Mirror Sight: UK edition cover released!

This cover has been done for quite some time now, but Orion Publishing Group has the cover art posted on their site, so I figured it was time I did the same!

Graphite on bristol vellum on a 14 x 17 sheet. More work pending!

Foolhardy Quest

"Foolhardy Quest" Watercolor, gouache, acrylic, and ink on Fabriano 140 lb hot press watercolor paper, 14 x 20" (35.56 x 50.8 cm) 

Finally, after nearly a month of straight painting in my free time, I have completed this piece, which I had showed a color sketch of earlier this year. Things changed quite a bit in terms of color, but I think for the better. 95% was painted using watercolors, with final adjustments in acrylic, gouache, and white ink. 

Bretonnian knights may not be the wisest, but they don't lack courage! The serpent was based on traditional sea serpent imagery, combined with the bioluminescence, jaws, and teeth of deep sea species while the orange fins were inspired by oarfish. (Which was said to have inspired the sea serpent legend in the first place!)

I'm planning on submitting this for this year's Spectrum, so wish me luck!

California Condor: Finished

"Fate of the Condor" 9x12" on cold pressed 140 lb watercolor paper. Watercolor, powdered graphite, charcoal, india ink, acrylic, and white acrylic ink.

I went with a less controlled approach for this piece, and relied on the wide variety of materials to bring their own character into the process. Of course, I wanted to bring a clearer detail to the condor's face, and further accentuated that with the sky halo about its head.

As a bonus, I will share some pictures I took as the painting progressed. A thousand apologies for the rather subpar lighting and inevitable blur that resulted! 

It's come a long way from the original sketch (thank goodness!) and turned out quite decently.

Life of Pi

Here's a cover concept for Yann Martel's "Life of Pi." I tried to take a more metaphorical/conceptual approach to illustrating this, where the boat, ocean, tiger, and Pi are helplessly connected in their own universe. This was an excellent color exercise, and I worked to create a slightly different style while I was at it. 

Watercolor on coldpress 140 lb watercolor paper.

Adelaide: Refinished

It's good to revisit old works, time and again. I underwent such a project recently, the painting a 5 year old college project that was leaving many things to be desired. Thankfully, I was able to renew at least a small portion of it! 

The original is a far more complex piece, in watercolor and acrylic. Retouching/repainting was done in Photoshop CS3 with a Wacom Bamboo tablet.

Personal Novel Project: Now With Color!

I posted the original pencil sketch of this several months back, and decided to revisit it recently with some digital color. This was the end result, which I think turned out pretty well. I think my current digital method really benefits from having traditional materials as a large part of the finished piece, in this case, somewhat rendered pencils. I like that raw texture to come through in the original, as it gives the painting a more honest and tactile feel than say, a fully polished digital painting. But that's just my humble opinion.

As for Adelaide, our young heroine, she'll be quite alright after she gets over her fright. Lucky doesn't even begin to cover it!

Characters, creature concepts, and art © April Schumacher.

Kelpie

A spontaneous project that I somehow managed to complete, despite the fact that I had little idea as to what I wanted for a final product. I would like to push my work a little more into stylized territory, but for now have some more "semi-realism" or whatever you'd like to call it.

I'd done many sketches of the mythical kelpie in the past, and always like the idea of a more or less approachable looking horse: Except, of course, for that terrifying, rotting skeletal head and writhing kelp-like... appendages? The (careless) victims don't know what they're sitting on until it's too late. How unpleasant!

Derwent Graphitint pencils, watercolor, and acrylic on Stonehenge, 4.75 x 10".

Oldies but Goodies

Here's a collection of older works I still enjoy, which is a pretty big rarity for me. With luck, these will remind me of the things I've liked most about past works, and what I should continue to hold on to as I evolve. Hopefully I'll move into bolder territories this upcoming year, and challenge old fears. Like backgrounds! Ha!

"Almost" cover for UK edition of "The Doomspell"

This blog is falling quite rapidly into a state of neglect, isn't it? *groan* That needs to be fixed. 

Anyway, here is something I finished months ago and forgot to upload. The illustration that was almost the cover art for the UK edition of "The Doomspell" by Cliff McNish. Unfortunately, it was turned down as the author ended up wanting a different look for the series. Oh well. You win some, you lose some, right? At any rate, this piece held a host of new challenges for me, and it would be an understatement to say I lost just a little sleep over this project.

Autumnal

Some fairly recent work I intend on continuing with, as there are still bits and pieces I'm not completely satisfied with.  With luck, I can get it polished for Spectrum.  Here's to hoping!


22x30" mixed media.  (Watercolor, acrylic, gouache, ink, and colored pencil)


Art © April Schumacher