Aero Naut Final

With a twist!

Here is hoping you have all had a very Merry Christmas and best wishes for the New Year!

Sometimes when working on a project, you need to reassess your original plan. In my previous post you will have seen that this drawing was planned as a verticle format image. However, while working on it and building up the main shell image I was having some trouble with the paddle wheel - it seemed to be turning in the wrong direction pushing the Nautilus backwards instead of forward through the clouds.  I had to turn the work around to avoid smudging as I drew. As I did so I began suddenly noticed that when in the horizontal position this paddle wheel was turning the correct direction - and the Nautilus was suddenly surfing down the cloud scape instead of battling through it!

So, my brain boggled a bit, but settleded down and the work flowed and became more coherent. 

Here is the final result:

Aero-Naut WIP

Steam Punk with a nautical twist

Would you like to see my latest work on the drawing board? You would? If so, read on...

This will be the third work in a series of nautical themed steam-punk influenced works for a solo in September/October. Title of the show is tentatively called '20,000 Leagues'.

All works are 38 x 33 cm either verticle or horizontal, primarily graphite, but with some twists. Planning of the drawing was some 6 or 7 hours before trasfering outline to 300gsm Fabriano Extra White Hot Press paper.This work was started using a liquid tint made from Twinings English Breakfast Tea (extra strong). A light, selective layer of water-soluble 4B graphite pencil was added and washed to create tonal tints. Finally, I am working with straight graphite pencils (Staedler Mars Clutch) 2H, F, HB, 2B, 4B. This attached shows the progress at about 6 hours of work.

Title of the work is 'Aero-Naut' - and it is based on a paper nautilius shell I found on Montague Islands decades ago and photo references from google for the appearance of the real animals tentacles before I mechanised them up. Take note, all circles and gears are drawn free hand! No templates, which is why some are a bit wonky.

Tablet shot only, so tonal values are a bit out of whack.