🎀🎈💖THE BEGINNING💖🎈🎀

Hello lovelies!
With the chance of my new upcoming solo show with Curio Art Gallery in Portugal, which is themed around Alice in Wonderland, I'll be showing you a bit of my process of how I prepare the work I'll show, so that you can learn sth on the way, whether it is a few technique tricks or the madness of an artist 🤪😂💖

So, let's start with the bunny today...! I decided to start working on the messenger bunny as a first piece, and not the white rabbit, because of the colors! This was the ideal theme to warm me up! A solo show carries a lot of weight and responsibility, it really is hard to explain. I personally see it as a challenge to outdo myself, to go further than I have reached until then, always artistically speaking. On a solo show you work together with a gallery and it is an honor for an artist to be picked by a gallery, so like a parent that has invested in you and helped you, you want to make them proud of that choice and the faith they showed in you!! 🎀

The messenger bunny dressed on the gown of hearts, with warm pinks and reds all around, seemed like the perfect mood-fixer to begin with! Warm colors make you feel more vibrant and more optimistic in my opinion, and are more suitable for activity and 'let's do it' mood!

I started out with a first sketch (above). Eyes are not a problem for me, since I started sketching them at the age of 14, so...many years of practice 😜!!

But the bunny in my first sketch looked older, and more serious than I wanted. Big eyes make a figure look young, but the distance between eyes and the chin line is very important to achieve youth: the closer the eyes are to the chin, the younger the figure. It's the same with children if you observe! With a little tweaking on Photoshop, the sketch came to where I wanted, so that was done:

Many times I make a B&W shading sketch, but for this one I needed the color therapy asap, so I painted my initial sketch with gouache. The result is what you see in the first picture. I was quite happy with it (lucky me!) so this one is ready to go on the painting process now 💖🤗!!

We'll let this be for a while and on the next post we'll talk about fur, so if you're an animal lover, don't miss it ❤😉!

WIP : Cinderella

This is where we currently are, me painting blurry, crying eyes...

Progress photo - girl in woods

This photo is in so many ways wrong, it was taken in the dawn fade natural light creeping in my studio. But the painting is coming out so nice... I'm thrilled!!! I think in the end I will wanna go parading in the streets to show it off... ;)

Tips+tricks series starting

For those of you who don't know, I am a self-taught artist. Self-taught meaning that I've hand-picked numerous art books which have shown me things that I would have learned in an art school I suppose, and I've spent endless hours of my life trying to learn every little detail that will make what I paint look a little better than yesterday, and me a little more happy tomorrow...

The main reason I still spend time on social media is to learn, Internet is a great tool and a great source of knowledge. So I'm thinking to contribute my piece to this process, and post occasionally some tips that I find handy, simple things really that however may be of worth to some beginners. I'll be marking such photos with a 'tips+tricks' stamp so that they're easy to recognize. 

Below is me working on 'Lolipop Rococo'. You see that I'm laying a dark blue color on the bows, although you may see them turning out purplish, even whitish in the end. The reason is that blue lies everywhere(thankfully!), on every shade, on everything we see. The sky is blue, the sea is blue, and they're all around us. Every shadow has blue in it and every dark part of your painting should too. Don't use stand-alone colors as I see in so much artwork posted around. Mix up things on your palette a little and play around. You'll be surprised... wink emoticon 

'Tic-toc' by Zelyss

My blog being my most favorite media to write on, and I can't believe I haven't posted anything since 14th September! Uncontrollable time!!! Here's a little 'time-involved' project on progress, just for eye-candy... 

I'm trying to gather a small tutorial post (of sorts), on my current working piece. Check back here or on my facebook account https://www.facebook.com/zelyss.art so that you don't miss it. Cheers!

'Let me kiss you' (the frog prince) : WIP by Zelyss

Too many things to do, too little time. I regret leaving my blog for days on end, but it's not possible to catch up on everything. Here's what I'm working on right now. The lighting is coming from a warm lamp so it changes the colors, but the theme of the painting is great. My concept of the Frog Prince:

WIP : "French Croissants" by Zelyss

My last two paintings, "Thursday" and this one, are small and rather 'rushed' because I'm trying out surfaces again. Canvas ("Thursday"-previous post) seems to accept paint better, it's easier to work on, but the 'bumps' are visible and I don't like it. I prefer the smoother texture of the board.

The following WIP ("French Croissants") is on primed masonite, and again masonite proves too smooth for me. It helps to get easier the facial colors but the paint needs 2-3 layers to stick on and have the thickness I like, and I don't know if I have enough patience for that. Pff! Potato-potato!

New work started: 'Pinocchio and the Blue Fairy'(unofficially named still)

My next painting to work on. Inspired by 'Pinocchio' of Carlo Collodi, picturing him together with his Blue Fairy, who has the leading part on this piece. 

One of my favorite stories ever. I adore Pinocchio as a figure, not so much his misfortunes, but his actual being...

WIP : 'Pray'#2 - Zelyss art

A series of process photos for my current work "Pray"...

I am focusing on light effects in my last paintings. Layer upon layer of color, it takes longer than expected to reach the desired tones. Plus that staircase on the background is a real 'piece of cake'...!

