‘A long time ago in a galaxy very, very close to us . . .’
Well, I’m not aiming for Stars Wars visuals here, in my illustration of the formation of Planet Earth, 4,600 million years ago. I’m trying out the airbrush in Procreate on my iPad Pro, but I don’t want it to look too smooth, so I’m using the pen tool to make it look hand drawn.
I’ve set up the illustration in three layers: sky, molten planet and surface crust. I painted in the crust as a featureless brown-black ball hanging in space, yellow highlights on one side, blue reflected light in the shadows on the other. I then used the eraser tool with a 6B pencil setting to scratch through to reveal the glowing lava beneath. Finally, I added spatters and pen lines.
As I drew the planet, I realised that I’d drawn something similar years before. This was part of the ‘Cosmic Zoom-in’ that I used to introduce my home patch in A Sketchbook of the Natural History of the Country Round Wakefield (Lion & Unicorn Press of the Royal College of Art, 1979).
I still have the bigger picture in my mind when I get close to local wildlife. During my time at college in London, I’d often call in during my lunch break to spend half an hour in the new Story of the Earth exhibition in the Geological Museum in South Kensington. I can see that exhibition’s influence here.
Link
Procreate: I’m looking forward to the new version Procreate 5, which will be launched soon.