Happy SteamPunk Witch - digital illustration

Happy Steam Punk Witch - digital illustration

 A Happy SteamPunk Witch preparing for Halloween

This digital illustration was created during October 2018. It feature a happy steampunk witch going about her business of creating potions and spells at her cauldron. It can be seen that the coven has a number of technical refinements including a gas fired cauldron, a steam pump for pushing various chemicals around the area and in to the cauldron, and some evidence of electricity for various experiments. The witch still prefers to create her potions the manual way when possible. As found in many covens a black cat is a customary addition to the surroundings, and is perched up on a stool watching activities. The witch herself still wears the typical pointy hat but has a number of 'steampunk' additions in the way of goggles, corset with straps and stylized jewellery.

The illustration is painted in 'auto sketchbook pro, initially drawn on an android 'galaxy' tablet to find the composition, with some basic colour work being done on the device too. At a later stage the file is exported to the same software running on a Windows 10 machine, where the image is greatly enlarged and repainted to a finer standard for final output, which can be seen on this link.

Happy Steam Punk Witch - WIP stages

Happy Steam Punk Witch - WIP stages

WIP stages of  'Happy Steam Punk Witch' illustration

Completed during October 2018, this illustration features a witch happily working in her coven. She is dressed in 'Steampunk' attire and also has technology installed which is in keeping with the theme. A black cat is perched on the stool looking on.
The artwork was created digitally using 'Auto Sketchbook pro' software. It is begun on an android tablet where the drawing and layout are decided, followed by 'roughing' in the basic colour information for the artwork. The first two panels show this and it can be seen that a little ghost was going to feature popping out of the cauldron. The final panel shows the finished work, where the ghost has been dropped. This stage is performed on a powerful Windows computer, running the same software. The image is greatly enlarged from the original file and the subject is refined when repainted at this size.
The finished artwork can be seen here in greater detail.

Happy Halloween Witch - drawing vs painting

Happy Halloween Witch - drawing vs painting

drawing vs painting of the Happy witch

This illustration of a happy surrounded by her graveyard friends was done during 2012, and was painted digitally in Photoshop. The drawing it was based on was also done in Photoshop and is shown as a comparison between the sketch and final art. There is no 'refined' sketch or drawing, but instead the painting is done directly from the rough sketch and 'drawn' as it is painted rather than spend time just on a neat drawing.
The final art can be seen here.

Happy Halloween Witch with graveyard friends

Happy Halloween Witch with graveyard friends

This digital illustration was completed during early October ready for Halloween, in 2012. A young, attractive witch takes centre stage in the scene, riding a broomstick complete with a black cat. She is casting a spell with a magic wand, from which is emanating a bright light producing sweets and candy. The illustration is filled with various icons associated with the Halloween festival. A friendly ghost is situated at each end of the composition, each one of a different design. Pumpkins with cut out faces are on one side of the painting and a vampire like bat and haunted house on the other. A small Goblin is almost hidden away, its presence marked by a set of glowing eyes. The image is aimed at children and hopefully conveys the fun and mysteriousness of the Halloween festival. Despite the dark subject and the fact it is set at night in a graveyard the image is designed to be bright, colourful and exciting. Painted in Photoshop to an A4 size.

witches

witches

wicked witch and cat
wicked witch casting spell

The first image,with the cat was done in 2007. It was created in illustrator (vector) rather than photoshop.
The second,photoshop painted witch was done in feb 2009. Quite a difference in styles, although the figure is basically the same!

from website...
wicked witch casting spell
The green, wicked witch casting a spell was painted in photoshop to a size of 10" x 8". The drawing uses a wide angle view with distorted perspective, and a general tilting of the image to add drama. You would not really see the top of the witches caudron if it was a photograph, but here the cheated perspective is not noticable. The viewer needs to see inside the caudron as well to see the creature forming/ cooking! It was fun to work out the upward lighting, coming from the flames, affecting everything in the coven.
Digitally painted in 2009.