Phew! I wasn't sure I was going to get this one finished on time to get it submitted for this week's Splinterlands Art Contest. But thankfully I did! So here is the Healer Mermaid, having a little bit of sunbathing fun on the beach!
Well, if you have seen my other art, you will immediately notice this one is quite different. I didn't have much of a plan or vision going into this one. I decided I was just going to wing it and have some fun. I searched around on Pinterest, using beach girls, and I believe, curvy girls was another search term I used, as I wanted this lovely healer mermaid to be a little fuller. The black and white tail sort of reminds me of Orcas, which are rounder visually.
So here you can see the original Splinterlands card art of the Healer Mermaid. And the photo I decided to go with as a reference. Now usually I start with a basic sketch, but this time I did both the basic sketch and immediately began to colour and fill the background.
The next step is of course to block in the base colours which better allows us to see what we are doing. You can see I altered the original Healer Mermaid's design a little, mostly the outfit. I just wanted it to be a little more playful, to match her expression.
From there we start the shading process which gives shape and depth to the mermaid. The hair starts to take shape, and the colour difference starts to add some detail to the fins.
Continuing the shading and detail adding, we add the eyes and define the nose. More details get added to the mouth. The hair gets more details with every pass, as I add more strands. Also, I started add the sand details around her hands.
And yes, the classic red on white, for a nurse or doctor. Now you can tell she is a designated healer.
And here we go, more details to the sand and water. If you have been on the beach, you will know that the damn sand tends to stick to you, so her lovely tail needed some sand. And as the water pulls back, it creates streaks and can also partly bury details. And of course, more shading!
And then more details, shading, and highlighting happen before I finally sign it and call it finished. I simply had to do one of the mermaids, as in the art community, it is Mermay. And I have never actually participated in that officially before. It's always just flown by before I even realised it's over. So at last! A Mermay Mermaid!
Ready to make a splash and participate in Splinterlands Art Contest Week 189!. You can find a lot of cool Splinterlands art being submitted every week, and it's great to see the different styles and mediums.
Thoughts?
What do you think of this style compared to the style with defined line art? Which do you prefer?
I'm still trying to find my own style and rhythm with art. With this piece I let myself work a bit more freely and play with a few different brushes.
Do you like realistic or more stylized art? Hmmm, sometimes my brain really does overthink everything!
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