Manananggal, the Filipino Vampire in COLOR!!!
After many weeks working on this project I am pleased to announce that it is finished! Since going to Illuxcon last year I’ve wanted to branch out into more traditional painting. I happen to have a lot of acrylic paint left over from college art classes, so that seemed like the natural way for me to start. Over the last year I have learned a TON about painting and illustration. And after a lot of research I set out on the task of painting an honest to god, with real brushes and paint, no digital painting!
To start I wanted to do a black and white drawing of the Manananggal. I did some sketches and multiple thumbnails. I then scanned in the ones I liked (O.K. maybe it’s not completely without digital) and I resized them to fit 9×12. I then printed it out very lightly on Bristol board. I then used marker and pen to do the black and white version of the Filipino Vampire (which you can read more about in my older post).
I then scanned in the black and white piece and printed it out on a piece of Bristol board. I then followed a process I learned about at Illuxcon where you attach a piece of paper to masonite board and then build the painting up on top of the drawing. A detailed description of this process can be found on Donato Giancola’s website.
The quick version is that I used acrylic medium as a glue to attach the print of my drawing to masonite board. I then added further coats of the medium on top of the drawing and sanded them down to create a smooth painting surface. The reason for this is to preserve the original drawing. A lot of artists loose really amazing drawings because they paint right on top of them. Donato Giancola wanted to keep his drawings so he developed this method. I also wanted to keep my drawing because I was a little afraid that my painting would suck, and at least I’d have a descent drawing even if I screwed up the painting.
And so… after a few hours of applying medium, waiting for it to dry, sanding that down, and doing all that a few more times I was ready to start. I had no idea what I was getting myself into and I learned a WHOLE HECK OF A LOT about painting. There really is no better teacher than just doing it! (Thank you Nike)
More than THIRTY hours later I present you with the color version of the Manananggal (Filipino Vampire). I hope you enjoy!
Manananggal, Acrylic on Board
Here is a detail of the face:
Close Up of the Face
An Artist's Journey 
The colors look great!!! I enjoy reading about your experience as an artist and the different mediums you try and how you learn about them. =] Good stuff and thanks for sharing!
Pingback: Painting a Jester in Acrylic « An Artist’s Journey
good color but really very artistic … i can use this also to this one of my hobbies .thank you.