Work in Progress

[29wordsforsnow]

We sometimes stumble over artwork that comes with a 'Making Of'. Given the limited description length, there's usually not much reflection that the artist can give. So, let's start a thread where you can tell us about how you made, what is about and how many nights and cups of coffee it took to have it finally done.

-----------------------------

This illustration is one of six I did for an illustrated poem. Your first impression might be 'Erotic? Nope!', then you might discover the flower and the bee, and maybe after a while the leaves of the young trees in the focus of the image will remind you of something.

These trees are in the center of the attention in all other illustrations of that poem as well, a drawn simile of a couple in love. For the image I had planned to have the foreground and background blurred, and to finally make use of a set of watercolor pencils I've got. As you can see, I still need to work on how to make a blur effect, it's quite unimpressive.

Some words about the progress: I started with the trees in the center, and highlighted their outlines with pigment liners.

In the 'work in progress' pic below you can see the crocus and the bee in the left lower corner, which I blurred with a water brush pen. There are also the color swatches I used to check which colors I used the night before

After that, I made a big mistake and started with the background in the top, but soon discovered that this won't work, since the pencils don't draw well over already done pencil strokes.

What really took a lot of time where the individual blades of grass in the foreground. I think I spent more than a week just for those. All together I spent like three weeks (the evenings) to finish this work.

I used a lot of reference pictures - thank you, google - for the more detailed parts (crocus, insects, tree trunk, boulder), always with the direction of shadow in mind - spent hours to find suitable ones...and I must confess that I did cheat when it came to the (hum) bees. I learned about their proportions by placing a note paper on the laptop screen and drawing the outlines.

--------------------

I hope you like idea of a 'Behind the Scenes' thread.

I would love to see some work in progress from other artists on Lit as well, and even more their comments about it.

29*

 

[THROBBS]

Thanks, 29*.
Fun idea!

I enjoy seeing, and hearing about process.

Watercolor and water soluble pencils have been my "go to" mediums for color.

(even if there is a "sensuality" to this piece, I reckon it's a big s-t-r-e-t-c-h to call it "erotic" )

I've done a few progress/process posts in the past.

Hey, 29*
I was thinking you could take that further with contrast of values and sharpness/blur
("push/pull" is how one Art professor had described the process) and bring the focus back to the wee trees that was obvious as you began.

Maybe darken the left hand tree bark and shadow of the rock. darken the right wee-tree. With a wet brush blur the back ground and give a crisp edge to the foreground feature trees. You can wet/blot/wet blot to lift some color is need be.

I was just playing, crudely, in photoshop. If you have that available, it makes a great tool to play with ideas without mucking up the original. As you know, you can only make so many changes before the paper fails.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I'll join in this thread.

https://literotica.com/stories/data/illustra/2002042/f_584fe39d500fc.jpg

The original is A1 size on a cream textured paper - I cannot recall what brand, and it's now framed, so I can't find out. The model was a self-photographer who posted a fair number of tasteful nudes on a Tumblr blog (gone now because of their stupid no adult content policy), who gave me permission to use her image. The drawing is now framed and hangs above my bed.

The original photo was black and white, so that made it easy to capture the tonal range - and I was able to get an almost perfect seven point tone, using fine willow charcoal and my finger tip. The image was drawn freehand from an A4 size print, and I'm still amazed that I got the proportions perfectly. I pushed the blacks harder than the photo, and pulled the highlights out with a rubber eraser. Charcoal lends itself to that wonderfully, but for some reason I've moved since to an edgier line style. I don't quite know why.

I'd read up on sfumato, and was pleased with the way the right hand contour of her back fades right back to the bare paper, but still captures the three dimensional shape. I was especially pleased that I caught the delicacy of her pose.

The photographic capture of the original drawing isn't quite true - the background in the original is more a very pale cream, not the pale grey you see reproduced, and the blacks in the original are blacker, especially down the left hand side and in the cleft of her backside.

I have no idea now how long it took to draw - five or six hours over a couple of days, maybe.

 

[THROBBS]

Thanks for sharing that, electricblue66.

I recommend you try a natural artist's chamois cloth for blending larger areas and blending stumps (they are tightly rolled paper, drawn out to conical points) for finer areas. This gives more control and keeps finger oils off your work (which can actual set the pigment and make lifting more difficult).

That being said... I use my fingers all the time, too!

