My Neighbor Boletus

A little (my children right now claim a lot of my free time) homage to the upcoming autumn and one of my favorite movies from one of my favorite film-makers, the -sadly- retired Hayao Myiazaki.

 

Into The Forest (selfportrait)

My boyfriend and my older son don't like this painting, saying it makes me ugly.
My 1-year old, instead, recognized me at once.
I must say, I've got a strong feeling of freedom while painting myself as a forest troll, surrounded by (some) of the creatures I meet daily. The art world is filled with pretty girls, so let´s go and fill the room of the ugly ones, instead!

painted in PS from scratch, as usual. (and based on a picture my 5-years old took of me, wearing a fake troll nose )

It's you the Little One

Well, who's saying that? The Little and curious Wild Boy going around so fearless (and always with a stone in his hand), or the Little Flower Fairy staring at this stranger?

Like Alexander the Little, this painting was commissioned by my mother-in-law because she wants a fantasy portrait of my second born, too. As for the first, also this time I really tried to do my very best. Nevertheless, I feel quite disappointed when I realized that, even after three years, I scarcerly notice any improvement in my painting technique.  A big difference is that this time I painted my son directly from scratch, and not drawing a pencil sketch which went scanned, as I did with Alexander.

Hope, she will like it anyway.

Anatomy references for fairies pose come from the amazing Senshistock at DeviantArt. Reference for the lovely child are, of course, my own (after maaany attempts to get a decent shot).

Dress Code

At the court of Thulanya, evenings dresses are highly intricate and admired, also by the foreign guests visiting this place in the forest. Etiquette rules, nevertheless, forbid everyone to wear such garments during daytime.
This visitor now understands why.

This is another quick painting in the series of tiny forest people started with Faerie Amanita. I feel it pretty much undone, but the more I rendered it, the most unsatisfied I grew, so it was time to go on with something else.

A tiny Visit

Some days ago I found this little one having fun among my loved geraniums. He told me to not be upset, the flower matched so well his dress and he's so tiny that couldn't really harm my flowers.
I smiled, and asked if I could paint a portrait of him.

Queens' diplomaticy Talks

I really don't have a clue about what the old Queen Spider and Queen Seed of the Dandelions have to share with each other, but when I saw them in the morning dew, they sounded very concerned in their way to talk.

Painted in Photoshop, as usual.

Tangled

This new pic is a commission for the lovely Blossom-Lullabies at DeviantArt. This was especially challenging since this is the first time I got a commission from a Deviant.

She provided me with a picture from her stock:

and asked to be painted as Rapunzel. Because of her two-colored eyes, her request was to depict her as a two-sided Rapunzel, with one dark and one light aspect tangled with each other, which I painted with an opportune choice of different flowers, hair colors, and butterflies. What I found somehow funny is that, when looking at the final result, he light eye seems much less innocent than the dark one, as if the two personalities are tangled inside...

However,  hope she'll like my interpretation of her wishes. Otherwise, I'lll paint one more!

The Pet of Lady Usnea

If you look up, at the tree branches, when you walk in a uncontaminated forest, maybe you'll notice her or hers people walking slowly from tree to tree. Just, don't make them understand that you've seen them! They're very shy.

The Lichen Usnea Barbata lives well where pollution is low. Her crown comes from Cladonia ssp.

Faerie Amanita

Just a quick thing, not very original I suppose, made for fun in Photoshop.
When walking in the forest, it could be worth watch your step. Or maybe not?

The Gift of Poinsettia

This was done for the OC Winter Contest hold by the very kind Endorell-Taelos (Alicia Cooper) at DeviantArt. The point was to depict one of hers OC and one of mine in a winter/X-mas environment. I do not have specific OCs, but she allowed me to have one of my Butterflowers, and so the Butterflower Poinsettia was created.
I chosed Luciana among Endorell's characters, because I found it the most intriguing one. She is basically a Dragon mage princess, with a vampire illness, a kind girl, with a heavy past and duties.
So, here comes a little explanation of the pic's symbols:

yes, you 've seen right: the Poinsettia gives its blood as a (X-mas) gift for the gentle but thirsty Luciana. Normally Poinsettias have a white juice, but this is a Butterflower. And, no fear for the little creature: the petals can grow back.

The constellation above Luciana is the Draco. Obviously.

The flowers are typical ones used in winter bouquets, as well as the Bullfinch is a must in (Swedish) X-mas cards. Just to make the pic prettier.

The crown of light resembles the one of Lucia, here in Sweden is a key figure under X-mas times. And, Lucia/Luciana means "Light".

I tried to represent her as a young princess with a childish, but sad expression in her eyes, as if the happiness of these days could never be enough to cancel the terrible past following her. I also wanted to give a feeling of a regal portrait from Old Masters, at least a kind of.

Otherwise, I enjoyed very much to paint this, in Photoshop as usual. Hands referenced from mine. No refs for face. The character Luciana is copyright of Alicia Cooper.

Sweet Pea Love (Butterflower#3)

I'm not really a pink-sweet-girly type, but the pea flowers growing this summer in my greenhouse couldn't avoid the chance of becoming the subject(s) of a tender, eternal meeting between two Butterflowers. The motif of petals is a little revisited.

No surprise that an alternative name for this subfamily is Papilionoideae.

The Lady Faun

In the last time, painting has became nearly impossible, since my evenings are almost totally occupied by the baby-almost-toddler who got separation anxiety.

So, I was very uncertain if participate in the Faun Contest held at DeviantArt by the lovely Eledhwen, whose conditions were to choose one among three of her Faun stock pics, and do a paint, or a photomanipulation out of it. I tried to give it a trial, and chosed this one:

and finished in a hurry in around a couple of weekends, so I had to keep it as a simple portrait, even if I'd like to put more imaginative elements in it. She asked also to not draw the dress to let the faun features be more visible, but I find it beautiful so I decided to keep it.

It's always great to paint from a real model instead of painting stereotyped human characters, as often seen in fantasy illustration, so I really enjoyied it, despite the little time. It is moreover a very useful exercise. (then, I also won, which is an additional pleasure :) ).

I'm still not completely happy with rendering, but maybe I'll take up again later.

The Butterflies House

This started as a portrait practice, my camera sometimes shows quite odd perspectives while taking narrow portraits, so I wanted to use the pic I had. 

The painting then degenerated creeply, so below I've the result. I've no clue about the title, maybe I'll change it, suggestions are welcome.

This time I tried to use the Sharpen More tool in PS, to avoid that muddy effect I always get when uploading the file. 

Usually I also draw the pic in a computer, and uploading to internet with another, which displays a quite less saturated image. I wonder what people really see when looking at my pictures.

Rhaego Targaryen

Well, a little piece of (imagined) fanart. I must admit that I also fall in that Game of Thrones trap.

I was watching Season I while my second child was just few weeks old and, I would say obviously, I felt disturbed by Danaerys miscarriage of her son Rhaego:

“Monstrous. Twisted. I pulled him out myself. He was scaled like a lizard. Blind, with leather wings, like the wings of a bat. When I touched him, his skin fell from his bones. Inside, he was full of graveworms.” - Mirri Maz Dur -

So I decided to change the history and make him newborn, alive and healthy. Just, the scales and the wings aren't really a malformation, but a sign of the dragon blood inherited by his mother. As she saw him in a vision, his skin is bronze like his father's, and his hair are instead of the Valyrian blond type.

However, don't ask me how she could deliver such a scaly child without so much pain. Maybe she just delivered a dragon egg, ahah. It would be easier.

Technically, I experienced some problems with computer screens: with some my pictures are so saturated, then I look in the other one we've at home, and everything is so grey. This pic is no exception.

The Song of Wandering Aengus

I wanted to draw an illustration for the Poem The Song of Wandering Aengus, by WB Yeats, since long ago. I especially love the song version by the Italian folk singer Branduardi.

