Mother of Dragons Illustration - Process Breakdown

I originally created my 'Mother of Dragons' piece for the start of Game of Thrones Season 7 although the piece took a lot longer to create so I ended up releasing for the season finale instead.

For each illustration I start with a mood board. So I collect images relevant to the theme or concept of the piece, and then add more specific reference to the mood board as I work out what I'll need to be painting. In this case I already had the pre-existing foundation of the series visuals and Emilia Clarke to use as reference so I only really needed to collect images of Emilia Clarke, Danerys and her Dragon to create the piece.

Initially the piece was inspired by the HBO advert where the characters teased in their new season 7 costumery. You can see both of the advert examples marked (1 & 2) in the mood board below. There was something about Danerys in this costume, and her expression that really inspired me to make this piece.

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I created a little Work in Progress (WIP) video to show the different progress stages throughout the piece. One part of the creation process that I wasn't able to cover in the video was the colour scheme choices. You can see below that I whittled the colour choices from image (1) down to (3), opting for the first sketch (a) to develop.

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You can see all the work in progress stages in the YouTube video linked here:

  

Hope you found this breakdown interesting and helpful. Let me know if you want to know anything more about the piece!

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You can see more of my work at: ( Main Website / Society6 Prints / INPRNT Prints / Twitter / Instagram / Snapchat: ni.robinson )

Journey into illustration pt. 2: SEP-NOV Update

 

I was originally going to update the print blog every week to see progress with print making and the marketing side of the shop. But after 6 weeks of progress it seems more realistic to update the print blog once a month. So this is the slightly late mid October update.

I now have 3 original prints on my print and merch shops (4 if you count my Isometric World with two different backgrounds). I've also been working out how to create interest and visibility for the prints using social media. And more importantly if I'm creating anything of interest to people to begin with! I think there is always a balancing act between staying true to your own interests/passions and also creating things of value to other people. This is something I am still experimenting with and will try and work out some conclusions in the next coming month.

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Print Analysis

The good:

• So far the isometric piece has received the most interest on my adjacent social media presences.
• I have one new piece being developed with an autumnal theme.
• I've managed to meet my previous blog goal of 1 new print fortnightly.

The Bad:

• I've reached 3 prints but using previously created work. New work is likely to have a much slower output.
• Need to create more things of interest, create more interest in prints and pieces.

Social Media Analysis

The good:

• Some posting of new pieces across the social media platforms.
• Posted new print last Mon, posted #WIP autumn print last Wednesday that received reasonable interest.

The Bad:

• Social media posting on twitter has been inconsistent. Some weeks good, some weeks posting but not using the campaign structure.
• Instagram posting has been only of really finished pieces. Missing the #WIP posts.
• FB is similar to instagram. Both could be improved!

Overall Analysis

I listed a few goal points in my initial blog regarding research, intent, style and practice. I think these goals need to be reduced at very least, and de-prioritised to 'Would like to have' but with the main priority focusing on new prints and social media.

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• Need to prioritise the creation of new prints.
• Get the ideation stage of new prints created very early and tested.
• Post more consistently to all social media, stick very clearly to the social media campaign ideas.
• Add specific social media platform goals to bullet journal.
• Test and work out interest levels with different ideas, concepts and themes.

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Prints:

• 2 new prints (autumnal)

Social Media:

• (1^st Wednesday) #WIPWEDNESDAY posts (twitter, insta, FB)
• (2^nd Wednesday) #WIPWEDNESDAY posts (twitter, insta, FB)
• (Friday following) Final piece posting
• (Monday following) WIP video, Blog discussion on piece

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You can see more of my work at: ( Main Website / Society6 Prints / INPRNT Prints / Twitter / Instagram / Snapc

Journey into illustration – An Artists Intent and Mid Year Resolution

My relationship with illustration probably spans the entirety of my life. As a child and young teen with no television, books especially illustrated books became my inspiration and imagination. With this in mind it makes sense that my deeply held dream would be to 'become an illustrator'.

In my present day life I have had the great fortune to illustrate pieces for board games and more recently the box cover for Devious Weasel's 'Bemused' board game. And it was with this piece that I thought maybe, I could look into (all very tentative language) creating my first print. I also had the far off lofty idea of creating more prints in the future and moving my intent and thinking towards narrative illustration.

And so this is where I find myself today, in August making a mid year resolution of sorts. I launched my first print shop on the 16th August, using third party sellers (Society6 and INPRNT) with the Bemused piece. There is a certain excitement that comes with seeing your work on real world tangible items (I also discovered I really like the look of the muse on pillows and bags, which was something I wasn't expecting).

I'm going to use this blog to document my journey into making more narrative illustration, prints and other bits and pieces. I have never documented the learning process before but I hope to share my successes, pitfalls, mistakes and learning lessons with you as I go along.

With all this being said I've always enjoyed a list and actionable, achievable goals so I would like to include some aims for the mid-year:

Research:

• 15 mins artist research everyday 
• 15 mins practice and method research everyday 

Prints:

• 1 new print fortnightly (26 by the year up) 

Social Media and Marketing:

• (1st Wednesday) #WIPWEDNESDAY posts [twitter, insta, fb] 
• (2nd Wednesday) #WIPWEDNESDAY posts [twitter, insta, fb] 
• (Friday following) Final piece posting  [twitter, insta, fb, blog, website]
• (Monday following) WIP video, Blog discussion on piece [blog, website, youtube]

Intent:

• Create actionable intent and test out intent throughout the year 
• Create actionable artist manifesto and test out throughout the year 

Style:

• Experiment with cuter, lighter style (13 pieces) 
• Experiment with more sophisticated, serious style (13 pieces) 

Practice:

• Experiment with digital illustrative practice (6 pieces for lighter style, 6 for more serious) 
• Experiment with traditional illustrative practice (7 pieces for lighter style, 7 for more serious) 

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You can see more of my work at: ( Main Website / Society6 Prints / INPRNT Prints / Twitter / Instagram / Snapchat: ni.robinson )

To the Tower

'To the Tower' - a new illustration with a little backstory.

 "It's a steep climb and no ones knows what awaits you there. Many people have tried to reach it before, most didn't even make it to the other side. If you do make it let me know what's there, there at the tower." 

You can see more work:
Art Website and Portfolio Blog

Twitter - ni_robinson
Instagram - naomirobinsonart
Facebook - nirobinsonart
Snapchat - ni.robinson

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day! Sending you imaginary tasty treats to dive into and share with people you care about.  

Art things - I wanted to experiment with a really different colour palette and subject matter from my usual work. I don't think I've ever painted with so much pink/red before. Pretty fun painting chocolate and icing, but raspberries are surprisingly time consuming to paint!

If you want to see more of my work take a look at: http://naomirobinsonart.com/

#valentines #cakes #sweets #chocolate