Whimsical Vanity in Copics
This week’s Illustration Friday prompt was “Vanity”. The boyfriend suggested I do the Vanity from Prince’s band. This did not interest me for many reasons, primarily my reluctance to do people at all, let alone likenesses of actual people. So I settled on an illustration of a vanity table, despite “vanity” being an excellent opportunity for a little visual social commentary. But there would be creatures, of course! I don’t believe this blog has one drawing without at least one creature. It is The Slumbering Herd, after all, not The Slumbering Inanimate Objects. :o)
So, that window was originally a mirror – this being a vanity, and all. But I just couldn’t get it to work out. I had the bird looking into the mirror but uh, yeah, no. I hope nobody minds that I took some liberties with this vanity in that its owner was sick of the mirror and preferred looking out onto lovely sky. As for the bench one might normally find at such a table, in fact it has a beautiful brocade orange bench, but the dog pushed it out of the way in order to sit and watch the bird (his favorite thing to watch in all the world).
So let’s see how many entries have been posted in this day and a half since the prompt came out! 136 and counting. Sheesh. I’ve taken to commenting primarily on those entries that fall into the “children’s art” category, and sometimes I miss some. So many great artists and blogs!
This week I also ended up at the Artists in Blogland Show and Tell Saturday, so I’m going to link there, too! Welcome to my place, wherever you came from! If you care to comment, leave your address in the form thingie so I can visit back. And now some progress pics:
Vanity Sketch
Vanity Color 1
Vanity Color 2
Vanity Color 3
9″ x 6″ with Copic markers and pens on 150 lb. drawing paper. Thanks for dropping in! (Also, arrrrgh, working on some formatting issues.)
I love the quirkiness in your painting right down to the little fat bottle. Everything just belongs and I’d much prefer to watch the clouds go by than look in a mirror!
I was hoping to see someone do the topic this way. Very excellent !! :)
Wow, your work is brilliant! So full of life.
I’m especially partial to the emu in the post below this one — not just because it’s fabulous, but because I love large birds. They’re amazing and ornery and full of personality.
Great to see your progress pictures. Another great slumbering herd illo – the things ON the table even looks like creatures themselves.
Fantastique!
Another wonderful one! Have you ever thought about teaching an online class? :)
Thank you! Eek, I don’t know anything about online classes. But really, I think there are a lot of Copic youtube videos out there, and folks with more skill than me. I’ve got a lot of learning to do yet. :)
Beautiful work, and delightful creatures – I couldn’t stop scrolling down your blog to see more :) Wonderful work.
That is a wonderful interpretation of the theme. :) Love the piece!
Love seeing your progress pictures, you can learn a lot from them, wanna try similar approach myself at some point.
Thank you so much for all the nice comments. :)
Oh yeah, Vanity from Prince’s band – forgot about her! Oh well, I’m pretty sure I like this illustration better anyway. I love the little lotion bottles and soap and things! And I enjoy how you tell the stories of your characters!
Cindy – thanks for stopping by my blog – its a pleasure to meet you! Your illustrations are wonderful and your color palette is so inspiring!
xo ~Susan
Your creatures are so cute and the vanity table is just wonderful. The window is much more interesting than a mirror….who wants to look at their own image all the time when they can look outside at the blue sky.
I understand that the scruffy dog is obsessed with this very vain bird. Goodness…that bird looks so groomed and self conscious. Well done.
I love the colors and patterns, plus the way you wrote about how it all came to be. Nice job!
love the concept – the window instead of a mirror is a beautiful idea; always love your style and your creatures =)
I would rather look out the window than in a mirror these days. And instead of a green bird looking over my shoulder I have cats. My cat Hana actually loves to lick soap and face lotion off my face. Weird.
Too cute for words:D
I enjoyed looking at your delightful work. I’m going to have to Google “Copic Markers” and see what they are. I’ve work with Prisma Colors for years, but never heard of copic markers. You’re off to a great start…keep up the good work.
Great drawing, once again! I’m experimenting with Copics now…just the black. So far I love them. You’re right about the bleed-through with the Sketchbook Project pages. When you solve the problem, I’d love to see an example.
Thank you so much for all the nice comments! Essalee, I may have to dig out my 20-yr old set of Prismacolors. Or stick to fine line pens. I actually did two pages with Copics. For one I outlined the same drawing on the back side for like a mirror-view, because the fine liners don’t bleed through. I might do a few like that but mostly the Sketchbook won’t have much Copic color, I fear. Alas!
I can appreciate a window vs a mirror. I’d rather look outside than at that weirdo looking back at me. See, I’m not vain.
Great seeing your progressive process drawings Cindy. I should do more of that on my blog! Good work commenting on all the children’s art posts. The community is growing all the time. :)
Wow Cindy, this is again such a great idea! And it worked out really well, thanks to the solutions on the problems while creating it. It’s so cool you always show the progress pics as well and that you describe the mental process as well. Love it!
this is aweosme :) i love seeing your work , i like the itemson the table and all the detail :D
Great illustration – fun and whimsical. Visiting from AIB – there’s certainly lots to see by visiting all these new-to-me sites!
love your work :)
I enjoyed reading your post about your process and seeing your wip’s…and now I want to go out and get myself some copic markers!
I liked that we both used the vanity table for the theme—I enjoyed poking around your blog!
Fantastic (as per usual…)!! Really love your take on Vanity. You really do have the most colourful and interesting style. I look forward to seeing what you’ve come up with each week!
PS. thanks for commenting on my gaudy monstrosity this week – lack of time shows… and must get my style sorted!
Wonderful, love the colors and all the details. Love your original style! <3
Really cute illustration, love the way your dog is looking at the bird:)
Thanks for your visit to my blog! Your work is fantastic. I love the colors. I think your solution of turning a mirror into a window works perfectly! Mirrors are tricky in drawings…you always have to debate putting an image in them. The window makes a great bright spot for the bird.
Great! Nice to see the progress of your work.
Beautiful! I’ve been wondering about Copic pens for a while now and seeing your work has brought on “the itch” again! Don’t worry, it’s a good kind of itch, not a rashy kind.