[center][h1][b][color=lightblue]Welcome to Colorful Crypt![/color][/b][/h1]

I have been piddingly around on this forum, thinking about posting an art thread. But I really am not interesting in doing free commissions or requests, so I didn't want to waste space around here. But I discovered a grand use for creating a thread on here and that is for documenting my journey in taking 30 days to create my first large piece of art in years. I have been stuck in the progress zone on this massive drawing I want to be working on in my spare time. I figured starting an online journal in a positive and thriving online community [i]elsewhere[/i] would really put the fire under my ass and motivate me to stay on top of my current project and future ones to come.

And I never post progress images on Instagram and Facebook. I leave those platforms for finished pieces or finished tattoos because in-progress shots, quite frankly, no customer is interested in seeing.

Well, wihout further wait, let me present my project.[/center]

Colorful Crypt is the name of my business on my business license. I am a tattoo artist who rents a spot at a shop. Because of my job, I have a big vision of tattooed people in coffins, so I wanted to make a spirited and decorated dead woman whose tattoos seem more than just ink because of their realistic nature that follows the contours of her body.

[hider=First Draft][IMG]http://i65.tinypic.com/2qa0aaw.jpg[/IMG]
So first I made a rough sketch with red drafting pencil on transparent paper. Then I take a second sheet, and carefully mark out all of my contour lines for my forms, sometimes revisiting the red pencil copy to test out new details I think of through out the drawing.[/hider]


[hider=First Draft Flowers][IMG]http://i63.tinypic.com/2gtduer.jpg[/IMG][/hider]
I call these potato chip flowers. In my sketchbook I drafted them very loosely with blue drafting pencil. Then I methodically make even ruffles in each petal, sometimes curling the tips to provide an interesting feature.

So now, to throw these small images up onto a huge sturdy poster sized board, I have to use a projector hooked up to my computer. since the poster has an image on it already, I tried to spraypaint primer onto it. But that was taking too long so I bought some gesso and rolled it on the board to prime the surface. I threw the image from the computer/projector and crudely traced it with a blue drafting pencil.

Originally, I was going to paint this image. But I haven't painted in six years and you can imagine the mistakes I started making. It was horrible. And when I have a very clear idea of what I want to make, I grow impatient about trying something new again and go back to my easier mediums to use. So I use watercolor pencils. I prefer them because they are less waxy in their finish and never create dust on top of the color like Prismacolors. They have a tremendously beautiful vibrancy and have a practical amount of different colors in the Faber-Castell collection. By the way, remember the put the gesso on the board as smooth as possible and sand it a bit smoother for optimal application of pinsel. Because that shit is usually used for paint.


[hider=First Flower, in Color][IMG]http://i64.tinypic.com/30au8m8.jpg[/IMG][/hider]

[hider=Picture of Poster][IMG]http://i68.tinypic.com/24fd76b.jpg[/IMG][/hider]

Yep, I am spinning wheels right now and trying to get this done before the next semester of school. If you guys have any questions or comments, throw them at me!