The Judgement of Paris - A Few Alternatives

 

 

I altered the final image a little to see if it would look better with a little more contrast or in sepia. The final version, however, is as below....

 

 

The Judgement of Paris - Size Adjustments

Adjusting the size - the whole thing was ranged a little too far to the left, so the frame was moved and the background extended, this will make sure nothing gets lopped off when Olio is printed.

The Judgement of Paris - Adding the Background

I added the background the illustration in various duplications and layer styles until I had something I liked the look of!





 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



The Judgement of Paris - Background

The background is acrylic, ink and matt emulsion on MDF board. This is scanned in an adjusted, and then applied in various layer styles over and under the illustration. The following is the original, and an adjusted version. The adjusted version is slightly more saturated than is particularly pleasant - the contrast and brightness needs to be put up a lot when these layers are used as overlays. The backgrounds are duplicated over and over again - the same background can be used about eight times in the same illustration.

Original

Altered Background

The Judgement of Paris - Colouring

I wanted the colouring to look more natural than it did in the rough, so instead of adding layers of flat digital colour, I painted a layer of watercolour using the lightbox. I then put added this beneath the linework, as I would with digital colour. It takes a while to line everything up after this, and it was enhanced here and there with digital colour (particularly, for instance, around the cheeks, ears, and the tips of the noses), but overall gives a much nicer finish.



The watercolour layer (with a bonus Trojan Horse!)


 

Line witth watercolour - at this point the watercolour has been lined up with the characters on the right, it is still off on the left hand side. I also noticed I had forgotten to paint Eris's cloak all the way - this had to be pattern-stamped in!



Lining up the watercolour with the line, and adding enhancements with digital colour



 

The Judgement of Paris - Cleaning the Linework

When I drew the rough the lines were changed over and over, which gives the papaer a fuzzy look which doesn't translate well into a scan. I like the quality of the line itself, but the white needs to look whiter so it doesn't interfere with the texture which will then be put below it. I cleaned up the lines and took out a lot of the noise.

The Judgement of Paris - Refining the Roughs

 

I was unhappy with the writing in the colour rough, so I used the lightbox to redraw the text, this time making it fit onto one page, rather than over two. This means that it won't distort if it gets lost a little in the gutter. I fitted it more closely around the figures as well, which will help to frame the characters.

 

 

I also added the orange blossom frame, and took out the Trojan horses and the apples, which seemed to make the image a little too busy. The orange blossoms are symbolic of the fact that the golden apples were thought to be oranges.  

 

 

The Judgement of Paris - Rough

When I decided on a layout for the myth, I roughed it out on some heavy-duty watercolour; a lot of refining goes on at this stage and I erase things a lot. Though I know what everyone should look like, and where they are going to go, a lot of changes are made, and things are drawn over and over agin until I think it looks right.

This was then put onto an existing texture I had made and a quick layer of digital colour put onto it to give me a good idea of what it was going to look like. It also highlighted just what needed fixing!



Colour Test

Atalanta's Footrace - Colour Rough

I put the line onto an existing texture I had and added a quick layer of digital colour to Atalanta. When I was positioning her body on the page, it was difficult to find the right place for her. I made her bigger, and cut her head off - and liked the result so much I didn't think to put it back on again.

As much as I like the myth, the intricacy of the characters and story in the Judgement of Paris is much more appealing. I also like the fact that it is a better known myth, so you're more likely to recognise it when you see the illustration.

Atalanta's Footrace - Roughs

The first sketch includes my rough sketches for layout, the running position of the figure, and the rough sketch of Atalanta, which became the drawing I used for the final rough!  

First Sketch




I sketched out the shape of the apple 'swoop', and filled it in with apples. These are duplicated for the final rough. 



Apples