September - Week 4

Written 07/10/2025

Final piece!

A Mine of Darkness

The theme

The theme is the misery of the mines, for both miners and pit ponies. How they were almost 'trapped' inside (and this is when they weren't caved in) and could not be in the valleys that was nominally their home.

Thoughts on the process

I will say, once I actually made a start with the final drawing it was not too bad! Just rather delayed in when I started. The hardest (or more accurately, the most frustrating) part was getting the black colour. I used a LOT of paint to mix it right (blue, crimson, yellow, brown - even some green!) As you can see in my progression, it was lots of layers to get a decent saturation as well. Making it look dark was also a struggle since watercolour is known for being rather soft and light - layers and layers!!! Thank goodness, the paper I used was okay quality as it was able to withstand the layers I put on, though I get the feeling I did push it to its limit.

The actual drawing part was fine, I do feel like it looks too much like *I* did it, and not enough in Marjorie's artstyle - I do aspire to be an artist who can easily mimic other styles but I am not there yet.

The progression can be seen HERE

Comparison with inspiration

As you can see, mine looks a lot flatter. I will be generous and say this is because I had less time - but also that I need to practise perspective more. I think I needed to make more comparisons throughout the process, as this is something I'm only really noticing now that I have them side by side and not when I was just looking at the inspiration piece on my phone/laptop while working on my painting.

I think the inspiration is visibly *there*, as the miner's pose matches the woman's and the general melancholy dark vibe. I will say, I actually think my butterfly looks better. It is clearer and the pattern is clearly a monarch butterfly and it stand out more in my piece (though hers is not comically massive XD)