Off to a great start. This is the 3rd piece in my Monkey King series. It's tentative title is
On Rainbow Cloud, as MK in his search for immortality learns to fly on a rainbow-colored cloud. The composition came to me in a dream a few weeks ago, and the initial thumbnail drawing sat in my sketchbook for a little while before I really felt the time was right to start. Well today was the day! I wanted to show a moment in MK's journey to the west that was non-traditional. Usually we see illustrations of him fighting monsters, or sneaking around mischievously (those pieces will come!), and show him sort of taking a break. There are moments in the story when MK gets fed up with escorting the Monk on his pilgrimage to India in the story
Journey to the West. In the book, it's told that MK flies away to a place of solitude to mull over his frustrations and decide whether or not to continue the journey. I wanted to capture a moment of reflection, after which MK sighs heavily, finishes eating his peach, smirks a half grin, and returns to his destiny. Here are progress pics for the first day...
the original thumbnail sketch:
The layout pencil drawing on BFK:
The end of Day 1. Worked the background to completion. I used helicopter photos of the Li River winding through Guilin, in southern China's Guang Xi Province. The pastel I purchased at Prizm last week that I thought was plain White at the time ended up being a very light pink. I was skeptical at first, but then realized what a great addition to the clouds and atmosphere it was, when used with the ivory paper. To spice up the perspective in the background, I "bent" the landscape a little. The horizon line in the far distance weighs right, but slowly bends back left as we get closer to the foreground. I think it helps with the movement of the piece, and leaves the composition a little less flat. MK's got pheasant feathers stuck in his crown, accessories often seen in Chinese Opera productions of
Journey to the West. MK also holds a peach, his favorite snack.
Log: 6 hours, 10 minutes.
Soundtrack: open stream of Dubstep jams from
dubterrain.net