 

[29wordsforsnow]

Nice back with a pearl necklace

Yes, thanks for sharing, electricblue66. I really should have started that thread earlier...

By chance, the aforementioned poem features an illustration of a shaded female back as well. But as you will note, there's a difference between an exquisitely done artwork (see above) and an amateurish attempt (see below, a section of the bigger image). I must say, I can appreciate your work even more with having tried something similar myself.

Anyway, a few words about this one, too: It illustrates a change of season, literally and metaphorically, with mankind on the stage, colors and details of nature fade and focus is on the people who dominate the scene...more or less.

Again done with watercolor pencils and pigment liners on medium (160g) drawing paper with a smooth unstructured surface. Tried the watercolor effect once on rough paper, but didn't like the fraying of the colors.

To make the A5 drawing, I think, I spent double the time electricblue66 used for his A1 artwork. Which, I think, is great, not just by dimensions only.

Looking forward to see more in this thread.
Thanks, 29*

 

[THROBBS]

I am reminded of when we held "word challenges" here.

A word was offered up, and anyone who wanted to participate would create an erotic image inspired by the word. a week (or whatever time) was allowed for submissions. Those images would be sent to the word-host who would post them all with numbers assigned. Then folk could vote for their favorites using a poll. After a week of voting, the winner was declared and would chose the next word.

It was fun to see all the interpretations.

anyway... here is an old life drawing. 2 minutes.
Pencil with finger smudging in a Strathmore 6" x 8" sketch book

BACK

Several drawings of this model, along with the memory of the drawing session lead to one of the illustrated stories that I had posted to LIT. (not currently posted)

 

[ElectricBlue]

Thanks for sharing that, electricblue66.

I recommend you try a natural artist's chamois cloth for blending larger areas and blending stumps (they are tightly rolled paper, drawn out to conical points) for finer areas. This gives more control and keeps finger oils off your work (which can actual set the pigment and make lifting more difficult).

That being said... I use my fingers all the time, too!

I've tried stumps, but don't like the effect. And yes, finger oils as a reagent - I constantly keep wiping the fingertips. Part of it, though, is the tactile feel of finger gliding on the paper - not quite the same as skin but you can imagine it - especially if the drawing is close to life size.

 

[ElectricBlue]

anyway... here is an old life drawing. 2 minutes.
Pencil with finger smudging in a Strathmore 6" x 8" sketch book

BACK

Quick gesture drawings like this are so good - this one really captures the real essence, and spot-on proportions. Life drawing is so much better for that, and so small! I prefer this one to your line style, maybe because it is softer, more alive.

 

[29wordsforsnow]

A fabulous result for a two minutes work, THROBBS! If you have more non-standard-throbbsy art, please share. I really like to see what people do beside their 'style'.

A welcome change to 3D-rendered mannequin perfection, thanks.

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One more, I like to share, before I leave the stage to everyone else:

This is a bonus pic to one of my posts in the Erotic Artwork category. Struggling with non-documented technical submission issues (eight attempts to find out 300 dpi resolution isn't acceptable, but 75 dpi works well), I sat down to transfer a preliminary sketch into a fleshed out image. A selfie of my palm-nekkid hand done with (waterproof!) pigment liners on sketchbook paper accompanied by a fantasy creatures drawn with soft tip color pencils, which are promoted to be very colorful on both, white and black paper (see the reality and judge yourself: http://literotica.com/i/dragons-all-eyes-on-you).

The detail I would like to highlight is the flower in the foreground. Having finished lines and colors, I reclined in my chair and drank a coffee. (Un)fortunately a drop of coffee found its way on the paper. In order to still make use of the illustration, I experimented a bit with other infusions.

Hibiscus tea provides a very interesting effect. The crimson liquid looks dark pink when applied to the paper, in the process of drying it will change to the purple hue of the pedals in the drawing. So, if you want to have a magic effect for a live performance, try this.

---------------

About the 'challenge' idea - I love those little activities in the poetry section. How about starting small? Like concentrating on a specific detail, e.g. the neck, hair tucked behind an ear, a finger tracing along an eyebrow...

29*

 

[THROBBS]

A fabulous result for a two minutes work, THROBBS! If you have more non-standard-throbbsy art, please share. I really like to see what people do beside their 'style'.

A welcome change to 3D-rendered mannequin perfection, thanks.

