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It usually takes 3 to 4 hours from sketch to finish to make them on A5 paper. I've made some bigger ones on A4 but they take much more time since the area to paint is bigger. It also depends on the complexity of the animal I'm illustrating, for example, birds take a bit more time since I have to paint each feather individually.
Looking back on this post, I quite like the cat looking back, I love the way the eyes are glowing and looking deep into your soul. I definitely need to make more eyes like that! I also enjoy the deer, I find antlers absolutely beautiful so I think the glow emphasizes the beauty of this animal.
The first few drops of watercolor on the white paper is the part of the creative process I enjoy the most, because at that moment I can see all the possibilities of how the painting could turn out, and I have to choose one. If I go too dark right away, I might lose the kind of ethereal feel of the painting and get muddy colors, but if I go too light I will have to add another layer and lose the spontaneity, and some of the patterns the water makes. So it's really kind of a sweet spot to find!
And of course, I also like to add the finishing touches with the glowy paint, that's when the magic happens!
I've kind of always been drawing and painting since I was a child and I was mostly using colored pencils at that time. In my teenage years, I got my first drawing tablet and explored the world of digital painting. Then I got to college and chose art as my secondary branch, so I got the chance to explore other art forms like lino art, sculpting, gouache, and oil painting. I was always scolded by my art teacher because I used too much water in my gouache and diluted my oil paintings too much, and when I discovered watercolor, it clicked. I had finally found my preferred medium with watercolor: it was colorful, I could use as much water as I wanted, it dried faster than oil painting, and I could take my mini watercolor palette everywhere with me and paint whenever I wanted!
As an artist, I'm always motivated by other artists' works. With social media, it's very easy to find other fellow artists and I absolutely love to explore their world and what inspires them. Of course, my audience also plays a big part in my motivation to keep going. I wouldn't be there if I wasn't encouraged by my friends, family, and even strangers along the way.
I create art because I think there is so much beauty in the world that is easily overlooked, because we get overstimulated with negativity and fear on social media and news outlets. So I try to bring a bit of magic back into the world, and hopefully bring a smile, or just a little grin to someone who's had a harsh day.
In the future, I'm going to keep working on this series with new animals and different types of glows. I feel like I've worked a lot with the blue glowy paint, which I absolutely love, but I also need to experiment with the green glow which also looks fantastic!
October is also right around the corner, so I'm preparing for inktober as well and maybe I'll try to incorporate some glow-in-the-dark paintings in there!
The most challenging part of these glow-in-the-dark paintings is honestly the "taking good pictures" part. I usually take a picture in daylight to see the actual painting, and one in the dark with the painting glowing. But I need to photograph them in the exact same position so I can then animate them going from normal to glow-in-the-dark. So it's a bit more time-consuming to set up everything and then animate it in post-production.
I get a lot of questions on how I make these glow-in-the-dark paintings, so here is my process!
Since the glowy paint will glow better on a white surface I have to think in advance about where I want the glow to be before I start painting. So I avoid these areas or add white ink before applying the glowy paint. I've tried two types of glow-in-the-dark paints so far, one is from Culture Hustle and comes in the form of a pigment, which you then have to mix yourself with a base and water. The advantage of this one is that you have full control of your mix.
The other one I tried is from SpaceBeams and comes ready to use in a bottle. The advantage of this one is that it's already prepared so it's a bit faster to use.
Both have a texture similar to acrylic but are a bit less opaque, so I usually add a few layers to get good coverage, therefore a good glow! You can also add some pigment in the glowy paint, which won't change the color of the glow but can add a bit more color to the painting.
