Warriors from the mist

Made for my portfolio some months ago, ink and digital colour.

Fatta un po' di tempo fa per il mio book, china e colore digitale.

Cartoonizing Robertina

Same name but another friend.
"What about me? Roberta is my name too!" she asked me when she saw my last art work, so here there are her portraits:

Stesso nome ma un'altra amica.
"E io? anche io mi chiamo Roberta!" mi ha detto quando ha visto il mio ultimo lavoro, così ecco i suoi ritratti:

Pin-up in blue and red

A quick portrait in 50s fashion of my friend Roberta.
Un veloce ritratto in stile anni '50 della mia amica Roberta.

Weeping Angels' Cemetery (digital colour)

wating for the hand colour a digital colour version / aspettando il colore a mano, una versione digitale:

Beauty and the Steam step by step

Potete leggere questo stesso post in italiano qui.

Days ago my friend Tanabrus suggested I could draw a steampunk version for the classic fairytale Beauty and the Beast.

That's the result:

Now let's see how I did this (but remember: I've to thanks a lot Tanabrus for the original idea and for the pieces of advice he gave me during the whole work in progress).

Step 1: pencil draw

I tried to focuses on the principal points of the fairytale: the Beauty, the Beast and the rose. 

Since I decided I'll make this illustration I know I will make a threatenig Beast who looks at Belle who was watching the rose (ok it's a mess of a phrase, but hope you'll understand what I'm writing).

The rose most of all offered me some cues for the steampunk setting: it's in a glass jar and the jar is perfect to be connected with brass tubed and stuff...

In the first version Belle had a different outfit, but Tanabrus suggest I've to dress her up like the Disney's version to give instantly the idea of what we're illustrating. 

In this first version  the candlestick you can see on the right in the last version is missing. It's because I didn't draw it until Tanabrus suggested me to add a side character from the Disney's movie.

Step 2: cyan print

Using adobe photoshop I changed my draw in a cyan version and printed it so I could add ink and then scan it again without any track of pencil lines.

Step 3: ink

Put ink over an illustration is not just trace the pencil lines with the ink. I wanted the atmosphere around Belle and around the Beast to be different, so I choose to put heavy black shadow on the background in the Beast's area and almost no shadows in Belle's area, thinking maybe the rose will be spreading a little of light.

I'm still not so sure about this choice: Belle's look seems to be too 'weak', maybe I'll work again on this.

The jar and the rose's outlines are coloured: I did them with black ink and then used photoshop to change their colors to have a more glassy effect.

Step 4: flat colours

Now I had a inked draw, and I need to choose my colours. I tried to think to the steampunk typical colours (ocher, vermillion, dark green, copper, rust...) and the Disney's Beauty and the Beast ones at the same time.

I choose to paint the main characters' outfits similar to the Disney's ones.

I'd to pay attention when I choose the colours 'caure they're the colours which I'll work on: putting on shadows and shades, they've to be light ones but also give the idea of where I'll be go with the finishing touch.

Step 5: shadows

For the shadows I used a spray-like brush of photoshop which gives that pointed effect, I worked on several layers in multiply mode, and changed the opacity to obtain the shade I wanted.

The glass jar is on a different layer: I painted it grey-blue and lowered the opacity, then, on another layer I tracked some withe lines with a soft brush to give the idea of light.

As finishing touches I added some light-pink sparkles around the rose with a starry brush and a little of steam effect done on a different layer with a soft brush and light grey paint lowering a lot the opacity.

And at the moment that's all: I'm not really satisfied of Bella's face, I think I'll work again on it sooner or later.

Obviously this illustration is for Tanabrus :)

Tick, tack, rabbit

You can catch an idea for a work from almost anything: pictures, songs, movies, poetry...

This time I took my inspiration from a phrase in a radio show: Tick tack, rabbit. Tick. Tack.

Ok is not that they where talking about rabbits, but the words have been junping in my brain for days.

That is the result:

L'ispirazione per un nuovo lavoro può venire da qualunque cosa: immagini, canzoni, film, poesia...

Questa volta mi sono lasciata ispirare da una frase ascoltata in una trasmissione radio: Tick tack, rabbit. Tick. Tack.

Beh, non è che stessero parlando proprio di un coniglio, ma le parole sono rimaste a rimabalzarmi in testa per giorni.

Questo è il risultato:

There are two versions 'cause I'm not able to choose the better background color, if you've any suggest...

In due versioni perché non riesco a scegliere il colore di fondo più adatto, per cui se ci sono suggerimenti...

Being for the benefit of Mr.Kite...

... there will be a show tonight:

Steampunk chick

Pencil  /  matita

Ink  / inchiostro

Colour / colori

Honey I'm back home!!

Shaman

Playng with photoshop - piratesse

Una nota: il colore, che sembra fatto a mano, è in realtà una mezzatinta a china colorata poi col photohop in modo da dare questo effetto acquerello che mi piaceva particolarmente per dare al disegno un'aria da schizzo.

Just one thing: I gave this handmade like colour using ink on the shadows. Then I used photoshop for colours aiming to give this scrap-like atmosphere.

Yes, she's a pirate

Strega

Shen of the cats

Divertissement

Miza

Bucaneve

Queen of air and darkness

Incontro delle fate

Elektra