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Lady of the Lake
In Norse Mythology, Thor was the son of Odin (the chief god) & Fjorgyn (Earth). He was known to be temperamental like the storm & the strongest among all the gods in Asgard. The Lady of the Lake is the name of several related characters who play parts in Arthurian legend. Depending on the variant, characters' roles include giving King Arthur his sword Excalibur, enchanting Merlin, & raising Lancelot after the death of his father. Various writers and copyists conflated her with, or named her as 1Nimue, 2Viviane, 3Viviana, 4Vivienne, 5Elaine, 6Niniane, 7Nivian, 8Nyneve, 9Nimueh & other variations In this illustration, I portrayed The Lady of the Lake calling up Excalibur from the depths of the water. The enchanted lake is hidden within a dense forest. This drawing is heavily decorated with natural objects! It's the first time that I incoporated water into any of my drawings - it was fairly tricky but I somehow managed to get it to look like how I imagined it to. All the tiny details in the tree branches, leaves, fruits & flowers took so much time & effort to render that when I was done, I could hardly believe that the illustration was finally complete! |
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The Making of Lady of the Lake
How'd I do it? Watch how I work! Here are scanned images of the illustration in development! See Lady of the Lake in the works, from preliminary pencil sketch to the final pen & ink drawing! These phase-by-phase drawings may also give you some ideas for your own drawings!
Click the images to see full-view
Phase 1The stories of King Arthur & Camelot were one of my favorites growing up. The character that intrigued me most was the Lady of the Lake. It was never explained where & how her character came about - she was just THERE! I'm illustrating the greatest feat she's pulled off in the Arthurian legends, which is the raising up of the Excalibur. The scene I want to create is a lake hidden within a dense forest. So, I'm saving allowances around the figure for natural objects - trees, bushes, flowers, etc. Drew in a figure roughly in the middle - paying more attention to the arms/hands because they'll be framing Excalibur. |
Phase 2Added swirls in the water to create the illusion of movement as the sword is rising up. Added details on the figure. The big hair was inspired by an image I saw of a jellyfish :) Drew in fruits & leaves on the tree branch in the background. |
Phase 3Added splashes of water - the previous sketch was not convincingly dynamic enough! Drew in outlines of flowers & leaves in the foreground. |
Phase 4Drew in details in the foreground. Seeing that all elements are in place in the drawing, I cleaned up the lines to make this the final sketch. |
Phase 5Outlined the drawing in ink! |
Phase 6Shaded-in the tree trunk, branches, leaves & fruits in the background. |
Phase 7Shaded-in the flowers, leaves & grass in the foreground. |
Phase 8Shaded-in the lake. |
Phase 9Blocked-in the sky in the background. Shaded-in the Lady of the Lake's hair. |
Phase 10Shaded-in the Lady of the Lake's skin. |
Phase 11Shaded-in the Lady of the Lake's ornaments (including Excalibur). Added tiny dots to represent stars in the background. |
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Illustrations copyright © Aileen Oracion. All rights reserved. No part of this website may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the artist except in the case of features in critical articles & reviews.