New work in progress: "Pray", by Zelyss

Summer is making everything slower and it starts getting to my nerves (OK, kind of, but still, I sometimes miss a cold wintry breeze...).

This is the last piece I've started, in between sections of my other painting, (meaning whenever I'm too exhausted to paint fine details, I prefer something more loose).

Started off bigger headed than my usual likes...

With a bit of alteration, we ended up here:

And so it begins. Good luck to me!

:)

WIP : 'Bat your eyes'#2

And here is the update on the process of 'Bat your eyes':

Step #...7(?): Working on the eyes

Skipped the intermediate steps... Too messy fingers for daring to pick up the camera :)

WIP : 'Bat your eyes'

 This is my next project for right after Sandybell. 

These are the stages so far:

Step #1: Enlarge sketch

Step#2: Transfer or board

Step#3: Line with acrylics

Next will be a guideline shading and right after, I can begin coloring!

WIP by Zelyss: 'Sandybell and skippers'

 Currently working on: 'Sandybell and skippers'

Progress photo

Progress photo 2

...and inspiration photo (+a bunch of others of course...)

Too late to write more now, sleepy-sleepy-tired!

Bye all,

:)

Sneak peek : Rosemary

My girl is about to finish, hopefully by tomorrow (fingers crossed), if only my strained eyes can take it! I really say, and it is not an hyperbole, that the camera can't do justice to the artwork, the feeling is so much warmer when you look at the painting from up close.

If Rosemary were a fairy, or a deity or something, and if I was granted a wish, my wish would be one and only right now: for her to use her magic hourglass and give me more time for painting...

Nice weekend to you all!!

A bit of a WIP : Mermaid...

I am in an actual living hell these days, or at least just outside the gates of it. Because things might get worse. Much worse. But I am working, I just don't have time to post.  

Here's a bit of what I'm up to:

A mermaid for a project. This is the first sketch, thought was that it would be underwater, but the hair would not be floating enough and I liked the way it was, so decided not to change it.

This is the mermaid after the sketch transfer, a bit altered. A little more mystical, a little less jolly, sitting on a rock out in the fresh air, a sunset behind her. 

I'm a bit uncertain about the color theme (as usual), I don't want the stereotype colors of a sunset (I really hate orange, too).

I wonder if I could fit teal in this painting as well.....  ;)

Tutorial #3 : Glimpses of my process - FIRST STAGES: Sketching and shading

So I woke up this morning in a foul mood, crazy things are happening these days. Since I'm not at a point of pure happiness, I decided I might give someone else a chance to feel lucky today :)

Jokes (or not) aside, I am sharing below a little bit of my process with you. This is the current painting I'm working on at the moment, it will be titled "Rosemary, the time keeper".

So, let's begin!

1) On gesso primed and sanded board (I have given details of the boards I am using on previous tutorial, see here: BOARDS TUTORIAL), I paint on a greyish background and once it's dry, I transfer the sketch. The initial transfer is by pencil, then I trace it again with a very thin brush dipped on diluted acrylic paint.

2) The next step is establishing values and tones. First come the highlights (with pure, diluted, white) and then the shadows. The process is a little bit like this: 

paint on...

3)

...then smear. 

So that we get that shady effect. The paint must be really thin and you mustn't fear getting your fingers a little dirty. But I don't believe there is any artist who does.

The process of establishing the values is very important, simply because it gives an idea of what the painting will look like, and at this point it is easy to see and correct the mistakes. I used to do this by pencil on the initial sketch as a guide, but I now prefer to do it directly on the painting. It is one of the most fun steps of the way, perhaps the one I enjoy the most! At this stage it is good to take a photo of your masterpiece, to keep it as reference afterwards, because layers of paint will start covering everything pretty soon and you will not remember where is what in the end.

That's all I got for now, but I will keep you updated soon. Have you liked my tutorial so far? Then how about dropping by my facebook page here : FACEBOOK ZELYSS and like my page. 

I like to gain fans the fun way! 

See you on my next post!

A bit of an update...

Just what I'm working on right now.  As time passes I realize my paintings are becoming a little more complex, with more detailed backgrounds, which means they're taking more time to finish.

I am posting Eve's progress, and although she looks more like a girl now (we're already past the monstrous phase I think), I don't know how many more 'sessions' are ahead before she's finished. Not one thing has reached its final state on this piece...

And, for filling times of pure exhaustion when I cannot concentrate enough to progress on the mid-state painting above, I'm starting a new piece to keep myself busy.

WIP : Eve

OK, she looks a little better than yesterday, so I had to post an update :)

Alice in process

So I'm working on two pieces at the same time at the moment, my first one Eve should be finished in a couple of days, the second one -Alice- is in first stages still. I'm posting some photos of the process here:

...first the sketch...

 ...then the transferring and lining...

...and follows the highlights+shading 

(rough guide for giving an idea of how the final painting will look like)

Keep checking for follow-ups!

"Alice in the field of butterflies" - wip - sketch by Zelyss

"Alice in the field of butterflies"

Starting new painting, working at the same time on Eve. Photo is poor but camera is not always handy so I am experimenting with anything available.

PS I miss reading :( No time in the last few days (seriously).