From Sketch to Final Water Coloring Stages, this is a spread from Tide Day! A lot goes into making a good composition, taking into account the center of the image where the binding is, and how to play with size and negative space. One of my favorite things to do is explore contrasting expressions between characters and highlight their emotions through physical stances and expressions. This was a tough challenge with the lack of limbs and the watery context, but Pearl's stubbornness and attitude shines through!
3/17/2020 San Francisco. The art studio is closed because of social distancing for the Coronavirus. My teacher sent out a note with a sketch she did and suggested we do a drawing a day during this isolation, to stay calm and creative and maintain our community. A neighbor put out a bucket with free bouquets, and it inspired me to pause while I was getting dinner started and do this instead. Definitely rusty after not being in the studio for two weeks!
A predator reduced to bone but not to silence. The body is gone, yet the motion remains — jaw open, spine curved, still moving through water that no longer needs flesh to carry it. This is not a fossil resting in sand; it is a hunter that never learned how to stop.
The ocean keeps its shape alive. Instinct outlasts life.
Some creatures don’t die — they continue.