@burvantill I just absolutely love these elephants and look forward to either hanging the finished piece on my wall, or getting a print of it up there.
I think the way you handled it really showcases the emergency of the environment - not only does the light of the fire reach out into the waves of the ocean to press this - but your choice to go monochromactic (sp?) really engulfs (lol, thats a fire joke) the whole image in the intensity of the event - which is what I wanted when I went into drawing it - what else would be powerful enough to drive animals into the unknown? I apologize for throwing this to you, and am also so glad that you took up the challenge.
I have officially finished my end of the bargain - at the end of this I went with the "finished not perfect" because there is still 15% that makes my body itch. I'm excited to put it away for a week or so and come back to it to reflect on the image - but I know it's been too long, so I wanted to get it up.
This piece challenged everything I know. Stylization, craft, light and shadow, values, storytelling - there are a whole bunch of firsts in this image and this final image is heavy with layers of paint.
I changed a few tiny bits of the image - mostly because I was so out of my comfort zone, and trying to figure out how to paint a door in a semi-lighted tree without drawing too much attention away from the main scene blew my mind. Lol - I also chose not to light any of the windows, because one light source was all I could muster.
But there were beautiful moments and fun moments, and I am so grateful that we did this collaboration because I don't think I would have taken on such an indepth and lively image like this (and finished it) without having this challenge on the table.
Thank you Lisa.
I really tried to focus on values, focus point, color relationships, how to even show light and carrying out a constant treatment/stylization throughout.
Whew! It is officially cocktail time.
