear leaves to play with as well, and indeed some will be done right along with getting those on the right done - some will be extreme darkened shad, while some below those will be very sunlit...

"Fertile Worlds".....11

Getting a few more leaves down, continuing further across the top, setting us the variations of bulk and shadings among the various implied sections within the sections of leaves...









Spent the day putting up shelves in the bedroom, so ended up being too tired to do any rendering - will get back to finishing the leaves Sunday [I hope...]...

"Fertile Worlds".....10

Am now back to doing the rest of the leaves...

"Fertile Worlds".....9

Forgot to upload this last night, so a day seems to have been skipped - not quite...   am, as seen, down on the trunk proper now, working my way across, back and forth, into the deep shade area on the right, but mostly on the lit section, as there be much more detail seen there than will be in the shade part...  once get below the 'hole' part, all across, will then get to the last branch, on the right, and be getting that much of the shade area before going again to the leaves...

And did manage some today, tho less than anticipated, due to other affairs...

Note that the unexpected end to the mural is on the right - a real surprise to discover the canvas is only a partial roll, and so this will be about a 5 footer instead of an 8...  which makes for a number of changes - and not the least that the tree, tho a focal point, is in the middle, not as originally wanted, to the left...   and also that the islet will needs become a wee truncated - tho there will push it over so that some shows on the left side of the trunk, in front of the rock isle, thus better giving a sense of distance between those two, as well as keeping as much of the sense of width as originally intended... otherwise, am hoping that the rest will come out much as envisioned...

"Fertile Worlds".....8

Not much done today, as was spending time building bookshelves, and unpacking boxes of books...  however, did manage to get down to the trunk proper...  next is getting those branches filled and connected to the trunk as well, then going down the right side to where the fore grasses will be - and then across left to the rest of the trunk...

"Fertile Worlds".....7

Working my way across the branches, then down to the trunk...

"Fertile Worlds".....6

Another session and this whole area will be done...  then can get on with doing the tree branches, so to give it all a touch to base - then be back to the leaves, doing the rest across the right of the canvas...   then - going over one more time to get the shading of the main areas, giving as such more volume to them...

And this section of the leaves is finished...   now to get on with doing the branches of the tree...

"Fertile Worlds".....5

A lot of running around done today for various reasons, so not as much rendering as would had been - still, managed a noticeable more...

Despite much claim am doing immense detailing, must confess is mostly an illusion - indeed, seen in close-up, one notices it is a bit more in the way of impressionism than precisionism...   still, it is true that in standing away a wee, there 'seems' an immense amount of detail, which suffices for me...

"Fertile Worlds".....4

It has reached the point of standing away some to get the amount done - but this angle shows the sense of size of the rendering, which is good...   there was not as much accomplished this round, tho did get over to the right edge of the section - the next being the large one of the fore, encompassing across the rest of the right, with some seen underneath of the other side...  when this section of leaves is finished, will get on to some of the upper branches, filling them in, and thus getting a better grasp of the tree...

"Fertile Worlds".....3

Managed to get the one section done and indications of another this afternoon, despite  the duplex getting a 'facelift' today [and prob tomorrow, if not yet one more day], with all the attendant noise...   

And this addition covers it for today...