I'm thoroughly enjoying working on some new portraits after churning out so many cacti pictures over the summer. It makes such a nice change adapting all the patterns I've been developing and merging them with the ladies and their flower crowns. I recently bit the bullet and invested in an ipad too (a present to myself for the next 4 Christmases I reckon). I think of it as my digital sketchbook - don't panic, my scribbly paper ones are still in use and I'll make sure there's an update soon to prove it!
Sometimes my digital scribbles take on a life of their own and before I know it I've spent hours fine tuning all the different colours and details on something that was originally meant to be a rough sketch or simply jotting down an idea. This is how Esmé came about. There's not much of a back story to her because she originally started out as an idea for a painting - she still is. She's got a slightly simpler colour pallet (well, compared to some of the more vibrant cactus pictures at least) - I've been trying to calm the drawings down a little lately but I can't help myself, I love clashing colours. She looks a bit like she's wearing face paint, which I like the idea of. The portraits begin to look composed and theatrical. The features turn into blocks of colour and eventually the people start to look like patterns too. It's a thought process still well and truly in the development stages but I'm enjoying the end product so far, so much so I've turned her into a print!
Esmé prints are now in the shop. Available in 2 sizes - A4 and A3. Open edition. And here's a little behind the scenes video over on youtube too! Bonus!
