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MPFitzpatrick — Opium
Published: 2011-07-25 00:44:38 +0000 UTC; Views: 1540; Favourites: 40; Downloads: 19
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Description
11x17" Mixed Media on Watercolor blockIncluding color pencil, watercolor, charcoal and pastel
I drew the sketch for this one, gosh, way back in 2006. It sat in a drawer for years and I finally brought it out to finish. I'm actually very glad for the delay, because originally the wings were intended to be very different. As I started to paint, having them become smoke-like seemed so much more natural and appropriate than what I had in my original composition.
This is a companion piece to my Absinthe [link]
The piece was inspired by and referenced from the very lovely, kind, and always beautifully costumed Elandria and this stock pack [link]
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Comments: 13
holy fuck youre actually spot on with this one wow
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I looooove the dress! The dragons are fantastic and you handled the folds of cloth really well.
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That dress is absolutely BODACIOUS. I love the red/gold/black combination, and the dragon design is just...
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Really beautiful work!! I'm ever so glad you were able to finish it!!! Thanks for using my stock!!
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I love it! ^_^ You've beautifully captured the essence of "Chasing the Dragon" with her kimono and smoke wings. Very well done!
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Thank you. When I got to the wings, and realized what I needed to do with them, I burst out of my studio, accosted the boyfriend, and demanded, "I need incense! Really smokey incense. NOW!". Because I wanted to have the smoke wafting around for inspiration.
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Beautiful~! I love the asian theme! Painting those dragons and fan/flower things musta taken ages...
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Surprisingly, the dragons and little flowers weren't much of a problem. It was laying down All Those Layers of different shades of red for the dress that had my hand cramping up and had me worried I'd never finish. That and re-working the wings in about 3 different media until I finally pegged the way they wanted to be.
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Ohh I can see that >__o what kind of paper did you use? or canvas? Eww hand cramping reminding me of carpal tunnel days T.T Anyway, this still turned out wonderful, the wings really do suit the image!
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It's on a Strathmore Cold Press watercolor block/pad (13x17"). Which is fortunate, because I almost used my more preferred Arches Hot Press watercolor block/pad (because I usually like a smoother surface), and I ended up needing the tooth of the Cold Press to hold the pastel work.
Watercolor blocks are really, really awesome. No paper taping or stretching required.
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omg I'm so used to using the taping-to-a-board method I didn't even know a watercolor block existed T_T. That would help sososo much lol. Thanks so much for the info~ I'm definitely going to ask about that.
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