The story begins with frightening action in an unfamiliar room, and the scene is seasoned with a flavor of supernatural influence-- there's no question that something unusual is happening. There's no question that people are dying in this room. The real question was; could I artistically illustrate such a room?
Illustrating @dreemit's 'Reborn'
The very opening scene of 'Reborn', a novel being presented here by Steemit's very own @dreemit, seemed like the best place to start, and when dreemit asked me to illustrate the cover for the book, I knew that the story begins the way that it does for a reason, and as an illustrator I knew well that any book will technically begin with it's cover.
Go ahead-- dreemit!
Those of us who are fortunate enough to have become acquainted with @dreemit know that she can dream it, and can quite effectively write it as well, which makes her an extraordinary being-- one of the creators-- and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to begin illustrating her words in visual art form. Such a writing talent asking me to do this book cover gave me a bit of anxiety at first, but I gathered myself for the challenge. Dream it, and I can draw it, and so I began sketching the opening scene to @dreemit's Reborn story.
Here's How I Did It!
"...everyone had flattened themselves against the wall, none wanting to be a bi-product of the god's fury."
That line from the opening chapter of Reborn, I could see this scene was drawing itself-- as dreemit draws with words like most people draw air-- with ease and instinct, and having seen the floor following the "god's fury"... the floor! Those who have read that intro chapter of dreemit's Reborn know why I shudder, the scene was 'graphic', and as a graphic artist, I have to be considerate, as some people can be shocked to death, mortally horrified by visual stimulus, and I knew I'd have to draw from a different angle-- a less-lethal angle. If you dare read it yourself, remember that it is a paranormal tale, and you must pray that is is only fiction. Here's the link, [Reborn Intro, by @dreemit]
Models
In painting, there are no such thing as background characters. In order to give each character in the scene authenticity, I had to use models. 'Models' may be the wrong word-- it's me, therealpaul, remembering the scene as I'd seen it, feeling the horror, badly injured, and submitting to the superior male. These characters are wearing soft house shoes to enhance their vulnerability, making them weaker and inhibiting confidence in the situation.
Having drawn one-inch grids over the photos, I transferred the image, square by square, onto a 14"X16" illustration board.
Bringing the Light
In painting with the acrylics that I used on this Reborn cover, I like to make people a dark purple color to start, then I mix white and yellows to their purpleness and cast 'light' upon them. I 'bring the light', and it's very satisfying to see a shadow appear below my brush, as a result of my lighter paint.
flesh-tone paint for these horrified and/or bleeding characters was a deep red-purple base, then the lighted parts are mixed with white and cadmium yellow.
Another Model Volunteers for the Project
I told my daughter the situation; that I was illustrating a book cover for the paranormal tale Reborn, and I explained how the main character in the story; the palindromically named Anna, had been unconscious, and had opened her eyes to the scene. As I hesitated to describe what was being seen, my new model got the idea, and posed beautifully for the art. My brush strained to capture the essence.
In the opening scene, Anna is looking at a startling character, as are all of the background characters looking with horror upon this figure.
This character has entered the scene, and changed the mood of the room, so to speak.
It was time to start staining the walls and floor in darkness, and to then throw shadows around with some 'light' colored paint.
Shadows, More Shadows
The story has shadows, always just in the corner of the eye, and my brush of light similarly revealed more shadows on the floor and walls, until the Reborn illustration was ready to send to the author. Here is what we saw when it had every shadow included:
That's how I saw it, and be sure to check out the final copy of the image on @dreemit's page, as she introduces the painting to the internet, steemit: Bringing authors and artists together: New, Incredible Book Cover for Reborn painted by @therealpaul
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thanks steemit for the chance to meet new people and make big things bigger, and thank you @dreemit for allowing me the chance to shine with you.