I began with a simple sketch, and honestly I had no intent of taking this drawing all the way to the painting process, but sometimes you get caught up in the creative winds, and cant help yourself. That seed of creativity bloomed, when I decided to take it into photoshop, and develop it into something with more life.
First, I developed the pose a little more, fleshing out the arms, and finding the rhythm of the form. From there I developed the scene. I wanted it to look like a nubile planet, as her veil parts, she reveals her cosmic womb, and transcendental architecture awakens bringing life to this planet.
I originally wanted to to include the horns, but decided to make a drastic shift, as I wasn't happy with certain parts of the head. I wanted her hair to be reminiscent of old astrology illustrations, flowing, and fading back into the universe.
From there I developed the palette, I went down many corridors, and tried several different options, pulling my hair out through indecision. I let some time pass, and revisited the piece, as it was something I was struggling to find direction for. But one day inspiration struck. I was browsing space images, when the connection was made. Why not use the actual cosmos as a basis of my palette? So I took the image that was the basis for my inspiration, and through the magic of photoshop, plopped it on-top of my image, using the color layer+overlay layer. And viola, I was in love. This is a process known as matte painting, and though I generally try and stay away from it, sometimes the piece calls for it. Now, you cant just plop down an image, and have a finished piece, you still need a knowledge of lighting, and color theory to really pull this off effectively. Also, most of the base image gets painted over, as it is only intended to be used as a palette, otherwise it just looks like some strange photo-drawing.
From there, I was able to render out some of the necessary forms, add supplementary details + lighting, and really bring this piece to life. This is my favorite part of any piece, where you can really sink in, as basis of the piece is developed, you can be free and let your creativity flow. Sometimes it truly feels like you melt into the infinite, and are just a vessel etching new worlds, the way the rest of the cosmos is at all times.
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