NEW DICE

To get started on the illustration for the play, I needed to position the elements that would go into the image. I started with the photograph of the location. Then, in Photoshop, I cut out the figures of Titania and Bottom from my layout sketch and put them in a new layer over the location. I moved them around a bit until I found a spot where they could believably be sitting.

I added the more detailed sketch of Titania and Bottom on top. Then I cut out the fairy actors and moved them around, resizing them until I was happy with them.

I also cut out the arm and head of Titania from my photo and placed them on top.

Then I started sketching on a layer above these elements. I blocked in the main forms I wanted to use in the background. I refined the figures of Titania and Bottom. Based on information about the actual costumes the actors would be wearing in the play, I gave Titania a sort of crown made of sticks. I also changed my mind about fairy placement.

I added bodies and wings for the fairies and added a few background details.

This was the final drawing I used to paint the image from. In the next post I’ll talk about the painting process.

This illustration was for the Bard in the Barracks production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream to be used in their promotional material. It was painted digitally.

The first step in the production was to work out some thumbnail compositions to figure out how it would look and what to represent.

Here are a few:

I settled on a composition with Titania and Bottom in the foreground and Oberon and Puck in the background having a good laugh.

Next I started making some sketches to figure out what the characters would look like.

On these pages I was working on Puck mostly although Bottom is also there:

Here’s my conception of Oberon:

Titania and Bottom:

Finally I decided to include Titania’s fairy helpers and not to put Puck and Oberon in.

This production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream is to be performed outside in a park. I went with Len Falkenstein, the show’s director to visit the site and took a few pictures. Here’s the one I used:

Len also allowed me to come to a rehearsal and take some pictures of the actors.

In the next post I’ll talk about how I put these elements together.