A view of ocean waves and palm trees growing atop the rocky cliffs. Waves are rolling into the sandy shore. The sun is setting in an orange, pink, and blue sky giving the beach a subtle orange and pink glow.
Digital Painting
This piece is a digital painting which is originally 4200 x 3300. However, I sized it down here for the blog post. I’ll be uploading it soon as a print which can be purchase as greeting cards, canvas wall art, metal prints, and much more.
Recent Artwork – Book Cover Illustration So, I know it’s been awhile since I posted here again… I do have to say I’ve been busy working on a lot of things, and thought I’d share one of them here in a quick post… My dear friend, Dr. Carl Welliver asked if I’d be interested in … Read more
Phoenix Bird Drawing Sketching & Drawing a Phoenix Hello friends, I know it’s been awhile again since I’ve posted here, I really need to get my artwork posted more frequently! Anyways, I’ve been busy still working on a few different projects, a couple of book projects with Dr. Carl Welliver, Ph.D.. These couple of projects … Read more
Well, I know it’s been awhile since I last posted anything here…
Shame on me!
But, I have been busy working on the illustrations for the second book in the series of The Incredible Adventures of Merri Berri Blue and Me by Dr. Sunday Erickson, Ph.D., and foreword by Dr. Carl Welliver, Ph.D.
After redoing the cover for the first book in the series, since it was being republished under a bit different of a title, you can read more about that on my previous post here, Sketching and Drawing a Book Cover it was back to working on the scenes for the second book.
The team at Merri Berri Blue Publishing and I also had to decide on ideas for the cover for Book Two as well. Now that took awhile getting things together and coming up with ideas we all agreed on.
But, we finally got it all done and thanks to the expertise of Dr. Carl, we now have THE INCREDIBLE ADVENTURES OF MERRI BERRI BLUE AND ME: THE WONDER YEARS on sale at Amazon along with a couple of other places, which I’ll add the links to them as well in a bit here….for now, I just wanted to make sure I got this out today, lol!
Just a little heads up in case you’re wondering…yeah, I know it says Wonder Years in the title here and on Amazon too…but, the book title says Merri Years on the actual cover if you look at it over there. So, I’m not sure what happened, but hopefully we can get it corrected so there’s no confusion.
Oh well, things happen!
I thought I’d take a bit of time and make a short little video of some of the artwork in the book. After much fiddling, I finally decided I may as well use a chapter that fits more with the season of the year, since it is December now. So, I decided on chapter 6 to be my guinea pig of sorts to make a video of some of the sketches to final artwork here, lol…
Sketches of artwork for book made into video
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the short video…
I’m a bit new at video…it’s actually the first one I’ve ever made that I actually shared with anyone, lol. Next time I’m not going with the page animations, it made it a bit twitchy, lol…oh well, too late to fix it now!
Maybe I’ll do a new one of it another day…
I really enjoyed reading this second book as I went through it to get a better feel of what the scenes should look like and I’m sure you will too! Sunday’s an excellent writer in my opinion, she’s got me reading books I normally don’t read, and getting quite wrapped up in the story.
So, go ahead and check it out at the link below:
Click the image to order it’s Available Now!
Thanks for reading! I hope you have an awesome night!
Please share this and help our team get word out of the second book in The Incredible Adventures of Merri Berri Blue and Me series…we’d all appreciate it ever so much!
