Portfolio Day Poster Demo

Assignment - Laguna College of Art and Design catalog
Commissioned by Anthony Padilla

Print Size 35 x 24


This art subsequently became the "Lotus Faerie" poster and "Lotus Love" limited edition print.
The main theme of this art revolved around individual transformation.
his art college is located in the city of Laguna Beach so the ocean became an
integral element conceptually. Early ideas were classical looking landscapes with
angels delivering multi colored wings, or angels floating down to surf the waves.
Classical pillars projecting out of the sea with iconic figures standing on them,
holding symbols representing growth and beauty.A figure standing on a beach removes
his jacket exposing wings. In the background other faerie/angelic beings frolic in the air.
Beings are born out of lotus blossoms. You can see here where I start out with simple
pencil drawings and then integrate subtle Photoshop elements, water in this instance.
The final idea evolves from this simple pencil sketch of faeries being born out of lotus blossoms.
We see them in different states of emerging from the flower.
Tight pencil drawings from photo reference I shot create the faeries.
From this point on its all Photoshop. The drawings are scanned and then placed in a landscape
that was collaged together from different photo reference shot by me and from other sources.
I keep the color low key in the early phases, generally in warm or cool tones.
Next, dragon fly wings that I scanned are added. Starting to bring in a little more color.
New butterfly wings that I scanned are added, keeping some transparency between the wings.
Design elements bring another dimension to the wings. Some refinement in the hair and face.
I felt the arms and hands were looking a bit stiff here and brought some finesse to them later.
I placed one of my painted textures over the image and brought some transparency through
a "hard light" filter. Putting one of my various texture paintings over an entire image can really
pull the various parts together. Other details are are worked on and around the various figures.
Detail of main faerie.
Detail of flying faerie.

Color adjusting adjusting finishes the art. I created a spin off piece called "Lotus Love"
as a limited edition giclee print. You can see how I changed the composition, color and texture.