Stephanie Pui-Mun Law - Dreamscapes: Creating Magical Angel, Faery & Mermaid Worlds in Watercolor

DREAMSCAPES

Creating Magical

Angel, Faery&Mermaid Worlds

with Watercolor

Stephanie Pui-Mun Law

www.impact-books.com

Dreamscapes: Creating Magical Angel, Faery & Mermaid Worldswith Watercolor. Copyright 2008 by Stephanie Pui-Mun Law. Manufactured in China. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review. Published by IMPACT Books, an imprint of F+W Publications, Inc., 4700 East Galbraith Road, Cincinnati, Ohio, 45236. (800) 289-0963. First Edition.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Law, Stephanie Pui-Mun.

Dreamscapes : creating magical angel, faery & mermaid worlds with watercolor / Stephanie Pui-Mun Law. -- 1st ed.

p. cm.

ISBN-13: 978-1-58180-964-0 (pbk. : alk. paper)

ISBN-13: 978-1-60061-366-1 (EPUB)

1. Fantasy in art. 2. Angels in art. 3. Fairies in art. 4. Mermaids in

art. 5. Watercolor painting--Technique. I. Title.

ND1460.F35L39 2008

751.42247--dc22

2007025939

Edited by Kelly C. Messerly

Designed by Wendy Dunning

Production coordinated by Matt Wagner

Metric Conversion Chart

About the Author

Stephanie Pui-Mun Law has been painting fantastic otherworlds from early childhood, though her art career did not begin until 1998 when she graduated from a program in computer science. After three years of programming for a software company by day and rushing home to paint into the midnight hours, she left the world of typed logic and numbers for painted worlds of dreams and the fae.

Her illustrations have been for various game and publishing clients, including Wizards of the Coast, HarperCollins, LUNA Books, Tachyon Books, Alderac Entertainment Group and Green Ronin. In addition to the commissioned projects, she has spent a great deal of time creating a personal body of work whose inspiration stems from mythology, legend and folklore. She has also been greatly influenced by the art of the Impressionists, Pre-Raphaelites, Surrealists, and the master hand of Nature. Swirling images of sinuous oak branches, watermarked leaf stains and the endless palette of the skies are her signature. Her background as a flamenco dancer for over a decade is evident in the movement and composition of her paintings. Every aspect of her paintings moves in a choreographed flow, and the dancers are not only those with human limbs. What Stephanie tries to convey with her art is not simply fantasy, but the fantastic, the sense of wonder, that which is sacred.

While most of Stephanies work is done with watercolors, she also experiments with pen-and-ink, intaglio printing, acrylic and digital painting.

Acknowledgments
Thanks to Dana for being the guinea pig for these tutorials. Mom, Dad, Dave, Beck and Hop for always being supportive of my art. You guys at #epilogue for letting me bounce ideas. Kelly Messerly and Pam Wissman for finding me and giving me this opportunity.

Table of Contents

Bring your imagined creatures and worlds into being withthese basic materials and techniques.

Faeries have danced through folklore for centuries. Learn howto create their magical realms in this chapter.

Faerytales speak of entire aquatic cities filled with lovely mermaidsand mermen. Capture their elusive presence within thebounds of pencil and paper and brush.

Angels are immortal beings found in many religions. In thischapter, youll learn how to bring these heavenly creatures tothe mortal plane.

Part One
MATERIALS & TECHNIQUES

It can be a daunting task to sit in front of a blank sheet of paper with the expectation of creating something magical. Yet possibilities and inspiration are all aroundfrom other artists and from nature. Even the mistakes that we can be so fearful of can be turned into unexpected and unusual results.

Being familiar with the basics and having a knowledge of the tools at your fingertips can help smooth the path from our nebulous imaginations to visual life on a sheet of paper. Practice is the only way to turn that obstruction of physical tools into a magical bridge that the legions of wonder can flit, swim and glide across into colorful realization on the once blank sheet of paper.

Pencils

IN THIS BOOK YOULL USE PENCILS IN YOUR studies of drawing ethereal fantasy creatures with the goal of a painted end result. Even though the focus here is on painting with watercolors, pencils are a viable tool for completed works of art.

Lead Hardness
You can get leads in varying degrees of softness; 8B is the softest, while 8H is the hardest.HB is a medium hardness. The softer the pencil lead, the darker your mark. If you use too soft a lead, the pencil will easily smear and make your painted colors look dirty. If the pencil lead is too hard, you will have to press harder to draw your lines, creating indentations on your watercolor paper with the point. For this reason, HB and 2B pencils are good choices for sketches that are going to be painted over.