New Book Cover Design Art and Title Hey there folks, This is part two about the relaunch of the first book of The Incredible Adventures of Merri Berri Blue series. Yes, it’s a series, so there’ll be a second book coming out soon! Anyways, the first book has gone over some changes…both the cover artwork … Read more
Are You an Artist? A Creator? Hey there folks, Just thought I’d share this with you…since maybe you’re here as a fellow artist…whether a painter, sketch artist, musician, writer, or other type of creator, well, maybe you’ve found times that you’re stuck. Ever had that experience? Or, wonder why it is that some succeed while … Read more
New Book Cover Artwork and Design – Drawings and Sketches The Relaunch of The Incredible Adventures of Merri Berri Blue – Tutu Much by Sunday Erickson Hey there, just thought I’d finally add another post here and show you what I’ve been up to…well, a bit of what I’ve been doing for quite some time … Read more
Pencil Drawing of a Sports Car – part 1 Hey there! Just thought I’d share what I’ve been up to lately…no, I didn’t die, lol. And, actually this sports car is a drawing I’ve meant to share here for quite awhile and kind of forgot about it…just been way too busy with another project recently. … Read more
“AWAKENING THE SPARK OF SPIRIT WITHIN YOU, GETTING TO KNOW YOUR SPIRIT GUIDE” by Dr. Carl Welliver, Ph.D. Hey there my friends, Yeah, I know this is an art site, but hey…writing books is also a form of art in my humble opinion. It takes just as much creativity to write as to draw … Read more
Looking for a Great Christmas Gift for Someone? Hey there my friends, Time sure is flying isn’t it? Wow, I can’t believe Christmas is almost here… Only 11 days and it’ll be Christmas morning and it’ll be time to watch our beloved family members and friends open the presents Santa brought for them. Well, since … Read more
New Book Release – Coming this Thursday, November 23rd! As you may already know, I recently became part of an awesome team to put together a new book, as the illustrator of The Incredible Adventures of Merri Berri Blue, Tu-Tu Much… Well, I’d like to share a bit more about what the goals our team … Read more
New Book Releases and Illustrating a Children’s Book Well Hello there! If you’ve been watching the website here, you probably have been wondering if I died or something, lol. But, nope! I’ve just been really busy doing a ton of things…learning new things and working on new ideas, and of course still drawing and working … Read more
Drawings of Dragons & Free Photo Drawing Tools This is another installment of what I’ve been up to lately with this dragon… I recently wrote the post on Fantasy Dragon Art – Making of the Storm Dragon after adding colors and details to an earlier sketch done in the Fresh Paint app, which is a … Read more
Just thought I’d finally do something with one of my earlier sketches that I shared here in digital format as sort of a simple sketch showing what the app Fresh Paint can do.
Well, I actually was aiming to enter it in a contest, but unfortunately it just didn’t get done in time…but, oh well….at least it’s done now.
Well, maybe…then again I might still add a few things, but we’ll see.
The Drawing or Digital Sketch
Okay, in case you haven’t seen the original sketch that started the whole thing here it is below
Basic rough sketch for my version of a storm dragon ~ Click image to enlarge
Adding Details – Scales & Rocks
After looking at the sketch for awhile, I realized I had to start making out some details!
Dragons usually have some type of scales…so I began adding those, which took awhile in getting the placement the way I wanted, since yes, I’m still working on this digitally…using a mouse and no special tools at all…it’s just the Fresh Paint app and whatever brushes, pencils, and tools it offers for free.
Using just a mouse can be quite a challenge…but, if you’re determined you’ll get the hang of it. I know there are better ways such as using a drawing tablet, but since I don’t own one yet, I’ll work with what I got.
Here I’ve added scales to the dragon and basic rock formation ~ Click image to enlarge
Adding an Under Layer of Color to the Dragon Wings
Next, I moved onto the wings of the dragon and added an undertone like you would if you’re actually painting with real paint…
Thought I’d see how it turns out and if it’s actually like painting.
So I mixed raw umber, burnt umber, and Prussian blue in varying amounts to make different shades for the under layer of it. The darkest color in the wings is the burnt umber mixed with the Prussian blue and the lightest is the raw umber.
I also used pale yellow on the lightest areas of the wings, which needed to stand out.
But, one thing to note is that these colors all mixed over the original background of the wings, which is a gray or silvery color. If you don’t want it to do this, you can use the little fan found in the bottom toolbar of Fresh Paint to dry the paint first.
Anyways, here’s the results of adding color to the wings…
Adding an undertone layer of color to the dragons wings ~ Click image to enlarge
Turning a Gray Blob into Rocks
Well, looking at the previous image, it’s kind of hard to tell what the dragon is leaning upon isn’t it?
It could be a bunch of rocks or boulders, but who knows…could be a flat Good Year blimp too.
So, realizing that I needed some areas of light and shadows, I started messing about with some burnt umber, Prussian blue, indigo, and sky blue…maybe a dab of dark red and medium gray, and brown ochre…
I remember adding all these colors to my palette…but, whether I used all of these, of that I’m not too positive now, lol.
Here I’ve added some details to the rocks the dragon is resting on ~ Click image to enlarge
Adding Color to the Dragon’s Body
And, a bit more details to the rocks…
Using yellow and yellow ochre with a tiny dab of raw umber I added an under layer to the storm dragon’s body…well, what you see of it anyways.
What the heck am I doing eh?
dragon resting on rocks – adding more shadows to the rocks and color to dragons body
Adding the First “Real” Layer of Color to the Wings
Well, you didn’t think I was going to leave it like that did you?
Nah, of course not! There is much to do yet!
