a personal project
THE PROJECT
A Windows Spotlight photograph appeared on my screen one morning during start up. Two herons in the trees. For whatever reason, that photograph has never appeared since, but it lived in my memory. I had to recreate it.
SKETCHING
When you think your sketch might not be clear enough, write in the words! I sketched these thumbnails in Photoshop, concentrating on what I could remember from the photograph.
SKETCH TO SHAPES
Moving into Illustrator I drew the shapes for the background of trees, although I suppose they could also be clouds.
I'd recently been reading about the myriad climate events over the last few weeks, thinking to myself, "Heaven help us," which became "Heron help us!"
I found some photo references to help with the general shape of the heron. And rather than immediately starting with colour, I worked with shades of grey. I chose one green shade and experimented with Blend Modes to create the tree colours.
I spent far too long playing with colour choices and I'm sure this piece could be improved. But if I don't publish now, it will disappear into the depths of my hard drive, never to be seen again.
COLOUR VARIATIONS
