Hi Everyone! Welcome to Wandering Camera. I am really excited to share photos of this painted bookshelf with you this month. I love the romantics of magic and decided to embark on a journey of painting a magic alphabet series. I chose B for bookshelf. Specifically, a magician’s bookshelf. I love to and tend to do a lot of research for my work. I had a fantastic time looking into alchemy and magic.
York Cathedral, England, 2016
I looked into my vault of travel photos for stonework depicting vines and leaves.
St. Clement’s Church, Scotland, 2018
Nothing says magic to me more than stone. These are two of the photos I used for reference.
Before I started inking the drawing, I practised on a separate piece of paper with a dip pen. Unfortunately, the rough surface of the cold press paper that I used kept catching the pen too much, causing very uneven lines instead of the smooth and controlled lines that I wanted.
I switched to a very small brush which glided easily on the paper. I was able to create controlled and tiny strokes for the cross hatching using waterproof Speedball Super Black india ink.
However, inks are very harsh on brushes. I learned that the hard way after almost destroying the first one. Brushes need to be cleaned quite often with a good brush soap. Also, instead of my gentle watercolour brushes, I will be using a little stiffer acrylic ones for inking.
It took me awhile to draw those tiny cross hatch marks. It was quite meditative.
Then, early December, I started painting. I wanted the stone bookshelf to be illuminated by candlelight. Using warm yellows and warm browns, gently and slowly, I finished painting the bookshelf.
I thought of painting all the books in one colour, but that seemed very boring. Magic should be exciting! So I decided to match the colours of the books with their titles.
I would love to paint this bookshelf larger one day and add more details to the book spines.
The ancient and wise raven watches over both the books and the magician. Even though she is candlelit, she also glows from within.
Quoting my friend Dixie – a bibliotheque filled with books on practical magic, spells, and alchemy. I would so love to take a peek at these books. If only I too was made of ink and paper!
-Soma
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