Cycle - Mother's Anatomy

"Mother Nature is the personification of nature that focuses on the life-giving and nurturing aspects of nature by embodying it, in the form of the mother.", Wikipedia.

Mother Nature, Earth-Mother, Gaia, Mama Pacha were all symbols of the connection human culture has had with nature. As a reminder of this connection, I wanted to show human anatomy made of our natural world. Mother's Anatomy is meant to remind us of how much we must also care and nurture nature to reciprocate everything it gives us.

Finding reference material of every element in the composition is an important step. Without reference, I could not possibly know every small realistic detail that I wish to include to give each piece the quality it deserves.

Here are the images I used for reference.

Looking at these photos, I decided to draw some rough sketches to plan out my composition. I am sorry to say that I do not have any photos of these roughs. In future posts, I will be including photos of the rough sketches. You can see the rough in the corner of the first few photos of the artwork that follow.

Having chosen a rough, I start sketching out the composition paying close attention to my reference photos. Laying down some gestural lines and simple shapes to figure out the placement and proportion of the elements in the composition. This allows me to play around and change any aspect of the composition without having to spend hours on detail only to discover that it's the wrong size, or in the wrong position, or looking the wrong way, or ... It is easier to erase and reposition simple shapes and lines then to rub out or cover up hours of work. Once I am happy with the gestural sketch, then I go in and add detail.

This piece has an extreme lighting challenge with Mother Earth's heart being the sun so I added some light, shadow and midtones in graphite on certain elements that were especially challenging for me.

Once I was happy with the pencil drawing, I started adding colour. I made the decision of having 2 colour palettes for this piece. The first one, in the background, is based around colours affected by a light yellow influence for the lights, and a dark purple influence for the darks. The second, in the middle and foreground, is based around colours affected by a light orange influence for the lights, and a dark blue influence for the darks.

Creating the illusion of the shining sun (heart) was particularly challenging for me.

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This piece is also available as a signed archival print. If you are interested in purchasing a print or the original drawing of this or any other piece of art from the Illustration tab, e-mail me at gilles.rainville@gmail.com.

Next time Cycle - Desintegration.