This is one of my most favorite pieces. I feel like I achieved levels of beauty and whimsy and dynamism here that are not easily matched. The creation of this piece set the needle for my future achievements off richter. It is one of my “go to” pieces when people ask to see my work because it is striking at first glance and reveals increasing levels of richness the more you explore. To me, this scaling engagement is key in creating high quality artworks.

My intention in laying out this detailed “behind-the scenes” is to provide you with insight into the vulnerable creation process and inspire you to pursue your dreams and push your self beyond the goals that you set, ever upward. I am very proud of each and every one of my works and it is my belief that a work can not be called complete until it satisfies all of the artist’s expectations. Care for and pride in your craft should be of paramount importance with each and every manifestation. The Spirit of Creation is all we really have once everything else is stripped away and so the level of investment we place in our work should reflect the love that we have for Creativity itself and dare I say, for God.

Patrick Bernard's Divine Grace Divine Album Cover

The image was originally commissioned by musician, Patrick Bernard on Devi Communications Inc. Music Records and Mastered and distributed by Altar Records.

“Mr. Bernard’s recordings of ‘well being’ music have consistently achieved high status, winning awards, achieving Gold status and even landing him on the Billboard charts (he was the first Canadian to climb Billboard’s New Age chart). Patrick has remained a best seller in his category for many years. Atlantis Angelis touched the heart of more than half of million people around the World! Since 1986 he has been a full-time producer/composer of devotional music, inspiring audiences everywhere with his sweet and profound music of divine love. Adding to his music collection of 12 records, Patrick recently release a new book called ‘Music As Yoga, Discover the Healing Power of Sound’.”

“In 1974 Patrick came in contact with his spiritual master, Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who initiated him in Mantra-Yoga or chanting of the Holy Sound Vibrations. In 1986, receiving Gayatri Mantra in Nabawip, India, from the great saint Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Deva Goswami Maharaja, Patrick was initiated into the Gaudiya Vaisnavas School of bhakti-yoga propagated by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the 15th Century master of devotional ecstasy. Since then, he has been a full-time producer/composer of devotional music, inspiring all listeners with his sweet & profound music of divine love.” –http://patrickbernard.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2&Itemid=124

You can listen and purchase the Album here
http://patrickbernard.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=117:divine-grace-divine-en&catid=10:music-english&Itemid=486
and here
https://altar.bandcamp.com/album/divine-grace-divine

Creation Process

Below you will find the exact series of updates that I sent to Mr. Bernard over the course of 2 months. As you will notice, the image starts as a simple photo mashup of reference provided to me by Patrick. I normally begin with a painting that I create from the ground up but because we were attempting to achieve 50/50 light/dark split down the center of the face I chose to start with an “underpainting” composed of photographs.

Reference

In addition to the Hindu and Vedic inspiration I was tasked to infuse the image with Fairie Magic, “Flower Power” and Platonic Philosophy.

Start to Finish

1The image starts rather drab and uninteresting. There is a primary focus on composition and general idea rather than beauty.

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2The second image is where the painting starts. This is a very awkward intermediary image as the eyes begin to change appearance from the kind of “dead” photo reference toward the abundant life that shines through them in the final.

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3 to 7Now we are rolling. The Goddess’ face is beginning to betray her innocence while building towards the ultimate confidence exemplary of a Divine Female. I begin to create color adjustments and open up the background while using the framework of the outer yantra to guide the placement of my created assets. I relied heavily on Corel Painter through these phases to lay in the flowers and swooping patterns using the Pattern Pen tool. These segments were very playful and focused more on creating the dynamic energies that surge through the final. You will notice the addition of two little naked women that became the winged fairies at the bottom corners. The left woman was initially painted without reference but I wasn’t super keen on her to begin with. I then went and retrieved a black and white reference of a nude model and painted from that. The right woman was painted in without reference and gives you a good grasp of my understanding of traditional principles that I apply to my digital work.

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8 to 10As the image enters its final phases I begin to play around with some fonts for the title. We ended up going with a tweaked version of the first option that you see in image 8. During these periods you notice a high focus on balance. Plenty of attention is paid to lighting and contrast and there is a major emphasis on building up the crown with additional painted assets. A keystone of my artwork is the well balanced overload of variety. I am hugely inspired by my inner, visionary journeys through the aid of plant medicines and so I strive to make my imagery as convincing and contiguous as those spaces.

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FINAL

DETAIL CUTS

As always, I worked in large format so that the image could be printed at various sizes upon completion. Below you will find several detail images demonstrating the patience and love that I devoted to each and every element. You may notice the inclusion of 3D assets here and there as I utilize both Groboto and ZBrush frequently. But the overall technique is meant to remain a mystery (even to me) because there is no way to document each stroke and subtle emotion nudging my pen this way or the other. I absolutely strive to inspire you in the highest way:)

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The Album in Print

So after all that we come to the intended function of the image, the CD Sleeve. Upon completion of Divine Grace I was acquainted with Catherine Maroussis. For 11 years Catherine was the Design Director for Retail and Licensing with Cirque Du Soleil. I must say, this was quite an honor indeed. After our introduction I provided her with the full resolution image and she designed the layout for the Album sleeve. I was highly impressed by the results as she employed principles and techniques that I would not have thought of. Let me know what you think in the comments below:)

 

Thank You for viewing

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I hope your day is amazing and see you soon!

Kindest Regards,

Sean