Personal Work: Summer at Bag-End

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I mentioned briefly on this blog that I am currently traveling around New Zealand. Two weeks ago I was lucky enough to be able to visit the Hobbiton movie set on a bright, sunny day. (As I type this, it is a rainy, stormy, grey day and I am wistfully remembering my afternoon in the Shire.)

This painting is inspired by the incredible colors I saw there. I was very impressed by the amount of detail in the sets - the weathered wood, the worn-down grass, the potted plants and climbing vines and little birdhouses and lamps. Each hobbit hole had its own personality.

I wanted to take advantage of the fact that I now had my own original photo references to work from, and decided to put together my own scene rather than working from a movie still.

For Bilbo and Gandalf's poses, I looked online for photos of men smoking pipes. I liked the photo of the cowboy lighting up because he's sitting low to the ground; as Gandalf would have to sit on a hobbit-sized bench.

At first I had Gandalf's hands in the same "lighting up" pose as the cowboy. But then someone pointed out that, from a distance, it looked like Gandalf was texting.

"u shall not pass"

So I moved one hand so it was resting on his staff.

I have to admit, I could spend many more hours on this scene! I am forcing myself to call it done!

(True story: immediately after typing that sentence, I went back to the image to touch it up a little. Argh! Ok it's done now, for reals this time!)

I used Kyle Webster's gouache brushes. I love using these; they have such a nice painterly feel to them.

Until our next meeting. Namarie.