I bring you today the second installment of the recently relaunched original illustration auction—along with some process pics that show you how it came to be.
First, Robbi drew a sketch. I don’t have a picture of it. You’ll just have to take it on faith. Next she traced the sketch with pen and ink.
But she was not happy with the mermaid’s face. As much as it resembled the sketch, it did not inspire delight. Robbi demands to be inspired and delighted at least seven times a day, and I am capable of inspiring and/or delighting only six times daily. And so, taking matters into her own hands, she cranked out another drawing, this time with a more delightful face.
To this drawing, she added gouache skin tones. And rosy red lips.
And then she painted the arm/fin things, adding just a bit of blue.
And then the gorgeous green hair. And the shiny iridescent scales. I wish you were here in the barn at this moment to see them with your own eyes. The camera does not do them justice. They sparkle. It is delightful. And inspiring.
Then Robbi added some color to the water, to the rocks, to the seaweed and the kelp. She wondered if the scene were complete.
But then she remembered the eyes. Though tiny and seemingly insignificant, the eyes make all the difference. Just a dab of white (especially against a colored background as this is) cause the eyes to pop, inviting us into that window to a mermaid’s soul. A place you want to visit, I assure you.
And then, with some degree of trepidation and against all better judgment, Robbi painted in the watery background and painted in a wash of lighter sky. She worried it would ruin the piece.
But I don’t think it did. Not at all.
If you find yourself delighted and/or inspired, this piece is open for the bidding over on Ebay until 10:00pm on Sunday, May 24.
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