The Final Symphony

This is the first drawing from an upcoming mini-series of illustrations to a novel by Jurii Kirnev, who contacted me through deviantART just before the New Year. The novel is titled Lips of Color of Blood, it's set in the modern day Budapest and its heroine represents Death itself in the form of an attractive young woman. Why playing on a violin? Well, you're gonna have to find it yourself -- if you ever get a chance to read the novel, that is.

The drawing is called The Final Symphony and that's the name for the whole series as well. The reference images of the model have been provided by Jurii Kirnev himself. I have used my usual mix of media: color pencils finished with ball-points. As it happens, I got carried away by the background details, but I promised the client there would be less architecture in the next installments. Anyway, here's the WIP scans for those who are interested in how the process went on.

There will be three drawings in total, so stay tuned for more!

Happy New Ear!

Before you ask: no, it's not about plastic surgery. And it's not about the 80th anniversary of the Frankenstein's bride, either. It's just another of my silly wordplay-based surreal fantasies, no deep meaning intended whatsoever.

As for the details, no ball-points have been used in this one, only color pencils. The ear belongs to Diana, of course. Everything else -- to her mother, although I greatly exaggerated the aged skin texture for a more drastic difference. As you can see from the WIP below, the snowflake earring went through some transformations before establishing its final shape and size.