Friday, January 23, 2009

Illustration Friday: Climbing

This climbing chameleon graced my holiday card a few years back. Below you'll see some of the preliminary work that led to the final illustration. From top to bottom: an early color sketch, the final pencil drawing and some practice tree branches.

FYI: The final illustration is a mix of watercolor and colored pencil and maybe a little India Ink(?).

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love his expression :) Great detail too!

Matthew Smith said...

wow! amazing illo and technique!!

Laura said...

This is a great illustration! The color and comp are very nice.

Cynthia Narcisi said...

Really great work! I like the pieces on your site too!

Roberta said...

Love your walleyed chameleon!!!

Malachi Ward said...

Great use of the color pencil. I always love seeing somebody's process too

John B. Watson said...

Definitely a stand-out piece amoung your illustrations and unique subject matter for a Christmas card. Very appropriate for this week's IF topic. The reflections on the bulb are particularly cool. Nice to see some of the preliminary steps that led to the final image.

konvalia said...

absolutely love it!!!

John said...

I absolutely love this......detail his look the color everything about this works. Great illustration.

joseph's art and stuff said...

awesome work! everything is working on this, love the sketches as well!

trowbridge chronicles said...

I can really appreciate the time that you invest in your work. Very nice illustrtration.

Anonymous said...

This is gorgeous. I hope the recipients appreciated receiving this card! Thanks for including your sketches and all. I love seeing how the work develops.

A question if you don't mind - what do you use to help you figure out accurate positioning of a creature if you've got them in an unnatural position or don't have reference photos or sketches of them posed a certain way? I know some people make 3D models to pose them. What is your trick? Thanks!

Brine Blank said...

Wow...I'm torn between the pencil sketch and the final colored version...very nice on both counts!

Robert Squier said...

Hi Gabrielle,

Thanks for your question! My drawing process can be described as "trial and error". Sometimes I sketch a character 5 - 10 times before I find the perfect pose!

I also look at lots of pictures of the creature I'm drawing (including images of its skeleton). Occasionally I make simple 3D models (sometimes out of my kneaded eraser!).

Hope that helps!

Thanks everyone for stopping by–I appreciate your comments!

theartofpuro said...

Great illo and great style,love the composition and colours

Anonymous said...

Very wonderful card. I always do a photo of my kids. Hey, I also like the lady bug in your header. He's better than mine. Well, maybe just different.

Anonymous said...

That's great - what a brilliant idea! I think you chose the perfect expression - I guess he doesn't like red. He wouldn't like my Christmas tree either. :)