--------------------

One more, I like to share, before I leave the stage to everyone else:

This is a bonus pic to one of my posts in the Erotic Artwork category. Struggling with non-documented technical submission issues (eight attempts to find out 300 dpi resolution isn't acceptable, but 75 dpi works well), I sat down to transfer a preliminary sketch into a fleshed out image. A selfie of my palm-nekkid hand done with (waterproof!) pigment liners on sketchbook paper accompanied by a fantasy creatures drawn with soft tip color pencils, which are promoted to be very colorful on both, white and black paper (see the reality and judge yourself: http://literotica.com/i/dragons-all-eyes-on-you).

The detail I would like to highlight is the flower in the foreground. Having finished lines and colors, I reclined in my chair and drank a coffee. (Un)fortunately a drop of coffee found its way on the paper. In order to still make use of the illustration, I experimented a bit with other infusions.

Hibiscus tea provides a very interesting effect. The crimson liquid looks dark pink when applied to the paper, in the process of drying it will change to the purple hue of the pedals in the drawing. So, if you want to have a magic effect for a live performance, try this.

---------------

About the 'challenge' idea - I love those little activities in the poetry section. How about starting small? Like concentrating on a specific detail, e.g. the neck, hair tucked behind an ear, a finger tracing along an eyebrow...

29*

Thank you, 29*
I'm not quite sure what "non-standard-throbbsy art" is. I suppose stuff that I have not show here. I have shown pen work, acrylic, water color and mostly pencil all figurative, some a bit more "tight" (realism), some (much) a bit more "cartoonish"), some quite a bit of liberty taken with contours.

***************
300 dpi 15000dpi all works...it is the PIXEL dimension which is the limitation, so if you are able to check you images based on pixels width and height

800pixels MAXimum width by 600 pixels MAXimum Height
and 100kb maximum file size. There are some tricks to minimize file size for the same image (save/export for web, is one.)
****************

That is a fun technique, and smart to use indelible ink to preserve the line work.

As Bob Ross would say, "happy accidents" You show great imagination/creativity and with a great outcome!

**************
As far as the challenges went.
It was simply a word given and it was up to each individual how detailed, small, borad, specific to go.

for example the word (based on what you said, could be "hair"...and off we go!
could be neck wisp... eyebrow... eyelashes....pubic hair.... full head of hair.... pony tail being gripped.... which ever.

That can be for other thread, of course.

 

[29wordsforsnow]

Thank you, 29*
***************
300 dpi 15000dpi all works...it is the PIXEL dimension which is the limitation, so if you are able to check you images based on pixels width and height

800pixels MAXimum width by 600 pixels MAXimum Height
and 100kb maximum file size. There are some tricks to minimize file size for the same image (save/export for web, is one.)
****************

In that details the FAQ is pretty outdated, there are recent images larger in width & height on Lit.

Two of my graphical arts were sent back with a pretty non-descriptive report, saying the file was somehow broken. I tried everything, formats, size, but it turned out to be the 'printing resolution', yes, I simply hat to reduce the dpi-count, I know it sounds stupid, but it helped to see it published.

29*

 

[THROBBS]

In that details the FAQ is pretty outdated, there are recent images larger in width & height on Lit.

Two of my graphical arts were sent back with a pretty non-descriptive report, saying the file was somehow broken. I tried everything, formats, size, but it turned out to be the 'printing resolution', yes, I simply hat to reduce the dpi-count, I know it sounds stupid, but it helped to see it published.

29*

800x600 pixels is for bulletin board (here) pics uploaded and hosted on LIT.
you can link to larger images which are hosted elsewhere.

Fro "up front" the "erotic art hub" it is a bit "sketchier" (hahaahaa) on limitations.

If you change the resolution and "resample", yep, the file size will be reduced, along with the number of pixels. So that doesn't sound stupid at all.

Another thing that is sometimes an issue with uploading files is if the file is saved as CMYK. Since LIT is a web based entity and we view on RGB devices, in general it is best to make sure files are RGB. Some technology can convert on the fly, but it helps to avoid potential issues.

Anyway, back to your original topic. Work in Progress.

 

[THROBBS]

Dancer
Began as many of mine have, as a pencil (mechanical pencil) drawing on plain copier paper. This was just from my (twisted) imagination

I found a flat marble image and filled in the column in photoshop and used the airbrush tool to give some cylindrical volume

in a similar way, I found another flat marble image and place and distorted for the floor.

