Gorilla Painting

My third painting is complete. As you can see I went with a gorilla/western theme. This time around I took photos throughout the process so that you may enjoy seeing the steps between the blank canvas and the final piece.

Step 1: The idea sketches

I forget the specifics, but a co-worker and I started talking about gorillas and before I knew it I was drawing gorillas all over my sketchbook. I finally got settled on the idea of a cowboy gorilla (going with my animals in people clothes motif). As you can see in this sketch I've already got my colors picked out. I did change the overall look of the gorilla, going for a more simplistic style. When I get my sketches to look the way I want I move on to the canvas.

Step 2: the background

Since I knew I was making the gorilla blue, I wanted to make the background compliment him. I decided to go with a yellow/orange sunset fade.

Then I added a canyon scene, because what is more western than a canyon scene? I used sponges to give it a nice texture.

Step 3: the gorilla

I allowed the background to dry and then added the gorilla. I used a blue color pencil to sketch it out. As you can see I started with the bigger spaces first and then worked my way down to the details. Over the span of two days it took me just a few hours to finish. For the time I took on it I would say I'm happy with the results. 

On to the next painting...