Open Project -Kolesa

This work shows multiple practices of betta fish with a majority of them being half moon bettas. There are only two on opposite sides of the page with color or much of any detail. The colors on each fish are complementary to one another. 

The black box is where the eyes fall first and it emphasizes that fish. With the way the bluefish is facing as looking down to the corner of the page, the eye naturally follows that line. There is both a concept of contrast and shadow in the two colored fish, with a small amount of shading.

I wanted this work to be much more relaxed than in the past, with no need to stress about it turning out perfectly. Personally, I enjoy more of the sketching process than the creation of the final work. It's more about the trip, not the destination. With this piece I wanted to keep the majority of it very simple, however, in the end, I thought adding the color would bring some more life into the fish.

I don't often work in color and I'm quite happy with how they both turned out.  The black box really helped draw attention to a part of the piece that  I'm more confident in than the unfinished sketches. If I were to go back I would work more on the overall planning and composition of the fish in relation to one another, maybe make some bigger or smaller. Overall it's one of the better things I have done, next time I want to focus more on the texture and the detail in the animal.

Reference Images

The artist that inspired me was Darou Wang and this fish study that he did. I enjoy how clean yet casual this piece is. It shows more of the process and the base of the final work than just the result.