Work in progress – 5
Ok, fifth installment of this work in progress thing! The little cat took some decision making. Went for a stripped tabby, the colors fit in that corner and I like the stripes. Then I started working into the building’s windows, adding some dark for contrast. Next was figuring out a treatment for the off white marble, for which I used a very light wash of siena warm yellow, and the murky green/grey deposit right by the water edge. Finishing the piece is always a little hard for me, I end up with specific areas that I don’t quite know what to do with color-wise. This time it was the boat in the top/middle, it was hard to figure out what color to choose, not fully happy with it. So there you have it … now I need to scan the piece, maybe a couple of of tweaks in Photoshop ahead … almost there.

April 1st, 2008 at 10:15 am
Thanks for the masterclass, Enrico…
I did know you were working on such big format.
April 1st, 2008 at 11:02 am
Looks amazing, Enrico! I can’t wait for the final reveal. Do you stretch your watercolor paper before you start painting?
April 1st, 2008 at 12:17 pm
This is so beautiful Enrico, it calls for a little italian holiday!
April 1st, 2008 at 3:22 pm
Love the way you painted the stripes, man.
April 1st, 2008 at 8:56 pm
That’s coming along great, Enrico!
April 1st, 2008 at 9:30 pm
I stopped by GhibliWorld.com to read up on that article about Suzuki-san and Kurosawa-san, and stumbled upon an interview that they did with you. Really great stuff! It was fun to read about your visit to Ghibli in 2004, because I happened to be living in Sapporo at the time–so it brought back a lot of really great memories…On a related note, do you happen to know the people heading up the Sketchcrawl effort in Sapporo? Just curious.
As always, your paintings look fabulous. つづけてがんばってください!いつもありがとうございます!
April 2nd, 2008 at 9:02 am
if the life could be like this drawings…..very nice work.
April 2nd, 2008 at 10:27 am
Man Arenas – ah ah, I wouldn’t quite call it that … more like “Gonna show you how meandering and rather directionless my approach is” Class …
I usually don’t work this big, but I have this watercolor pad I am using lately and it’s 12×18.
verabee- thanks Vera. I am so lazy and impatient I never strech the paper … then I get all the buckling off course … do you stretch it ?
Pascal- thanks Pascal … I really hope and want the Venice Chronicles book to be a nice travel companion for a visit to italy … I am even trying to add a map of venice at the end of the book…
Lee-Roy, Stan – thanks !
Anthony Holden – Cool man, glad you enjoyed the interview. I had a great time doing that one … I could talk about that stuff for hours … I really had to contain myself from writing essay length answers. Living in Sapporo ?? Sounds like a great experience you had there … wish I could visit for a Crawl there …
And yes I do know Marty San (aka PaintMonster), who heads the crawls up there … really nice and passionate artist! He has a little animation studio there …
はい!いつもがんばります!!!
ありがとう!!!
Opi- wow, that’s a super nice compliment, thanks!
エンリコ
April 2nd, 2008 at 11:10 am
No, I never stretch either. I just want to paint! Laaaaazyyy… but lately I’m thinking I should probably start. I want nice flat washes and I don’t think it’s possible without stretching first… now to find the laziest way to stretch.
April 3rd, 2008 at 12:59 pm
Ciao Enrico,
Come stai?
Josh gave me your blog address to contact you. I have been a storyboard/concept artist/animation director/live action director/musician etc. for 20 years now. We just moved to the bay area, my girlfriend and i, from Poland (via Roma! i Ukraine and Thailand) and are now living in Oakland to set up a nice life for us.
I had meetings with Pam Harbidge at Pixar and she had my portfolio shown around there but i want to cover all my bases in trying to get work there at Pixar. We now live near by, i think i could be an asset to your teams there, and so i am continuing to show my face around you and your peeps.
If you would like to see part of what i made in my travels and some old film work you can go here: http://www.blue7.cc and if you want, send me your email address so i can send you directly some new work?
my email is blue7is@gmail.com
I am sorry if this is out of place on your blog spot but since i was here i thought “what the heck?!”
Gratcie i viva Italia, io vivo a Italia per sei mezi, mi piache multisimo, ciao…
John [blue]
April 3rd, 2008 at 1:00 pm
here’s the email for direct reply?…
April 9th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
You may not be fully happy with it but I think it looks pretty good. I’m a graphite pencil artist so unfortunately I don’t have any suggestions for you to help with color choices. I’m strictly a black and white guy.
April 9th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
I really enjoy the work-in-progress.
July 12th, 2008 at 9:21 am
[...] the steps of the “Making of” this cover are here: first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh [...]