In the story, a prince disguises himself as a peasant and visits a quaint country village. He meets Giselle, a shy and charming peasant girl, and the two quickly fall in love. But when the royal hunting party comes through town, they spot the prince and reveal his identity - and the fact that he is engaged to a princess. Giselle dies of heartbreak.
The second act takes place in the forest at night. Giselle has become one of the willis, ghosts of heartbroken girls who emerge at night to dance. If a man stumbles into a group of willis, they force him to dance until he dies of exhaustion. The prince comes to the forest to lay flowers at Giselle's grave. The willis catch him, but Giselle protects him from their wrath until dawn, when the willis return to their graves. Giselle embraces the prince before she disappears.
I did this doodle in my sketchbook one evening and thought it turned out well. This sketch was done in pencil, but the final drawing was done digitally using a pencil brush in Photoshop.
Next I took some extremely sloppy photo references. Notice the tidy bed in the background here:
Here's a process gif:
By the way, I just now found out that yesterday was International Dance Day! Drats! Should have posted this a day sooner!
That pencil brush is amazing! Did you just use the one brush for the whole piece? I love ballet and I love this drawing :D
ReplyDeleteThanks Jess! It's mostly a single brush for the whole piece. You can find the brushes I used here: http://frenden.com/post/39394983582/custom-photoshop-inking-and-pencilling-brushes
DeleteCool thank you! :)
DeleteI love all the detail and great lighting! Didn't Contessi Ballet do Giselle one year? I remember something with villagers.
ReplyDelete