My son tasked me to create some art for a solo album he’s working on. His list of wants was a desolate, winding road, distant stormy mountains, a solitary figure, and a black sun (or eclipse).
Most pieces I do are somewhat random and just fall into place but I needed to spend time thinking on this one. I penciled up the initial work and after several iterations of how I wanted the road to look I ended up with the final pencil work. I referenced actual winding roads on flat plains, as well as I could. With most everything else I took creative license.
With the digitized version now taking shape I used my normal workflow of smart objects with varying degrees of the cutout filter. I love that effect. However, it felt too plain, pun intended. I wanted to add texture and more depth. That’s where the digital painting comes into play for creating some of the lightning. Some of it is actual photographs of lightning. I wanted it to look realistic vs drawn/cartoonish. The star field in the back is also a real star field. The eclipse is just an illustration however, I might use a photo I took of an actual eclipse from 2017. 🤔
This is as far as we’ve gotten with it. The title now comes into play which will have to fit in with the design aesthetic. For now, here’s the piece I am calling Black Sun.