I used air brush tool to add color, set to multiply on another layer for outfit and skin and objects

The floor pillow was another textile image which I warped and placed

If was going to do more polish, I'd go into the figure and the pencil work... so that it did not look so "dirty"... give the pencil a different hue than grey... and probably do some more painting on the figure, but I was ready to stop.

 

[ElectricBlue]

If was going to do more polish, I'd go into the figure and the pencil work... so that it did not look so "dirty"... give the pencil a different hue than grey... and probably do some more painting on the figure, but I was ready to stop.

That's an interesting insight into using Photoshop to work up the other layers. I've never tried that. Food for thought... to build up from a base drawing as you've done, including colouring...

What resolution do you set the PS layers?

 

[THROBBS]

That's an interesting insight into using Photoshop to work up the other layers. I've never tried that. Food for thought... to build up from a base drawing as you've done, including colouring...

What resolution do you set the PS layers?

generally I scan the original drawing//watercolor at original size at 300 dpi and keep it at that.
When I want to upload, I will flatten the layers, and reduce the dimensions to the 800x600 pixels and "Save for web" [which is now under "export (legacy)" ] as a .jpg
There are options of Low, medium, high, very high and maximum...which gives some control over file size (to keep it under the 100kb limit (for LIT bulletin board)

I'll still have my unflattened version, if I want to keep messing aroound and/or print a nicer version.

 

[THROBBS]

29*

Oh, I meant to comment earlier how I felt that this piece was evocative of Indian art. The hand gesture is kinda like Tarjani Mudra (I had to look that up, because I did not know it, it only looked familiar to me) the line work of the hand and the patterning on the dragon, even the flower over the hand had a bit of a Hindi "flavor" to it.

 

[29wordsforsnow]

Oh, I meant to comment earlier how I felt that this piece was evocative of Indian art. The hand gesture is kinda like Tarjani Mudra (I had to look that up, because I did not know it, it only looked familiar to me) the line work of the hand and the patterning on the dragon, even the flower over the hand had a bit of a Hindi "flavor" to it.

Thanks for sharing that information - I spent some time to learn a bit about it after reading your comment. I wasn't aware of it when I created the drawing - and hopefully, I didn't hurt any cultural/religious feelings.

I chose the line work for the hand to direct the focus to the dragon - the finger seemed to be the most obvious landing place, although, I know, not the most erotic one
The flower theme, both in the dragon and the cover up of the coffee drop...well, there are some gardeners in my line of ancestors, so maybe it's in the genes?

Who would have guessed that an adult site can be quite educational, not just about positions and what to put where?

 

[THROBBS]

Ok. Here's another one for you (anyone who has interest in trying new techniques.

If you have an inkjet printer. Most/many of the inks are water soluble (i have not done an exhaustive test. results may vary).

Try printing one of your images on a card stock or if your printer will allow, an art paper or watercolor paper. The with a brush, wet with water...play around with blending etc...

In another way, if you have a laser printer or printer which uses water fast inks, you can print line work and add color with various medium. And you can do either of these over and over... weeeeeee!

This is the sequence before printing...
I used several photos of a woman I know. Yes, she was wearing the corset in one of the ref photos. Sadly, she was not here to pose live.

I used water soluble colored pencils, but the paper was not "good"

 

[THROBBS]

Here you can see the original on the right and a print out, with some mucking about using a mostly water and a brush.

You will find that black printer inks will vary from cool to warm (some printers have multiple blacks). you can see on the right, that the black in this case is rather cool (blue-ish in hue)

I scanned the image larger than the original and cropped to a crisp rectangle...then allowed the pigment to break that "barrier"

 

[ElectricBlue]

I was pleased today when I did a search on erotic drawings on Silk (the Amazon search engine coz it's on my Kindle) and found this one of mine in the top fifty images:

https://literotica.com/stories/data/illustra/2002042/f_584fe3e61d9f8.jpg

The search bot found this version on Lit.

The drawing is on A1 cream paper - the original is not as grey as shown here and the blacks are coal black The odd render of the mouth and cheek is more pronounced in this reproduction for some reason (probably down to the smaller image). The original image was a photo, not a model. It's framed as a matching pair with the other drawing in this thread, so I wake up every morning to see this image at the end of my bed, which is rather nice.

Medium = charcoal.

 

[29wordsforsnow]

Thanks for sharing the background story of this, EB.

I especially like the carefully set shadows along her body and the random folds of the gown's bottom end.

