Perspective was my puzzle again today. I had moved from the eye line of the seal to the clouds and then the horizon and now I needed to bring the waves to the foreground thus bringing the Adelie pengiuin to the correct level. I also had to consider the pattern of the sea and waves as well as how the sea would sit from foreground to the coast of Antarctica. If I had just wanted a ‘pretty’ patterned map, I could have done the waves the same boring pattern all the way around, but perspective and making the fantastical almost believable was more challenging and I enjoy a challenge.
I wanted the white of the two icebergs and the ice ledge the penguins are jumping off to stand out. These should be the first things the viewer notices, then the larger penguin , the smaller penguins and then the icicles. The splash was causing an unnecessary distraction to the flow of the eye and so it had to go. The icicles needed a black background to really show them off, however in doing this I could lose the shapes of the penguins. I wanted it to be darkest in this corner as that is where it would naturally be darker from my light source but also Antarctica’s white mass is much bigger in this section of the map and I wanted to offset that and also the darkness around the map and the hull of the Terra Nova on the left. It is constantly about balance, mood, lighting and perspective. I still need to darken some more of the sea around the top of the map to balance this out.
You’re nearly there Cheri!…. it’s going to be emotional when you finish but also fantastic! xx
Rope!