Erik’s 100 Day Challenge: Say More With Less

[Debbie H]

It’s looking fantastic Erik!

[erikdennes]

Day 82

I did a Rembrandt study and then tried to apply what I learned.

[Natasha]

Nice pen work and cross-hatching!

[erikdennes]

Day 83

Thanks Natasha.  Now I am really switching gears.  I have been wanting to do a Thanka style painting for quite some time, so I thought I would go ahead and start one.  Instead of starting from scratch, I did a study from an image I found on the web, to get used to the shapes, and proportions.  I added subtle modeling, and shadows which is something you would never see on a traditional Thanka.  This is Green Tara, the bodhisattva of compassion and action.

 

[erikdennes]

Day 84

Worked a little more on Green Tara putting in more shadows and atmospheric perspective, and more on the Soap Bubble piece.

 

[Mariano]

Fantastic evolution in this outstanding challenge Erik. Keep it up, you are close to the end…

Then ready for a new one.

[erikdennes]

Day 85

Thanks so much for the kind words, Mariano.  It really means a lot to me.

I did more blending on the mural. I worked for a long time trying to establish some depth on the sea floor with wave reflections going back in perspective.  It didn’t turn out as well as I would like.  I only have the lift for two weeks, so I have to decide if I want to spend more time to try and get it right, or move on.

[erikdennes]

Day 86

I think I have finally gotten past the “OMG What have I gotten myself into? Was I insane when I planned this? I’ll never be able to pull this off” phase of the mural. Most of the gradation is done, and the wave reflections are looking better.  I mostly worked on bubbles today. It was nice to be able to sit in one place and work on some details.

[Gordan Knezic]

Erik it looks beautifully executed! It actually feels as you were under the water! Your gradations worked out very good and the eye is drawn into the distance. I think it is excellent!

[erikdennes]

Day 87

Thanks Gordan!  I appreciate that.  I really wasn’t sure if this one was going to come together, especially with the added pressure of only having the lift for two weeks.

I did another diminishment to help with depth  looking up into the waves on the waters surface.  They don’t looks so good in the photo, but Im pretty pleased with them on the mural.  I’m basically doing a quick first pass on everything, then I’ll start refining until they take the lift away from me.

[erikdennes]

Day 88

Seaweed

[erikdennes]

Day 89

Fish

[erikdennes]

Day 90

Sea Turtle

[erikdennes]

Day 91

Sea Turtle part 2

[erikdennes]

I am thinking Im almost done with this piece. Can anyone think of what else I need to put in here or any problem areas. I’m not sure I like the purple on the underplane of the shark. purple is the school color, but that is the only purple in the whole mural, so it looks a little bit out of place.

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