Drawing a Mermaid from an Aerial View (get it? Ariel *nudge*)

TWIRLING

Mixing the colors of the ocean

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Hi,

When you think of mermaids, your first thought is of Ariel from Disney's The Little Mermaid. I thought it would be fun to draw a mermaid for an aerial view (aerial...you know, like, Ariel but like...get it? Huh huh? *nudge nudge*)

It is the month of May and as with all kinds of seasonal trends, the MerMay challenge is upon us. What is the MerMay Challenge? Well, it's a month-long daily challenge where you draw a mermaid or a merman, a mer-person every day for 31 days.

This watercolor illustration is my one and only entry to the MerMay challenge.
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Materials

I used the Spring set of five colors from Akashiya Sai Watercolor Brush Pens

And, I also used the Marvy Uchida Black Brush Pen no. 4600. Does that mean they have 4599 other shades of black before it? *giggle*

I used only six colors to make this. The colors I used are: Pink, Madder, Yellow Ochre, Pale Orange, Green Blue, and Black.

Inspiration

The inspiration for this artwork was actually something really random. It's been raining randomly here and let's just say, it's putting it mildly when I say, I LOVE THE RAIN. Any kind. Thunderstorms, drizzles, light showers, I love them all.

So, I wanted to draw something where I felt like the character was part of the rain but she also wanted to act like rain was falling on her, as if saying, "Come, experience all this with me". And I hope that somewhat comes through.

Process & Critique

TWIRLING was drawn on 12x8 150gsm paper. In hindsight, that wasn't a smart choice and I should have used some heavier paper or prepared it some.

So yeah. I drew her in one point perspective and as we are viewing her from the top, the vanishing point is at the tip of her chin.

I was quite apprehensive about using the watercolor brush pens because a) I haven't used brush pens before, and b) especially those that claim to be watercolor.

The Akashiya SAI watercolor brush pens were a pleasant surprise to me. I really enjoyed using them and was taken aback and how easy they were to love. I wasn't too gung-ho about the brush nib at first but as I kept using them, I realized why they were made that way.

My primary critique would be to do better composition. This piece clearly wasn't well planned and I kept adding elements to it as I painted which is not exactly how I should have gone about it.

Let me know what you thought of this in the comments below. :)

I hope you like it.

Thanks again for watching! :)

xoxo

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