Artwork Design
"The Blue Meanies" from The Beatles - Yellow Submarine animated film
My main focus when using this picture as an inspiration for my watercolor is that I want to reinvent the cartoon. The colors in the picture are very bright and intense, the lines are sharp and the figures well defined. What I want to do is put my own spin on it by fading out the hues and mixing them between each other a lot more. My goal is to give the image a lot more interest by layering colors (using wet on wet technique), but at the same time softening it, by making the colors less opaque and bright.
The first thing I need to do is to determine my color scheme. Since the only three colors that appear in the image are red, blue, and yellow, this picture uses a primary color scheme. Nevertheless, there are three different blue hues (hence, BLUE meanies), and this is the part of the painting that I want to focus the most on. I plan to soften the small red and yellow by using only one layer of color and letting it dry.
The blue of the Meanies will be created using three different layers. The first one will be the lightest tone, which is very bright and soft. The next layer will create the electric blue of the small Meanie, but I will also apply the color on the big Meanie. Finally, I will use an almost purplish final blue to create the color of the big Meanie and the small Meanie's boot. I will use the wet on wet technique so as to be able to mix the colors into creating new tones. I will base all my hues of blue on a single color, and create the variations by adding white, purple, and maybe a little black.
Before the watercolor dries, I will use the tip of the brush to create fluffy tips with the blue colors, for the cotton-like texture of the Meanies, taking advantage of the paint's runny quality. The ears of the Meanies will also be done with watercolor (black), and at the same time, because they do not conflict with the painting of the blue color. I will wait for these elements to dry, and then add the boots, legs, and crazy expressive faces onto the paper. They should also be smooth and runny, but I don't want the blue to mix with the yellow and the red, since this would create colors that don't belong in my color scheme. The "M" on the small Meanie's body will also be added later, because it should be more opaque and intense.
The overall texture of the painting should be relaitvely smooth, because the drawing is clear and concrete (unlike a romantic landscape or something of the same nature). This also makes it relate to formalism, because the feelings, concepts, and realistic-ness aren't really the main focus. The most important part is that the colors and shapes are used appropriately and also daringly.
Something that I'm really interested in doing is adding small details with ink once everything is dry. This would give the drawing a structure in its runny-ness, but show that its nature isn't neat and inside the edges (kind of like the "The Little Prince" drawings).
The first thing I need to do is to determine my color scheme. Since the only three colors that appear in the image are red, blue, and yellow, this picture uses a primary color scheme. Nevertheless, there are three different blue hues (hence, BLUE meanies), and this is the part of the painting that I want to focus the most on. I plan to soften the small red and yellow by using only one layer of color and letting it dry.
The blue of the Meanies will be created using three different layers. The first one will be the lightest tone, which is very bright and soft. The next layer will create the electric blue of the small Meanie, but I will also apply the color on the big Meanie. Finally, I will use an almost purplish final blue to create the color of the big Meanie and the small Meanie's boot. I will use the wet on wet technique so as to be able to mix the colors into creating new tones. I will base all my hues of blue on a single color, and create the variations by adding white, purple, and maybe a little black.
Before the watercolor dries, I will use the tip of the brush to create fluffy tips with the blue colors, for the cotton-like texture of the Meanies, taking advantage of the paint's runny quality. The ears of the Meanies will also be done with watercolor (black), and at the same time, because they do not conflict with the painting of the blue color. I will wait for these elements to dry, and then add the boots, legs, and crazy expressive faces onto the paper. They should also be smooth and runny, but I don't want the blue to mix with the yellow and the red, since this would create colors that don't belong in my color scheme. The "M" on the small Meanie's body will also be added later, because it should be more opaque and intense.
The overall texture of the painting should be relaitvely smooth, because the drawing is clear and concrete (unlike a romantic landscape or something of the same nature). This also makes it relate to formalism, because the feelings, concepts, and realistic-ness aren't really the main focus. The most important part is that the colors and shapes are used appropriately and also daringly.
Something that I'm really interested in doing is adding small details with ink once everything is dry. This would give the drawing a structure in its runny-ness, but show that its nature isn't neat and inside the edges (kind of like the "The Little Prince" drawings).