Holiday Fox
WATERCOLOR
•2015•
Ms. Fox is in her holiday best as she catches one of winter’s delicate treats on the tip of her nose.
Holiday Fox is a piece that I created to use as my holiday card to send to friends and family but also as a piece to have fun with that was not commissioned as part of a book.
The Process
A piece of art doesn't magically appear. There are many steps taken before the final art is created. The steps I took to create the Holiday Fox are shown below.
The Thumbnails
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When I start with an idea, I’ll do multiple thumbnails. Thumbnails are tiny sketches done very fast to establish the overall feel of the image. This thumbnail hit it right on the head. I barely changed a thing for the final art.
The Final Line
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In this image, I created the final line, which I drew on tracing paper. You can see the thumbnail image behind it. I also drew snowflakes on the side, trying to get the perfect one that would sit atop her nose.
The Rough Color
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Sometimes I am not set on what colors I want to use so before I start the final piece, I’ll do a quick color mock-up in Photoshop. Once those colors are established, it’s time to transfer the image to my paper and start painting.
Masking
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Life with watercolor is made a lot easier if you mask your image. Masking is the process in which you block out certain areas of your painting with either masking fluid or tape. These products are easily removed from the paper without destroying the surface, leaving a blank space for more watercolor to be applied. In this case, I have masked the fox and snow so that I could concentrate on painting the perfect sky.
The Process: The Detailed Version
To learn more about my process, visit my post about the creation of the cover for, It's Halloween, Little Monster, here: