Justice - Industry Versus the Environment

Hello, hello!

Today I'm posting about a recent illustration I've made for a gallery show.

It was created for the Ostara Tarot: A Celebration of Tarot show which is on at The Fall Tattooing and Artist's Gallery from March 20th to April 18th. This show celebrates the launch of the new Ostara Tarot deck (which I designed for and blogged about earlier), and also includes original artworks by 22 participating artists. 

Each of the participating artists was asked to pick a Major Arcana card and to embody the essence of the card in their art piece. 

I chose Justice and drew my inspiration from my personal concern for the environment, which has as of late, particularly locally, been threatened by pipeline projects, mining spills, chemical fires, and other man made injustices.

Amidst all such avoidable disasters - where is the respect for the earth that provides us with air, water, and diverse nature to explore and enjoy? These are all finite things unless they are protected.

In the case of Justice: Industry Versus the Environment - what is the verdict? Which way do the scales tip? Which way should they tip?

I hope that all those who read this give this some thought and what part they play in the matter.


Below, is my usual illustration process break down, for those interested.

1. Compositional sketch - somewhat roughly penciling in where I wished the all the elements to go.

Sketch

2. Inking - After doing a basic outline with ink and doing some shading work with crosshatching techniques and such, I realized that I've made some silly mistakes and would need to start over. You see, I definitely went overboard with certain details, which the excess of would prove to be distracting. I'm talking about the decoration of the scales. Truly unnecessary. Also, the birds flying up from the mountainous island risked being mistaken for insects, or something else which I did not intend.

First inking attempt. When in doubt - restart.

3. Inking (Take 2) - I returned to my sketchbook and experimented with a few ideas, finally deciding to substitute the birds for some clouds.

Second inking - that's better, provided nothing else goes horribly wrong.

4. Shading - I used a number of methods to reach a desired look, including cross-hatching, stippling, and white gouache intervention.

Shading in-progress. Look- some birds have been added!

5. The Midas Touch - After finishing with the black and white shading with my pen and ink, I decided to add a touch of gold to the piece. It would both be a nice way of making the chains on the scales pop against the grey-scale scene and of making a symbolic suggestion. 

Finished piece

Some close ups. (Click to view larger)

Before framing the piece, I took a few quick shots with my phone to show the glistening of the gold.

6. Framing - and now, the illustration looks somewhat like this, but with a mat.

I hope to come back soon to the gallery and take some nice photos of my piece on the wall, as well as the works of my colleagues.

Image size: approximately 4.5 x 6.5 inches
Media: micron pens + gouache + gold coloured acrylic paint on paper for mixed media.

Thanks for reading and looking!
Prints are now available at my Society6 shop. Proceeds will be donated to environmentalist groups, like the Dogwood Initiative and the David Suzuki Foundation.