Weekly Summary: 2

Choosing a silhouette:

It was time to narrow down my selection of silhouettes. I chose 5 based on their shapes, balance/proportions and how much they personally appeal to me because I think it's important to have an interest in your project if you expect to get the best results out of it. To help me decide on a silhouette to iterate, I wrote what it is about them that I like and what I could potentially do with them.

As a result, I chose the 4th silhouette because I know that I want to experiment with transparency and layering. The 2nd, 3rd and 5th silhouettes already have busy shapes and layering parts may over complicate them. In comparison to the first silhouette, the one I chose has a similar shape and style. However I think that the soft shape of the wings compliment the jointed parts of the insect and there's more option for me to experiment with it than the first silhouette.

Iterating the main body shape:

After deciding on my silhouette, I made quick iterations of the main body shape. I copied and lowered the opacity of my silhouette and painted over them. I kept it greyscale for now to focus on the design.

Iterating the pattern:

After looking at some patterns of insects online, I made the iterations shown above. I though it would be a waste of opportunity if I didn't give my insect any patterns because it has clear wings. I went with number 2 because I thought it looked cleaned yet organic at the same time.

Colour Palettes:

I looked online for some colour palettes that I liked because I'm not very good with colours. I am pleased with all of them but the last one appealed to me the most.

Wings Iteration 

Just before I stated my thumbnails, I saw some beautiful photos of insects with 'windows' in their wings. I thought it would be an interesting way of playing around with how I show the pattern on my insect's back. After trying some designs, I decided to stick with plain clear wings because I thought that pattern was enough.

Composition Thumbnails:

I want my insect to be incredibly tiny so I chose flowers that are relatively small. The first one a lavender, second one a daisy, third a forget me not and the last one a macro of a petal. I decided to go with the last one to emphasise the proportion of my insect.

Colour Thumbnails:

I played around with some colours because I still didn't have a clear picture of what i want in mind. I even changed the colour of my insect in the last two thumbnails to experiment. However, I decided to go with my 2nd design because I love forget me nots and I thought my insect could camouflage with the blue petals while also complimenting the yellow centre of the flower.

Final Piece:

The final piece took a long time to paint because I don't usually draw without outlines. However I was pleased with it because I was able to practice edge control and values. I think as I practice drawing without outlines, my process would be quicker and more efficient.