KARADIN

I've got each synopsis of what I was intending when I made the image under cuts, so view if you like! You can see here at http://karadin.deviantart.com/store/

THREE PIPE PROBLEM - this was the first image I did for the year (that I recall) and to date, it's been my most popular image. I wanted to do something in an deco style, early influences of mine were Mucha, Beardsley, Erte as well as Japanese woodcuts. I wanted Sherlock to have a Japanese flavor, so he's got on a kimono, smoking a kiseru pipe (substance as you wish) I wanted to keep the skin tone very white high contrast, the lines very thin and only three colours, three textures. The 'wallpaper' a node to canon and recent Sherlock. One of the pieces I'm proudest of.

TRITON - An image I made previous that I wanted to re-colour in a new style, I'm happy with it mostly for the background, because I was working and working on this and it was ah AH-HA moment. I also love the faint scale pattern in the tail, but you have to look close to see it. The skin texture was intentionally flat, and I've since added blushes and shading to flesh tones.

COMPASSION - the image I created for Japan Aid relief, the disaster was very traumatic for me, because of friends I have there and identification with the culture modern and ancient, if I had a past life, I must have been Japanese. I've been studying Buddhist and Shinto beliefs, and I first thought of the figure that appeals to me the most, Senju Kannon, the image of compassion, who hears the cries of the world and stretches out its hands to help. This figure can be depicted as a woman or a man, I wanted a male figure as the gateway drug to me getting hooked on Japan was the artist Gackt. I placed a symbol of each of the 47 prefectures of Japan to reflect that the disaster has affected all parts of Japan. The solar disc and the necklace are Shinto iconography. The phoenix symbolizes rebirth. I went beyond my three colours rule, and pulled a texture from an ancient Buddhist painting, so I could use textures other than chiyogami papers, but I always stretch and bend and pixel and change colours, to make the sources mine. Proceeds from this image have all gone to the Japanese Red Cross, and will continue.

FIRESIDE - an erotic image I made to thank SHERLOCK fandom for buying a lot of Compassion postcards, I wanted the picture to be very romantic, and again, I broke the rule for three colours and patterns, and that's partly why I love this image so much, because it's got 7 patterns, that I think really work seamlessly together, the flames are my fave part, and instead of stark white skin I went with some soft colour to make John and Sherlock's bodies more distinctive and try to get a glowing effect. Probably the most blantantly erotic pic I'll ever do of the pair. Personally, having drawn images in the past that were really explicit, I think less is more, a little mystery never a bad thing. Lots of people have commented that they love the iconic scarf, jumper and pink phone. I went in and tweaked the image recently to make it into a print.


SMOKE BREAK - I love Jeremy Brett as Holmes and I love Benedict Cumberbatch as Holmes and I can slash em together if I want. :D I wanted to make it erotic, but keep them covered up, I'm happy I could match the colours of the robes both wear in their respective tv series. I wanted a more Victorian with oriental fetish feel, I was able to make Benedict in blue come forward (cool colours recede) so I'm proud of that. A lot of people say this picture gives them ideas, yay! I like the scenic device of the background, which came from an ancient arabic painting from a manuscript, I love the border of tile. Someone referred to this pic as 'pattern porn' :D

A STUDY IN TWEED - my version of Jeremy Brett as Holmes, again trying to pull the colours from the Granada tv show, and in a tweed, which happens to be the username of the author who wrote the fic that inspired it. Another image of smoking! (that's three now) I like how the background works with this, particularly the smoke, which was taken from a black and white photo and manipulated into the picture.

MILK BATH - in many ways the most frustrating picture of this year, I wanted to have modern and canon Sherlock depicted in the wallpaper, (the yellow is Victorian, the blue is late 50s early 60s) because wallpaper features so much in the show sets. I wanted this particular angle, and again, the three colour three pattern went out the window. The bathtub is in fact a combination of two patterns overlaid. I took the labels from UK brands and incorporated them into the image. I want to never use the same pattern from any previous image. I'm most proud of the milk splash! I looked at high-speed images to create it. :D Someone saw this and was amazed how much the people looked like Sherlock and John from the show, they thought it was independent from it!

RED DRAGON, BLUE PHOENIX, GOLD TIGER - I did the dragon first, as homage to Benedict Cumberbatch being cast as Smaug in the Hobbit, again, its a Japanese picture, I wanted to do a figure that was nude, yet appeared covered at the same time. I like the movement in the image just as a drawing, and this was an experiment in doing an image in 3 different colourways, and each one took a long time! Trying to get the patterns to work together, ah, while the tiger isn't a fave, I like it because it was the most difficult to get right, as the hair in the figure and that tat are more monochromatic. I'd say that of the other two, dragon has a slight edge over phoenix in popularity.

SH SEASONAL CALENDAR - I wanted to do a BIG POSTER I wanted to make images of four characters from Sherlock with a Victorian feel, I wanted to use the real deal, Victorian images with their faded colours and acid spots, the buildings and trees have added textures to them, a 'hidden' willow Morris print in gold. The background paper is also William Morris that's faded and textured ontop of a parchment. It was a fight to keep the shading on the figures from becoming too realistic, because the intention is for abstraction. The patterns in the clothing are all Japanese chiyogami papers and I was SO LUCKY when it came to Sherlock's coat and scarf. For John's plaid shirt I actually created a tartan that matched behind the scenes photos because I couldn't find one that was close. Of the four, I love Sherlock's face and the blue scarf with the orange leaves of the plane tree. I love John's expression because I wanted him the most warm and welcoming, Lestrade was a bit difficult, I didn't realize Rupert's eyes are so big! I love love how his hair came out, I found a paper with white on black I could tone. I also had to create a tartan for his scarf. Mycroft was difficult because his outfit in season two are very particular colours, there is a little gold swirl in his coat pattern, and I'm fairly happy with how the pinstripe worked. The flower and tree language a bit of a headache to sort, but I think it's very lucky that Mycroft (Mark Gatiss) is a show creator and they make the show in Wales, and the Spring Daffodil is the Flower of Wales. Fireweed for London also a lucky break. Each character also identified with a place in London, I didn't recall the Insignia of London was red and white with dragons, so that was another lucky break. The original file of this picture is HUGE, 300dpi at 38 inches across, because I wanted to make certain it would print well at large sizes, but my computer cannot take this capacity, I had to have a book beside me because when I made a change I had to wait up to 7min for it to take effect! I only wish I could make the large posters at a more affordable price.

KAGETORA - I just sold a big print today! I love this pic as it was from a drawing I did years ago, and it was so complex that I would work on it, leave it alone for months, then go back to it again and I actually finished it. There is a lot going on, the flames, the swirling patterns, and I was trying to approximate the textures and colours from the costume worn by Gackt for his role in the Furrin Kazan taiga drama.

All in all, happy with what I did this year, but I wish I could have made more! There are some comic pictures I did, but I don't count them. There was also a Valentines Day pic I made of Sherlock and John that I'm not happy with now, but it was a good experiment, nonetheless.