Now, it really makes me wonder what's on the other walls of your bedroom

 

[ElectricBlue]

Thanks for sharing the background story of this, EB.

I especially like the carefully set shadows along her body and the random folds of the gown's bottom end.

Now, it really makes me wonder what's on the other walls of your bedroom

Just that one and the charcoal drawing of a woman's back shown earlier in this thread, and some framed family photos. It's not quite a gallery - although I do have more drawings I should frame, or sell through Etsy.

 

[THROBBS]

Just that one and the charcoal drawing of a woman's back shown earlier in this thread, and some framed family photos. It's not quite a gallery - although I do have more drawings I should frame, or sell through Etsy.

Similar here. Only one nude hanging in the house, in the bedroom. It is somewhat "sensual" and non-explicit.

Have you sold your work on etsy before? Do you know what their policies are regarding nudity, explicitness, "pornography"? - I'll probably go check.

*************
back!

found it:
https://www.etsy.com/legal/prohibited/?ref=list#Q7
From Etsy's
Prohibited Items Policy
7. Pornography and Mature Content
As a creative community, we tend to be fairly liberal about what we allow on Etsy, but we draw the line at pornography. Beyond that, we restrict mature content so that people who are offended by this kind of material don't have to see it. If you are selling mature content, we ask that you be respectful of differing sensibilities.

More Details:
Pornography of any sort is prohibited on Etsy, whereas mature content is restricted.

Although pornography can be difficult to define, an item generally qualifies as pornography when it contains extreme or explicit version of sexual content.

We define mature content as depictions of human genitalia, sexual activity or content, profane language, sexual wellness items, violent images (within reason; see also Violent Items), and explicit types or representations of taxidermy. Click here to read more about how to properly list and tag mature content. Not all nudity is considered mature, and examples are listed below. If you find yourself questioning whether your item is mature, then it is likely a good idea to assume that it is mature content, and you should label it as such.

When deciding whether mature content crosses over the threshold into pornography, we take into consideration the explicitness of depictions of sexual activity or content.


******

So, I could certainly sell my life drawings, but not most anything that I've posted here.

 

[Enchantment_of_Nyx]

Similar here. Only one nude hanging in the house, in the bedroom. It is somewhat "sensual" and non-explicit.

Have you sold your work on etsy before? Do you know what their policies are regarding nudity, explicitness, "pornography"? - I'll probably go check.

*************
back!

found it:
https://www.etsy.com/legal/prohibited/?ref=list#Q7
From Etsy's
Prohibited Items Policy
7. Pornography and Mature Content
As a creative community, we tend to be fairly liberal about what we allow on Etsy, but we draw the line at pornography. Beyond that, we restrict mature content so that people who are offended by this kind of material don't have to see it. If you are selling mature content, we ask that you be respectful of differing sensibilities.

More Details:
Pornography of any sort is prohibited on Etsy, whereas mature content is restricted.

Although pornography can be difficult to define, an item generally qualifies as pornography when it contains extreme or explicit version of sexual content.

We define mature content as depictions of human genitalia, sexual activity or content, profane language, sexual wellness items, violent images (within reason; see also Violent Items), and explicit types or representations of taxidermy. Click here to read more about how to properly list and tag mature content. Not all nudity is considered mature, and examples are listed below. If you find yourself questioning whether your item is mature, then it is likely a good idea to assume that it is mature content, and you should label it as such.

When deciding whether mature content crosses over the threshold into pornography, we take into consideration the explicitness of depictions of sexual activity or content.


******

So, I could certainly sell my life drawings, but not most anything that I've posted here.

Explicit taxidermy?

Actually, I thought it sounded like you could sell some of them, as long as they're tagged as mature content. It's hard to draw a line between "sexual activity" and "an extreme or explicit version of sexual content." It makes me wonder whether the policy is basically a fig leaf. If you Google "erotic art on Etsy" and check the image results, it demonstrates that in practice, pretty much anything goes.

 

[THROBBS]

Explicit taxidermy?

Actually, I thought it sounded like you could sell some of them, as long as they're tagged as mature content. It's hard to draw a line between "sexual activity" and "an extreme or explicit version of sexual content." It makes me wonder whether the policy is basically a fig leaf. If you Google "erotic art on Etsy" and check the image results, it demonstrates that in practice, pretty much anything goes.

Ah, thanks. I'll take a look.

Not sure that I can or will do it, but I'd kinda like to. Sadly, I do need to keepa low profile.