Art is life . . .: Long time, no blog

Well, it is twelve minutes after midnight, and here I sit, typing away at my Mac with fervor by the light of my desk lamp, listening to the gentle breathing of my sleeping roommates. It's peaceful tonight. Just the clack of my fingers against keys . . .

A few updates for you. I have the original Native American Heritage poster comp mounted, just because I feel guilty for not remembering to do so the first time. One would think that I would not forget these things by now. Then, may I present the finished illustration of the Pueblo pot that simply needs a burnt sienna spot color and a poster design to accompany it. Lastly, I have my comp for the next assignment, the Classical album cover.

Sorry Rusty, but I love operas. Especially if they are composed by a certain Wolfgang Amadeus. Favorites among? Magic Flute, hands down, followed closely by Don Giovanni. Have I actually seen these pieces? The sad truth of the matter is no, but watching Amadeus alone has instilled in me a longing to do so. But I do love the music, which is why I had to pursue one of Mozart's works for this project. I decided on Flute primarily in the comps, simply because it is more whimsical and resembles something I would have drawn in my youth. Of course, I had to center on Papageno. I mean, he's a lovesick bird who finds his sweetheart through music. What is not to love?

My original sketch was going to feature just Papageno dancing and ringing tiny bells, as he does in the Amadeus film. But the more I played with that idea, the worse it became . . . Then I did some song searching on YouTube and realized that most album covers that feature Papageno do not feature him with his soulmate, Papagena. So I decided to change my concept up drastically. The pose was vaguely inspired by the film cover of the French classic Cyrano de Bergerac and the costumes for the lovebirds was based on this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87UE2GC5db0

Ironically, the play is sung in its original German, but I was able to translate by reading the French subtitles. :) I've yet to receive proper approval, but I really hope this can make it to gouache or watercolor!

Tonight has indeed been a good evening. Sleep well, one and all.

Cheers!