Illustration Notes for Episode Thirty-Two
This week, there really seemed nothing of significance to draw but the two people Matt wakes up to find peering down at him. So—we finally have portraits of Rain and Piper, despite my resistance to such intrusions on the visuals you already own. (Sorry!) The interesting thing for me about this portrait of Piper is actually the difference between my previous descriptions of her and the generous young woman here on Orcas Island who has agreed to be my model for her from this point forward. My young model has an amazing ethnic heritage that makes her appearance EVER so much more interesting than the descriptions of Piper I have already provided in several earlier episodes. Piper’s father in the story—the River King—is a man of very dark complexion and exotic appearance, which is why Piper’s hair and eyes are so much darker than her mother’s. But, if I had encountered my new model in time, I’d have changed the descriptions of Piper even more to match my new model’s appearance! Sadly, no longer an option. So, I have worked hard here to create a ‘hybrid’ Piper, whose appearance preserves as many of the great features of my new model as possible, while still seeming consistent with earlier descriptions already in the text. I am actually fairly pleased with the result.
My new model for Rain is my ‘Piper model’s’ father—whom I am rendering in these illustrations as a much younger man. LOTS of artistic stretching in these portraits, present and future, which makes the task interesting and fun! My deep appreciation to both of these new members of the TWICE family for their generous willingness to let me drag them into this!
The only other thing to say about this image is that it was—once again—incredibly rushed, this time due to the intrusion of an entirely unexpected death in my wife’s family this week. We are all navigating that together, and well. These are remarkable people with HUGE capacity for meeting life where they find it, and supporting one another. But it’s been a very strenuous week. I used all sorts of tricks to make the last-minute, hardly sketched out background for this image less obvious. After laying in simple line work for the ceiling and hanging fan, I just dumped solid colors behind them, then made the whole image so dark that you’d never notice. …Pretty clever, huh—if I’d kept my mouth shut, anyway.
Below, as always, is the uncropped, uncluttered-up image for your inspection. Have a great week!