The part depicted here is when the girl comes out from the silver trout (in italic below). It is not said in the poem itself, but I took the freedom to made her coming out from fire. Hers mermaid appearance comes from the silver trout.

My interpretation is that the Aengus quest is the Quest for Life itself, where Life is symbolized by the girl, born from all the four elements of nature: the fire, the water with the trout, the bright air where she disappears, the earth where apple trees are blossoming.

Well, just my two cents :) Hope you like the painting, anyway.

I went out to the hazel wood,

Because a fire was in my head,

And cut and peeled a hazel wand,

And hooked a berry to a thread;

 

And when white moths were on the wing,

And moth-like stars were flickering out,

I dropped the berry in a stream

And caught a little silver trout.

 

When I had laid it on the floor

I went to blow the fire a-flame,

But something rustled on the floor,

And some one called me by my name:

It had become a glimmering girl

With apple blossom in her hair

Who called me by my name and ran

And faded through the brightening air.

 

Though I am old with wandering

Through hollow lands and hilly lands,

I will find out where she has gone,

And kiss her lips and take her hands;

And walk among long dappled grass,

And pluck till time and times are done

The silver apples of the moon,

The golden apples of the sun.

The Snow Maiden (Snegurochka)

Long time, no blog, and very slow painting in the background of my life occupied by small children.

I started this one when the snow still covered the Scandinavian woods, and now it is finished only in the middle of summer.

This is my personal interpretation of a classic character of Russian folklore, the Snegurochka, or Snow Maiden, daughter of Frost and Spring. Despite she's typically depicted as a merry and kind girl, I wanted to show her sadness, since the legend tells her heart will melt, and she'll die, when she will first fall in love.

Seasons Greetings

A quick image painted in Photoshop from scratch, not very religious or X-mas related, but somehow inspired by the Nordic culture where I live: Santa Lucia, the white Reindeer and the magical Northern light, plus a hint of John Bauer, a great Swedish illustrator who was a master drawing Trolls and tiny Princesses.

Probably it will be one of my last illustrations for a while. It's too late now, so maybe I'll use it as Xmas postcard next year, if people will not be too disgusted about :) .

To the very few ones who visit this place, I wish a peaceful Xmas time.

Winged Vanity

This has been made for the contest Wings of an Angel at the Group Digital Art Fantasy, at DeviantArt.

The deadline was quite close and I didn't render as accurately as I would have done, but it's moreless Ok, maybe I'll refine wings and others details in the future.

I didn't want to paint a classical angel (good or demoniac), instead I tried to get inspiration from the Deadly Sins, I though it could be more interesting.
I don't think I'll have any chance to win something (there were already a lot of much more interesting and beautiful contributions), but it was fun and good for me to practice again some facial anatomy, and also a good excuse to paint with the peacock's color palette, which I really love, and also can mean Vanity and Proud in this case.
Used my right hand as reference for hers; painted in Photoshop from scratch as usual.

detail of face:

Eichhornia

Done for the contest "Girl with a Flower" hold at DeviantArt by Gabbyd70 .

This was a pretty good excuse to paint flowers again, and practice a little with faces, which I always need. It's not very clear if the girl is really human, but she tries to give the observer this illusion, at least. She's also not intended to be beautiful or perfect (asymmetries are intentional), but misterious and probably dangerous.

The flower she's connected with is the Water Hyacinth, a very invasive species which, while cleaning the waters where she grows in, accumulates the worse poisons...

 a couple of closepus:

Fainting Autumn

Making doodles, I decided to go on with this one.
It depicts the spirit of boreal Autumn, as we experience it up here. Daylight becomes suddenly short and golden, the leaves have almost fled from trees, the girl tries to catch the last glimpse of light, but the day is already at its end, and soon snow will cover everything.
Technically, I tried here to work without references, just to give myself a challenge with anatomy.

I'm still not sure if the last version should be the whole figure or a smaller one.

a detail: