Death Is Just A Feeling

Some weeks ago, listening to this song I started to think to an illustration about a lich.

Now the work is still in progress: I finished my first step some days ago, then I sent the picture to my friend Sara, who's a very good artist too as you can see in her deviantart page, and she worked on the ink version.

Here there is the artwork at this point.

Next step will be the digital colour I'll do (I hope very very soon). Look forward for that.

Qualche settimana fa, ascoltando la canzone qui sopra ho iniziato a pensare a un'illustrazione che vedeva un lich come protagonista.

Ora sono ancora al lavoro: ho inito le matite qualche giorno fa e poi le ho mandate alla mia amica Sara che, come potete vedere dalla sua pagina su deviant, è anche una meravigliosa artista.

Ecco il risultato a questo punto.

La prossima mossa sarà la colorazione digitale. Restate sintonizzati.

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.

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:

Weeping Angels' Cemetery (scrap)

A sketch for a watercolour painting / uno schizzo in previsione di un acquerello

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 :)

Tiger, tiger

My last art-work in pantone, ink and wax crayons, inspired by the William Blake's poetry:

La mia ultima illustrazione: pantone, china e pastelli a cera, ispirata dalla poesia di William Blake:

Tiger! Tiger! burning bright 

in the forests of the night,

what immortal hand or eye

could frame thy fearful symmetry?

In what distant deeps or skies

burnt the fire of thine eyes?

On what wings dare he aspire?

What the hand dare seize the fire?

And what shoulder, and what art,

could twist the sinews of thy heart?

And when thy heart began to beat,

What dread hand? and what dread feet?

What the hammer? what the chain?

In what furnace was thy brain?

What the anvil? What dread grasp

dare its deadly terrors clasp?

When the stars threw down their spears,

and water'd heaven with their tears,

did he smile his work to see?

Did he who made the Lamb made thee?

Tiger! Tiger! burning bright

in the forests of the night,

what immortal hand or eye,

dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

Giraffa

So many artworks to upload and quite a little of time.

You can see a best-of of my latest artwork here. 

I'll publish them on this blog as soon as possible so don't worry if you can't speak Italian (I'm sorry I write my other blog in my own language, I uploaded a link to google translator anyway, so if you're interested in what I wrote about my art works you can use it).

In the meanwhile here there is a brand new artwork all in wax crayons:

Così tanti disegni da caricare e poco tempo.

Intanto potete vedere qui un best of dei miei ultimi lavori.

Li pubblicherò su questo blog al più presto, quindi non preoccupatevi se non leggete in italiano (ma se state leggendo questa parte non è un problema vostro).

Nel frattempo ecco la mia ultimissima creazione tutta in pastello a cera:

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!!

Wedding board bookshelf

Yesterday, my friends Chiara and Marco got marrided.

For the dinner party they asked me a board which write names of tables and guests on. The theme of the party was: "books that man and wife love" so I managed to make the board looking like a bookshelf.

In the first photo you can see the original board before we wrote the name on.

I used waterpastels (Faber-Castle) but at the end I liked the result so I didn't use water and brush to watercolorize them.

In the second photo there is the board with all the names on; we decided to write them on common paper (printed by a computer printer) so we could correct the names at the last second, just in case guests would change their idea about coming or not.

Sorry for the low quality of the photos!!

Ieri i miei amici Chiara e Marco si sono sposati.

Per la cena mi avevano chiesto di realizzare un tabellone su cui scrivere i nomi dei tavoli e quelli degli invitati. Il tema della cena era 'i libri più amati dagli sposi' così ho disegnato il tabellone in modo che ricordasse uno scaffale di libri.

Nella prima foto potete vedere il lavoro originale, prima della scrittura dei nomi.

Per realizzarlo ho usato i pastelli acquerellabili (Faber Castle), ma, dato che alla fine mi piaceva il risultato così com'era, non li ho acquerellati.

Nella seconda foto c'è il tabellone completo dei nomi; li ho scritti su carta comune e stampati con la stampate del computer, così da poter apportare le solite, classiche correzioni dell'ultimo minuto dovute a conferme o defezioni inaspettate.

Scusate se le foto non sono gran che!

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

Gothic sorceress for Tenshi

Shen of the cats

Divertissement

Puma