My Mysterious Friend
The prompt for this illustration was “My Mysterious Friend” and the rest was left open ended. Since I gravitate toward illustrating animals, I chose this chameleon and the mysterious element is the transparent forest he’s “hiding” in. I thought it was funny to have a chameleon, whose main objective is to blend in, stationed in a transparent forest where blending in is not really a possibility.
Hand sketched & painted with gouache in various opacities on 9x12” black illustration board. I used ball tools to add dots on the chameleon’s skin for increased visual interest and texture.
IllustrationFinal Result
Process
I started with this reference image and created a thumbnail sketch to plan out the composition. I then moved to the full-sized composition sketch on 9x12” paper and added in the fine details & layered foliage.
Before I started adding color, I tested out color and transparency with this digital composition.
I started out with this base layer of foliage in various colors to add some texture to the background which I planned to add various layers to. The black illustration board was perfect for this project because it added a dark and mysterious quality.
I used various viscosities of gouache paint for layering the foliage before adding the chameleon’s body. For contrast, I decided to go with an analogous color scheme and use teal and yellow for the chameleon.
It was fun embellishing on the original reference image and adding some cool yellow shapes, especially around the eye to emphasize the image’s focal point.