Surreal Dreams with Tombow Dual Brush Pens 3


“[S]topping a piece of work just because it’s hard, either emotionally or imaginatively, is a bad idea. Sometimes you have to go on when you don’t feel like it, and sometimes you’re doing good work when it feels like all you’re managing is to shovel [expletive] from a sitting position.” -Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft 

"Flying through the East of Edinburgh" (Arlene Ellis, 2014)

“Flying through the East of Edinburgh” (Arlene Ellis, 2014)

This was probably one of the most ego-bruising illustrations I’ve ever created. There were probably four or five instances in which I felt like I was not worthy of calling myself an artist. I know, very dramatic. All I could see were mistakes, but I continued drawing because I was excited to see how the illustration would turn out. And you know what? I’m really proud that I pushed myself through all the critical voices complaining in my head. One of the reasons I agreed to drawing a new illustration every night for seven days is because I wanted to challenge the misconceptions I have about my capabilities as an artist. It’s only the second day, but I can feel I’m growing exponentially just by experimenting with these dual brush pens. Check out last night’s journey with Tombow Dual brush pens.

"Flying through the East of Edinburgh" (Arlene Ellis, 2014)

I began laying down the shadows with Tombow’s grayscale dual brush pens.

"Flying through the East of Edinburgh" (Arlene Ellis, 2014)

Then I overlaid some oranges and yellows to warm up the wing

"Flying through the East of Edinburgh" (Arlene Ellis, 2014)

I added the green base color with a watercolor brush.

"Flying through the East of Edinburgh" (Arlene Ellis, 2014)

I started laying down the shadows and highlights of the ladybug wings with a watercolor brush.

"Flying through the East of Edinburgh" (Arlene Ellis, 2014)

I used Deco Color Opaque Paint Marker in gold for the speckles.

"Flying through the East of Edinburgh" (Arlene Ellis, 2014)

The lower left mountain landscape references one of Harry Clarke’s (1889 – 1931) illustrations. He’s one of my favorite illustrators. I also tend to use gold in reference to Gustav Klimt.

You’ll notice that gold is more vibrant in the above photo than in the final illustration, that’s because I scanned the final illustration so the reflection of the light on the gold was lost. Plus,  I didn’t have access to the best scanner this morning. I also touched up this area and the insect wings with some Prismacolor pencil crayons in the final illustration. Why didn’t I use Tombow’s pencil crayons? I didn’t know they existed until recently. I will definitely check those out soon!


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