Sharing my Process of "The Weeping Dryad"

There is a whole world here under the boughs of this Willow Tree as she consoles her Weeping Companion in the Dark Forest. Therer are layers to this being and there were layers in creating the artwork. By the end you wouldn't see a trace of what happened to her humble sketches at the outset. Well on the Nymph herself you could barely make out the ink drawings. But otherwise- nothing remained. Let me start from the beginning- the pencils…

The sketch had been labored quite enough. I felt I had a good sense of where I was going. Light sources seemed to work and all seemed ready for ink. I was enjoying the thrid dimension which ink brings to pencil. They inspire one another quite well I find. It is important to listen to the strengths of the pencil sketch as you bring it out in ways that only ink can.  I was not using India ink- rather I was using an ink that was not water proof. I'll show the reason soon…

A Weeping Willow is one of my favorite trees. One cannot look upon one and not feel some sense of forlorn reality. THey exist seemingly with a glow that separates them from the Earth- and yet they seem drawn back down to the ground. The drooping branches were a challenge to capture as was the brilliance of their reflection in the water… I wrestled with this one!

Now keep in mind this was all water soluble ink. The reason was that I wanted to play with both an ink look- and a water color look. It sounded great in theory…

                    As a multi-disciplinary artist I am also looking to push the boundries of what I know. Its an important practice in life and in art. I have been using ink for years and I was feeling comfortable with the drawing aspect of it. But I wanted to add water. In many cultures- water symbolizes emotion. I thought of a Dryad in tears and thought about conveying this with a watery world of a 'crying willow'. Again- it sounded good in my head.

And my Friend- but this was where the ruin happened. You add too much water and you lose the ink drawing quickly. There is no trace of any of that work. Still it had compelling potential- and whilst this was an intriguing piece it seemed more important that I admit I made the mistake. When you admit the mistake you move on. Now you are ready to listen to the piece and learn what it is actually trying to tell you…

 I realized the idea behind this piece was strong enough to warrant some serious layer of paint. Thus with layering I could be free of the mistakes and I could start anew. I set my sights on Acrylic for this one. New problem- I hadn't painted with Acrylic in over twenty years- and even then I hadn't really explored it. But it is one of the best of the 'Layering' paints. Sometimes its not about what is most comfortable. Sometimes Pragmatism is the only compass you need…

How would you like to own a Ghost in the Gaslight Original. There is only one and she could be yours. Help her find a loving home…

The ORIGINAL Piece is available HERE

And enjoy the Story as a Ghostly Short Film here…