Virtues- guides to to a balanced, happy and fulfilled life.
I'm really happy with how this project turned out, I used to find drawing bodies
Ascension
She is the flow of life with each breath and exhale- the awareness found in the mind in the present moment. Soaring the infinite skies, beyond materialism and body. Surrender all fears and dreams to her to discover contentment and serenity. She is patient and understanding, but also sincere and candid. She inspires through her actions, giving life purpose.
https://superrare.co/artwork-v2/ascension-19098
Ascension came first, it was a commissioned by https://twitter.com/Ioannis_AG several months back, the art and style was up to me with no deadline.
When I was half done with Ascension I decided to paint more characters with this style, so I made a set with different poses and wings. They are inspired by the traditional virtues- Faith, Hope and Love, and my mom and grandma were named Hope and Love.
I started with the traditional Ascension pose- upright floating with hands stretched out. However it didn't feel personal or relatable to me, I folded the legs, which inspired me to change to pose to meditative one. I don't meditate enough, but whenever I meditate regularly, it has a profoundly positive effect on me just like working out which requires dedication and energy.
The first part of marking pose and light source doesn't take long. However, detailing all of the wings, skin and clouds takes a surprising amount of time. At least it's relaxing and
I had to make a few reference photos for how the hands and feet are positioned in each painting.
I also did some photo studies of hands from Pinterest: the following was #21 of my 2021 daily drawings:
2021-Daily #19, body photo study. This was based on a photo reference, but I used my own color palette.
For the Virtues I used various references, maybe 10 per body- arms, legs, breasts, stomach, because I made up my own poses and I avoid using a single reference for my personal work, otherwise it's just another photo study. As I mentioned I took some photos on my own as well, to get a better sense of perspective, foreshortening and lighting. The muscles aren't perfectly rendered, but I'm happy with the results as it's original work and I look forward to creating more characters in the future.
I began with a quick line sketch, but then I use a big brush to define shapes as it gives a better sense of volume than line art. This method is great if you don't want to have any lineart in your final work.
I barely use eraser-only on the edges, instead I keep painting over mistakes until I'm happy with the result.
As you may notice, I originally painted a transparent cloth, but my siblings voted against it. I often share my work with them especially my big projects and I love their feedbacks. The coolest part was finding out that each of us has a different favorite painting from this set. My favorite is Innocence, youngest loves Ascension and middle's favorite is Empathy.
I've always loved painting clouds, but I feel particularly proud of these clouds- for the amount of details and how soft they look. I used the ink brush for the finishing touches, so the clouds don't look blurry but soft.
A cloudy sunset: @kristyglas/a-cloudy-sunset-what-to-write-about
Innocence
She is hope and happiness free of judgement. Trusting us with pure intention to keep her and all young ones safe. She is the heart of forgiveness, as she knows our good true nature over our impulses and harsh words. Uncorrupted and protected from the outside influences, she bears no malice or jealousy. She rejoices in others' good fortunes, wishing best to all.
https://superrare.co/artwork-v2/innocence-19101
As you can see above, I use basic lineart to get proportions correct like the arm length and where the hips are.
I used the Ascension wings for reference, but I made the feather slightly different and more pointy here. I love painting gold and shine effect, as once you learn how, it gets easier with practice. Essentially, you need to decide the light source, use enough contrast and add bright areas. I still need to work on how light reflects off shiny objects, so that might be my next challenge to learn.
Innocence has a sort helmet instead of a head- a symbol for protection. The spiral in ascension is more like a target point, while Empathy's head symbolizes connection and a sort of eye that sees through our disguises. I made the heads more symbolic so they feel more surreal and other worldly than just humans with wings. I love adding symbolism to art and my goal is to take it further with each work.
Path of the Monolith- @kristyglas/path-of-the-monolith-async had the most symbolism so far, but I'd love to experiment with more obscure themes and ideas.
Empathy
She is the unconditional love, connecting everyone. She feels and understands all emotions that we try to hide and our flaws don't scare her. She acknowledges the struggles and pain, making herself vulnerable to achieve a true connection. She helps those in need, as their misfortunes are also hers to bare. Her limitless love makes us stronger and resilient, teaching us how to convey our feelings to reveal our true selves.
https://superrare.co/artwork-v2/empathy-19102
I try to flip canvas often so I can get a fresh look and this works particularly well on body and portraits. Also I've noticed I paint better on the right side of the canvas, might be because I'm right handed, so flipping helps me add even details.
I spent a good amount of time on balancing the contrast on this painting- yellow and blue have much a stronger contrast than purple and blue. At the same time, this give Empathy a more gentle and romantic atmosphere. The wings were particularly interesting to paint here, I've done lots of wing studies in the past years, but I don't think I've painted similar wings pose to this before.
Purple is the color I'm most well known for, so it felt right to make one Virtue/Angel in pinks and purples. I love evolving my style and trying new themes, but I still want the art to be recognizably mine.
I wrote the descriptions based on positive traits that I want to strive for in my life. I've a long way to go, but I feel if I follow these virtues that I'll feel more content and improve as an artist.
It has been a while since my last big art process post, so excuse any grammatical mistakes <3
If you enjoyed this post, I'd love you to check out Reaching for the Stars- @kristyglas/reaching-for-the-stars-polishing-an-artwork
If you have any additional questions please let me know in the comments below or on Twitter. I love sharing my art process because I'm a "self taught" artist thanks to many online tutorials, so this is my way of paying it back to the community that helped me pursue art <333
Thank you for checking out! <3