Spell

This is a wonderful drawing, and it may be one of my favorites of yours. I wanted to provide some feedback in the hopes that you find it useful.

Composition:

There is a centralized female figure which divides the plane and provides the focal point. There is a movement to the figure as she weaves her spell. She bends at the waist and her arms are crossed and thrust upward in a ritualistic manner. One of the most intriguing parts are the fingers. The fingers are elongated and stretch upward, providing a surreal movement that lends to the spell-like qualities of the drawing. It would have been interesting to see the hair of the figure follow this upward motion. In addition to the figure are the spirals which decorate both the figure and the background. The spirals provide a hypnotic movement over the entire piece which contribute to the allure of this spell. The spirals are divided with the ones on the figure being carried into the upper background. The lower background is dark with a series of larger spirals. This lower background follows the hands and lends further upward movement to the drawing. This all creates a dynamic effect and carries the spell throughout the whole composition.

Rendering:

The drawing itself is in black ink with colored markers and has a very graphic quality. The figure is rendered with flesh colored skin, darker tones, and darker stark black tones. I think in this particular drawing the character could have used even more tonal gradation but the figure is rendered quite well. I think the 3d rendered figure provides contrast with the very graphic and flat 2d background. In some works this is explored in more detail than other and would like to see this dichotomy explored more.

Color:

The color of the work is quite simple being mainly earthy colors and black and white. The figure itself is flesh colored which works well and helps contribute to the seductive and earthly nature of the figure. The upper background is gold and orange and almost looks metallic. The lower background of spirals and are a larger and more graphic black and white pattern. Of note is the lack of color on the hair, lips, and nipples of the figure. Here a little color could have been used to lend further seductiveness to the figure and provide some small but intense accents.

Content:

The genius in this work is in the elongated fingers of the figure. You really do get a sense that some mysterious magic is either causing her fingers to get longer or the viewer's senses to get distorted or both. The image of a seductive spell caster is compelling. We have seen this idea explored before in your work. Of particular note is the drawing titled "Hands" which looks like a pair of hands conjuring in the mists. I encourage you to explore this theme more in future drawings and would love to see more than one spell caster of perhaps some sort of ritual being performed.

Things to consider:

I would like to see the drawings get even larger with more figures present. This would help develop the narrative a bit more and also to explore more complex themes. I would also like to see even greater use of color within the works. It would also be nice to see the backgrounds varied more with different types of tile patterns dividing the composition or going hand-in-hand with certain characters to help provide specific characterizations.

There are some artists you may want to reference for information / inspiration:

Gustave Klimt - Very popular, but a must. His use of rendered figures and complex tiling patterns can be very informative to what you are trying to accomplish. I am sure you are familiar with him, but please keep looking at his work in particular his gold pieces.

Max Ernst - A surrealist artist, his frottage drawings and Decalcomania techniques in his paintings may inspire you. Two of my favorite paintings of his are "Europe After the Rain" and "The robing of the Bride". Check those out as well as some of his other works.

Remedios Varo - She was also a surrealist painter whi painted very dreamlike images. She also drew on a lot of occult images for inspiration and used those images and symbols in her work.

If you like those artists and would like more names, please do not hesitate to ask me.

Please let me know if you need clarification on anything I have written.

You are very talented. Please keep making excellent drawings.

Craig