Umbrella Portal
Watercolor, gouache, ink
2024

This project started with the prompt, “under an umbrella.” I started by writing down as many related words and phrases that I could think of, and then I made a list of keywords, namely, “danger, blood, stars, moon, sword, cane, trapped, and the unknown.” Not all of these are evident in the finished piece, but they all helped me find a direction.

I knew, after making my list, that I wanted to go in a fantasy direction. I thought a knight would make an interesting juxtaposition with the umbrella, and the sword could be visually linked with it. Working off that idea, I took reference photos of myself, and made many thumbnails to decide on the composition. I landed on a composition that was simple enough to make the concept of the umbrella portal clear to the viewer.

I took my sketch into a digital art program to work out my colors. I chose a dark color scheme for the area outside of the umbrella to highlight the inside, which is the focal point. I used the color comp as reference, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to get exactly the same colors since I was working in watercolor.

After the majority of the painting was done, I added metallic ink in certain spots to contribute to the fantasy theme.