Hello lovelies :)
Happy Easter everyone! Just a chill Sunday for me and family. Bringing you another digital piece today :) This is 'Nocturnal'.
I'm absolutely obsessed with drawing owls. I love figuring out the flow of the feathers and capturing the intricate little details of little patterns and their expressions. As usual, I do my digital pieces in photoshop. This is mostly un-referenced and took about 6-7 hours time in total, in several sittings within two weeks.
Here is the process:
I wanted to draw attention on both the expressions of the woman and the owl, hence focusing on most details on their faces and giving her a simple flowy gown for an "earthly, free-spirited" presence. I did this piece in grayscale so I could play around and concentrate on the values (light and shadow). Painting in grayscale is a great way to practice values, but I don't recommend always doing that because you'll get too comfortable and may be intimidated on exploring colours. (I often still am too)
A little backstory: This is quite a personal piece for me. Painting this particular piece was one of the most peaceful experience ever, it was free-flowing, I took time and patience to explore and experiment with what worked and what didn't. (You can see in the process video that I constantly altered the owl)
Everything from the way she is leaning on the owl to how it's looking at her/the viewer is intended. Her stance says love, comfort, trust, she is devoutly connected to her companion. At the same time the owl's gaze says "I am her guardian, her protector, I belong to her and her to me".
* cue death stare *
Final Artwork
I hope you liked this personal piece and the process of painting this :) Subscribe to my youtube channel if you want to see more, I intend to post every two weeks. Feel free to ask any questions about my process, I love to share!
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Love,
