Splendid!
Sketch & Color Comp

 

Sketch

This was one of the sketches that kept bothering me right up until it was time to do the painting.  I just didn't know if I could make it work or not.  

 

When I first begin to name these paintings, as a way to keep track of and refer to them, I sometimes name them according to what I want, rather than what I have.  In this case, I named the sketch "Splendid!" to try and capture the way young John Farrington might feel at this point in the story.  Until I had finished the comp below, I never thought I would like this one as much as I ultimately do.  Now it's one of my favorites.

 

Color Comp

As mentioned above and on the page showing the final painting, I really didn't have any confidence in this image until I finished this comp.  The second I did, I loved it and knew how I wanted to paint it.   I find that's often the hardest part of painting---having confidence in what you're trying to do.  More often than not, if you have the confidence, you can make it work, or vice-versa.  Now, this is one of my favorite pieces from the book.

 

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