Peacocks

Peacocks are a bird that are prevalent throughout Indian decoration and art, so I decided to have a go at making my own interpretations. I used gouache because of its strong, vibrant colours, and water colour flexibility/consistency. 

Here is one of my gouache illustrations of peacocks. I love painting and it always pushes my creative freedom even if I use reference I never rely on it much when I am painting- where as if I am using plain pencil I often end up trying to create something as close to the reference as possible.

Playing with brush strokes and colour palettes in gouache.

This is the preliminary gouache illustration without the addition of black pen line. I researched into peacocks before starting this illustration because I needed a reminder of their form and features. However for the actual illustration itself I just had fun with my own creation of the peacock and its chicks. I wanted all of their heads and bodies to be in different positions to add some balance to the piece. 

This is my final mothers day card design - it was just for my own mum so I didn't think about the background and font too much. Of course if I was to create a more professional looking card I would alter the font and background to give it a more thought out and appropriate look.

I wanted to see if removing the background would make the illustration look smarter; more finished and professional. I think the negative space does this by making it look more clean cut but it does look lacking in a way, and with the warmth from the sun missing, I think the piece looks a bit cold and not as heart felt. 

CROPS
I didn't think that the final illustration looked as professional as I wanted. I thought this could be down to the layout and composition so cropping it may help to create a more finished piece. Cropping it meant that I could focus on the protective elements of the idea of a mother, and the cute vulnerability of her children being kept safe. Cropping it so that only some of the mother is on show also helps to give the audience a view point of the chick etc - the outsider has a full view of the scene but the cropping allows the audience to feel more involved in the scene and with the characters (the chick may not be able to see the entirety of his mother from his low down position.) Cropping also gives focus to the peacocks most recognisable or visually interesting elements (such as the tail or legs) that you may not be drawn to with the whole illustration. 

I adapted this illustrations colour palette using Photoshop. I actually don't really like this version as much, I prefer the reddy warm tones, but it is good to know that this versatility is possible digitally as colours can completely alter the meaning of the piece.