Decoding Daily Deviations is the series that aims to unlock the secrets of what it took to create these magnificent artworks and motivate others to work towards similar recognition. Each week we will present an interview with one artist who has recently received a DD and have them share the details on that specific piece, relating to their creative process, techniques, and narrative inspirations. If you've ever wanted to know more about a beloved artwork and the talented skills applied to it, this is the series to keep track of!"
FEATURED ART: In Sleep of Death What Dreams May Come by DianaVanDamme
DD DATE: 2017-01-23
TIME SPENT: 46 HRS total
TOOLS/PROGRAMME: Photoshop CC
DD DATE: 2017-01-23
TIME SPENT: 46 HRS total
TOOLS/PROGRAMME: Photoshop CC
Share with readers the details of how this piece came into being. Did you have a clear story idea/inspiration from the beginning?
“In Sleep of Death…” resembles the elegant beauty of classical works. Please, discuss your process on the painting and how your style has developed over time.
Special thanks to DianaVanDamme for kindly consenting to the interview!
Head over to her gallery for more amazing works:
Previous Decoding DDs:
Nightmare and why we met there
Path of Ruins
Le Cannibal Hotel
Air Awakens Omnibus
Dracit
Dead End
Wizard and a Goose
Twilight Enchantment
Bewitched and Betrayed
Walls
The Cordyceps King
Vicious Cycle
Spoiled Princess
Retired
Incoming
Artificial Guardian
Mountain View
Monster Eating Vampire
Roth
Death Knight
Queen of Hearts (Alice in Wonderland)
Dragon Watchers
The journey and the big fish
Forrest Defender
Red Snow
Catching Spirits
The Tomb King
I'm fine
Despoiled
Cat Girl
Forest of Bunnies
The Journey
Boulderback
FIELD OF THORNS: OFFER
Malavestros: Muse of Madness
Jet Futura
The Northern Administration
Prisoned Singer
Don Kichote
On The Hunt
The Platform
I know a bank
Love and war
52Hz
Chase, The Dreamer
Mad
Until the End of the World..
Crow Temple
Accolade
Dragon's Breath
Spread some cheer by leaving a comment and/or
on works that you like!
Want to suggest a DD? See the link to my guidelines below!
This piece started with a sketch, a single figure drawing. I didn't have any plans for it as it was only meant to be a practice sketch, but I liked it enough to come back to it later. I felt like I could build a story around the gesture, so I kept adding to it until it made sense to me. I got a very romantic vibe from the initial sketch, so I wanted to expand on that feeling."
“In Sleep of Death…” resembles the elegant beauty of classical works. Please, discuss your process on the painting and how your style has developed over time.
WIP
I'm very inspired by the Renaissance and by Gothic romance. I very much wanted those influences to bleed through my own work. I've always had a taste for the classics and favored realism above all other genres, and that preference has informed my work ever since.
As far as process, I always start with a sketch to work out the composition and include all the elements I want to put in. When that's finished, I collect reference images, and that includes paying for images I want to use as reference, finding free ones, or taking my own photos of my own models/props. I redraw the image with the references in hand, and make all the necessary corrections. Then I usually paint it in grayscale (just a habit to control my values and make rendering easier for me), and colorize it afterwards with a combination of overlay and soft light layers. For this particular piece though, I jumped straight into color, without a grayscale version, which is unusual for me. Then begins what I call the "push/pull" struggle of making adjustments and enhancing things I want to keep the focus on, while de-emphasizing things I deem less important. In this case, most of my focus was on the beauty of the female subject and mysterious look of the male subject. I work everything out and then I finish by doing all the detailing and little fixes until I think it looks polished.
Also relevant: There is a video on my YT channel (which I've sadly neglected) that shows my sketching to grayscale process on my Lilith painting. Part 2 was accidentally deleted, so it isn't available, but I will be demonstrating my process again this summer live on my Twitch channel for anyone that wants to check that out."
Did you encounter any creative challenges when working on the piece? If so, how did you tackle them? Is there anything you would do differently now if you could?
What’s one piece of advice that you would share with other artists hoping to reach this standard of work in the future?
What does this DD feature represent or mean to you at this stage of your artistic development? What can your watchers look forward to next?
Bonus question: Can you cite a memorable reaction to this piece in the comments at DA?
It was definitely a difficult and challenging piece for me. Close to the end I felt quite overwhelmed by all the elements in the painting and trying to make them "work" together in a way I was happy with. Looking back, I would have spent more time on the sketch and really worked out some of those kinks before adding color, it would have saved me a lot of time that I spent later on making corrections and repainting things. It's often a struggle for me to let go of a piece, I always feel like it's not perfect, and that I could go on forever making changes and "fixing" things; but at a certain point, I force myself to let go and call it done."
What’s one piece of advice that you would share with other artists hoping to reach this standard of work in the future?
Be ambitious! Look at the artists and works you look up to and admire, and try to achieve that level of quality in your work. Always push it further, and spend the necessary amount of time to get that quality. "Speed paintings" and tutorials can be deceiving; quality usually takes time. Put the time in and practice, make things you like, and don't call it done if it looks sloppy."
What does this DD feature represent or mean to you at this stage of your artistic development? What can your watchers look forward to next?
It was surprising to say the least. I'm not used to getting much attention on DA, and to be honest, I don't really fully know how to use it that proficiently, so when I saw all these notifications I thought, "what happened??" But it's been lovely, everyone has been nice and polite and I have nothing but good things to say about my watchers and DA users that I've interacted with thus far. I'm very flattered and humbled at the response to my work, it means very much to me.
There is more imaginative realism coming, more mythology, and traditional (non-digital) work coming as well. I'm also going to be featured in a well known digital art magazine soon, and will be officially announcing that shortly."
Bonus question: Can you cite a memorable reaction to this piece in the comments at DA?
I feel like this userreally got what I was trying to do. Her comment was my favorite, although all of them were lovely:
'To die, to sleep. To sleep perchance to dream. It makes me feel as if she embraces the companion that joined her and chooses to lead him on the way instead of being led. Choosing that sleep for those dreams head on. Amazing piece, love both romantic and gothic feel of the background.'"
Special thanks to DianaVanDamme for kindly consenting to the interview!
Head over to her gallery for more amazing works:
Previous Decoding DDs:
Nightmare and why we met there
Path of Ruins
Le Cannibal Hotel
Air Awakens Omnibus
Dracit
Dead End
Wizard and a Goose
Twilight Enchantment
Bewitched and Betrayed
Walls
The Cordyceps King
Vicious Cycle
Spoiled Princess
Retired
Incoming
Artificial Guardian
Mountain View
Monster Eating Vampire
Roth
Death Knight
Queen of Hearts (Alice in Wonderland)
Dragon Watchers
The journey and the big fish
Forrest Defender
Red Snow
Catching Spirits
The Tomb King
I'm fine
Despoiled
Cat Girl
Forest of Bunnies
The Journey
Boulderback
FIELD OF THORNS: OFFER
Malavestros: Muse of Madness
Jet Futura
The Northern Administration
Prisoned Singer
Don Kichote
On The Hunt
The Platform
I know a bank
Love and war
52Hz
Chase, The Dreamer
Mad
Until the End of the World..
Crow Temple
Accolade
Dragon's Breath
Spread some cheer by leaving a comment and/or
on works that you like! Want to suggest a DD? See the link to my guidelines below!
