Painting

I began my work inspired by a guy I follow on instagram who works on detailed artworks of the Alien from the movie “Alien”, the detail and unique design looked like a fun challenge. The idea behind “Midnight Hunt” is that the Alien is looking for pray after landing in thick swamp lands, trudging through unfamiliar terrain, moon shining down providing the only light The Alien will need to find his next kill.

I started by painting the background, black at the top fading into turquoise and green towards the bottom to set the base colors for the painting, next I sketched the Alien with a pencil, I wanted to get a basic shape and figure so I could mold the trees around him, I sharpied and painted over the sketch and began to work on the trees and foliage to give the swamp character, the moss and plant life hanging from the trees were soft strokes down with scrubbing towards the bottom to give a see through look, and lastly the clouds and mood were drawn to give light to the painting.

The artwork is just a personal interest that I thought was interesting to paint, I tried to give the Alien a sense of caution along with his intimidating look, it just arrived on the planet, in an unfamiliar swamp, so I attempted to show a stalking cautious shape to it.

The entire painting was an interesting project, this was the first full painting I've ever done and I had to try a lot of new things that I'd never done before, probably the most challenging part was working with the colors and accurately shading with the perfect color.

This artworks is Non-objective, I didn't try and sneak a meaning into it, I just thought the idea was cool, I grew up on the “Alien” movies and always loved the design, and growing up in Florida and seeing swamps first hand, I thought something as menacing as the “Alien” in a murky swamp would be a cool setting to explore.

I started this work with inspiration to traditional Japanese floral art, cherrys blossoms are a staple of art made in Japan, and I thought it would be a fun idea to try and get as much detail into the flowers as possible. Using the pink and red was also something I wanted to try because Id never experimented with light colors.

I began with the tree, a black silhouette of a large cherry blossom tree so I could draw more attention to the flowers, I then drew out the petals and added highlights, the end result is a strong young tree with the rising Japanese sun in the background.

If I were to give meaning to this artwork I would just say its a representation of different cultures of art, to show how different settings besides the country we live in can produce scenes of beauty, and this painting represents that.

The hardest part was filling the tree with life, I wanted to bring the canvas to life with vibrant petals and colorful atmosphere to contrast the black tree and white background, I think in the end I accomplished that. If I were to change anything I would make the center petals smaller and in a wider array.

My idea for this painting was my love for the ocean, I loved growing up near the coast and learning about the travels had at sea, and I also enjoyed learning about the fears sailors had as they crossed the ocean even if they were beyond belief. The Kraken was a creature and terrorized sailors minds, with its enormous size and strength enough to tear a ship down into the depths, it was a legend that everyone prayed was false, I wanted to paint this fear onto a canvas.

I started with the ocean, and the sky, the surface of the ocean was a lighter blue, and the wave line seperating the top from the bottom is a sea foam white with the bottom being a murky blue, the sky being a stormy gray with a hint of light color in the corner, perhaps being that the storm is ending, I then sketched the ship and the kraken with a pencil until I was happy with the shape, I then started coloring, the Kraken I wanted to be a grimey green color to portray it as a monster while also making it visible from the dark blue of the ocean. The ship was meant to be a common merchant ship, smaller in size and few weapons as it was just meant to haul cargo across the sea.

This artwork is meant to spark imagination and fear, a ship with no means of attack being dragged into the deep blue by a creature that can barely be explained, and also draw attention to the unknown, theres many things we still don't know about the ocean, and what things lurk under the surface. The painting is also meant to portray a story, the dark stormy skys and the Kraken coming from below, the ships rushing to free itself from its grip and out of the storm, the light sky emerging in the top right is meant to symbolize hope for the sailors, that perhaps they can escape this perilious sitiuation.

For me the most difficult aspect of this painting was the small attention to detail, the rush of the waves aganist the ship anf the emerging tentacles, the suction cups on the inside of the Krakens arms, and the light shining on the sails.