The J.M. Kallet Process
At 26, Marigold Williams leads a lonely life. Shy and introverted, she often struggles to assert herself, despite being the smartest person in the room. As a data analyst, Marigold finds solace in the structured world of numbers, which provides her an escape from the chaos of human interactions and emotions. This reliance on routine offers security and predictability, but it also traps her in a repetitive existence that feels increasingly stifling.
The Sketch
During the initial stages of this piece, I had a concept in mind but wasn't sure how the final composition would look. I did a series of rough sketches, exploring various ideas, none of which I was happy with. Ultimately, I chose a straightforward portrait composition, opting instead to work out the details as I progressed. This is the final, cleaned-up version of the sketch, with simplified line art that allowed me to begin blocking in shapes and establishing values.
The Overlay
I'm focused on laying in values to create the dark, dramatic lighting here. Heavy Chiaroscuro influences here—specifically, the tenebrism of artists like Caravaggio (my favorite). Avery, one of two leads from my horror screenplay "Marigold," is a flesh-eating creature of the night, so this piece was always intended to reflect her dark (no pun intended) nature. At this point, I'm just having fun seeing how far I can take it with contrasting light and shadow.
The Final
Here she is in all her glory. I created several iterations of the eyes, but none felt quite right. More often than not, I've found that simplicity yields the best results, so I settled on tiny dots of reflected light to capture their intensity. The blood smears and dribbles, which I assumed would be easy once I hit upon the idea, became a rather painstaking process, adding streaks and spatter in several layers until I had it looking just right. I briefly considered introducing color, but ultimately, the black-and-white palette felt most fitting for this piece.
