Feb 19, 2022

The Fun in Winter


The most wintery illustrations I drew in this year's winter must be these two!

After moving from Texas to Indiana, I am looking forward to seeing snow. Though I don't like cold (I only want to stay under blanket in winter), I still want to experience the beauty and fun in a snowy world. Such feeling is what I want to show in my illustrations: Coldness and Playfulness. Winter is cold but full of fun!

The inspiration came from the iceskating I saw in Chicago (Gouache Practice #2), and Christmas and the fairy tale <Nutcracker>. I want to show the fun in winter by carrying out these idea. 



Initially, I sketched on papers. For the sketch of Santa and elves, I especially like the moose skating aid. I didn't know there is such thing until the trip to Chicago where I discovered penguin skating aids which help kids to skate. (I definitely need it as well since I have limited experience in ice skating.) 



As for the Nutcracker sketch, at first I imagined the girl Clara and the prince Nutcracker skating in front of a castle. However, after drawing the castle, I felt something wrong. I feel the space in the picture is gone. The characters look too close to the castle, which I don't like. But I also don't want to decrease the size of castle so as to create a sense of space. At the end, I decided to eliminate the castle. The focus will be Clara and Nutcracker. 

When planing the color theme, initially I planned it should be holiday colors such as red, yellow and green. But I wanted to challenge myself to create an illustration which features a blue tone. So, I changed the color theme to Turquoise Blue, Green Yellow and Flesh Tint for the Nutcracker illustration. 

In addition, I want the audiences to feel a sense of cold but also warmth in the snowy illustrations. Blue and white represent the cold; warmth comes from the fun of the interaction from the characters. 



After the idea and direction were clear, the rest was patience and persistence to finish the work!

I want to share some of my favorite details:

***

【冬天的童話】

這年冬天,畫得最有感的就是這兩張圖吧!

從德州搬來印州,我很期待在北方看到雪。雖然怕冷、冷就不愛動,但還是想親身體驗雪白世界的美與玩樂。這就是這兩張插畫想呈現的感覺:Coldness & Playfulness。好冷但好玩!

創作靈感來融合了我在芝加哥看見的溜冰(Gouache Practice #2),以及聖誕節和冬天的童話故事《胡桃鉗》。我想透過童話般的節日與故事,表現屬於冬天的玩樂。

一開始先在紙上畫草稿。聖誕草圖那張,我最喜歡的是麋鹿溜冰輔助器。哈~我以前不知道有這種東西,直到在芝加哥發現有企鵝款的溜冰輔助器,有些小孩會扶著這溜冰。(我不會溜,應該很需要!)

胡桃鉗的草圖,背景原先是設定女主角Clara和胡桃鉗王子在城堡前溜冰。但畫好城堡後,我覺得離角色太近,空間感沒了。但是也不想把城堡縮小拉出空間感,後來決定捨去城堡,聚焦在角色上。

規劃顏色時,原先設定胡桃鉗和聖誕節插畫的主題色都是紅色,但後來想來點挑戰,把胡桃鉗改成冷藍色調,從土耳其藍、淡綠黃和膚色去變化。

雪景的話,我想表現寒冷但又有溫暖。以藍、膚色和白色帶出雪與寒;暖來自角色互動所帶來的生氣。

等到草圖和色彩都有明確方向後,就是耐心一筆一畫完成啦!這邊就不詳述了,不過想分享幾個我喜歡的細節:

Thanks for reading!
Jenny ☺

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