So, I added some blue, dark red and indigo to get this….
Here I’m adding 1st real color to the dragon wings ~ Click image to enlarge
Adding Some “Real” Color to The Dragon’s Body
Next, I added some of the same colors I used in it’s wings to add a layer of paint to the body.
And, as you can see I had a moment of experimentation on its wing here….
hmmm, should I keep that streak of light color blue?
Here I’m adding 1st real color layer to dragon body ~ Click image to enlarge
You’re probably wondering what on earth is that crazy lady thinking…
Why is she adding such a different color on its wing, just why?
Truth is, I wasn’t quite sure yet…but, I kinda liked it there, lol! So, I didn’t want to get rid of it just yet.
Coloring the Dragon’s Head
So, we’re almost there! Adding that “real” color layer to its neck and head along with some little details in the head area…
Here I’m adding the layer of real color to dragon head and neck ~ Click image to enlarge
Now, yes I know….
I left that little blue streak on its wing still.
What on earth is that supposed to be?
Am I going to leave it there or what?
Did I….uh, forget about that?
Well, there’s a reason I ended up calling this one “The Storm Dragon.”
If you noticed the yellow, almost electric-like lines or fissures between its scales?
These little yellow lines, along with that little blue streak got me thinking of what it could become…
And finally,
The Storm Dragon has Arrived!
So, I got a bit crazy with all kinds of lighter colors and added these little mini lightning bolts…
and it was finally done! Whew!
Fantasy Dragon Art – The Storm Dragon ~Click image to enlarge
Well, maybeit’s done…for now it is again anyways. But, I just might do a little bit to that background yet.
Thank you for checking out my version of the Storm Dragon! Hope you enjoyed it…
And, if you did, please share it! I’d greatly appreciate it.
What do you think…any questions or comments? Have you ever used the Fresh Paint app before?
I’d love to hear from you…
UPDATE!!! (March 15, 2017)
Like I mentioned before I might do something more…
And, after thinking awhile on what I wanted it to look like I came up with quite a different look.
Changing it to …
The Twilight Storm Dragon
(Click image to enlarge. )
Yes, I must admit it…
I went bit crazy on this…
And, somehow I actually ended up with not just this version, but another much lighter one as well…
It’s yet another story on how that happened…maybe I’ll have to write another post on it…**
What do you think? Much better looking, or did I go too far?
Again, I’d love to hear from you if you have any questions or comments about anything…
And do please share it if you liked it! I’d truly appreciate it 🙂
**Update** – I finally got some more done and did get one of my dragons entered into a contest recently…actually the one above, The Twilight Storm Dragon is the one I entered into a contest last week at Fine Art America…just for fun and to get more eyeballs on my artwork, be it as it may.
**BTW sorry about the watermarks…they’re annoying I know. There are NO watermarks on the prints, posters, or any other item you might order through my page at Fine Art America/Pixels of course!** FYI, I’ll be adding these there soon! *Twilight Storm Dragon is available there now, along with the lighter original version of the Storm Dragon (not the one shown above, without a background) featuring the dragon with lighter orange-colored clouds.
I haven’t added these prints yet to my pages here, but you can find them at Fine Art America by going to my other art for sale on my Prints & More page.
Need something similar done for you? Feel free to contact me with an idea of what you’d need done. Just hit the contact us button at the bottom right and fill out the boxes there, and I’ll get back to you asap to work out the details. I usually reply back within 48 hours.
Create 3D Images for Free Using Blender Interested in creating your own images in 3D? If you’re reading this, most likely you are… Whether you’re looking to create 3D images for a logo or web design, or maybe even looking for a way to create a realistic looking character design, you might find this interesting … Read more
Black Cat Art & Oil Painting Hey again! I know…it’s been awhile since I’ve posted anything! But, that doesn’t mean I haven’t been busy… Awhile ago, I’d joined a group of artists that love painting as much as I do called Painting the Old Way. This means no digital effects on the artwork and no … Read more
My Latest Work in Progress- Drawing of a Crow Hey there fellow art lovers! I’ve been working on this pen and ink drawing for awhile. Well, actually it didn’t take long to draw the crow itself…since it’s in ink, I couldn’t go back and do my usual erasing and fixing things! So, it only took … Read more
Hey there, fellow Art Lovers! Okay, it’s been a long time since I worked on this one…the Buffalo Head Drawing! So, I thought I’d better get to it and did some more work on this one using the Fresh Paint app to add some more details to the feathers and another layer around it’s neck. … Read more
