the mermaid and the deep sea diver

So I have finished my little watercolor studies. Ideally they would be super simplified but I wanted to flesh them out. I think I will probably stick with the first one for Reality Not Included 2 but I want to take some of the others to finish for myself. 

 This one is the most interesting one to me.

 I like the mermaids face and hair in this one. Other parts need work.

 I want to take this one to finish as well.

The original watercolor of this didn't turn out so good so I digitally reworked it to make it feel better.

watercolor study

I'm working out some ideas for a piece I want to submit for Reality Not Included 2. I've done a study from one of the thumbnails. It has some anatomy/foreshortening problems to work out. I think I want to play with some of the others too. I should probably do more thumbnails too...

IF-Myth (iPad Art- fish tail)

Mermaids are a myth, right?

So, I got an iPad with Retina for an early Christmas present! I invested in a couple nice styli and several art apps to try out. I just made this one in Procreate App which I like quite a bit. Another App I like for recording ideas, coming up with concepts, or just playing, is Paper by 53. So far I'm very pleased with my purchases.

map sketchbook

I made this book something like three years ago. I harvested the paper from some beautiful outdated aerial maps that were going to be tossed. I've always loved this book but never been certain what to do with it until recently. I painted these in gouache to get a nice opaque color, sometimes I used colored pencils if I want something more transparent. These are so much fun to do!  Enjoy!

Sea Dwarf

Hooray, I finally scanned my work from last semester!

This was for one of my classes I got to pick my assignments, which was cool. This one goes along with my selkie painting. I was reading Scandinavian Folktales and really enjoyed reading a story about a man's experience with a sea dwarf. I guess a sea dwarf is like a leprechaun of the sea, he is human on top and seal on bottom (almost like a mermaid). He's very mischievous and very tricky. Things didn't end well for the man who caught him, but then I'm not sure if it was the sea dwarfs fault or his own. I read it in a book or else I would post the link.

This is a color study I did by coloring my thumbnail in Photoshop. Even though it's just a thumbnail, I really like it. It has nice texture.

Oh and here are some fun watercolor studies I did while watching Disney's Oceans.

selkie girl

Here is a painting I did not too long ago that I am very happy with. I entered it into to competitions in hope of getting in, but alas, it was for all for not... Nevertheless, I am still pleased with it. Watercolor on 190lb. Arches watercolor paper. She is a selkie, a seal that turns into a human. Some one has stolen her sealskin so she can't turn back into a seal.