SECRETS BEHIND THE ART MAKING PROCESS

What started out as an idea for one monochrome artwork, quickly transformed into three artworks with coloured inclusions.

Keep reading to discover all the insights behind how this iconic art series was created.

Photo Credit: © T J Allen Art

Initial Idea

My initial plan was to create a close-up, detailed black and white lion face so that the focus of the eyes was the main feature of the artwork. I had a working title of ‘I See You’ playing around in my head, with the meaning behind the work being that the lion was a reflection of the viewer and that what they saw in the lion is what the lion saw in them.

Idea Development

Half way through the piece, with the eyes unfinished, the idea of including coloured eyes came to me. I have created full monotone lions and also full colour lions in the past, but I’d never thought about combining the two …… as soon as the vision came to me, I was hooked and knew it would create a really powerful piece.

Before I’d even begun including the ochre tones to the eyes, I knew there was more potential in this idea. I wanted to explore the idea of using different coloured eyes to see how it changed the character and appearance of the lion, so I promised myself I would create a series of three lion brothers.

Same But Not

In all my years as an artist, I have never made the same artwork twice. Every piece has been entirely individual. However, with this series, it felt appropriate and even essential that I use the same reference image for all three pieces. There needed to be no other distractions, the main difference and focus HAD to be the eye colour.

I also wanted to prove the point that even though the pieces would have the same initial image to work from, the nature of artistry and handmade creation means that they would still not be identical matches in the way that a computer would be able to generate. I particularly want to celebrate the individuality of human crafted work and how much more life is given to an artwork because I am not a robot and therefore every line and stroke I make is unique.

 Base Colour

The original artwork was done on my usual choice of specialist paper - anthracite pastelmat (which is very dark grey). A few months prior, I had bought a sheet of white pastelmat to see if the background base colour would have any effect on how I create my work. As I started to explore the idea of the lion series in my head, I decided it would be a great idea to use the white pastelmat because the lions themselves would be made from the same image and therefore an alternative background colour would be a way to shake things up a bit.

From the very first application of base layer pastel, I knew the lions would look very different. With the anthracite, I’d started by blocking in the white areas but with the white pastelmat I wasn’t able to do that and instead had to focus on applying the greys and blacks first. I had the confidence to go a lot darker and bolder on the white background so the characters and appearance of ‘Strength’ versus ‘Courage’ are noticeably distinct.

For ‘Wisdom’, I felt it would be appropriate to use yet another base colour rather than use the anthracite or white again. I went down the middle of the two and chose a mid-grey tone to see how that would affect the final look and outcome.

I think it’s fair to say they all have slightly different tonal values which I love it because it gives them all an individualised, unique look.

 Eye Colour

The ochre was an instant decision because it is a lion’s natural eye colour. I wanted to stick to something pure and in keeping with a real lion for my first piece.

I deliberated about using blue and green for the second piece but as soon as I started to apply the blue base tone, I knew I needed to stick to just one colour. If I had added green, the overall appearance would not have been as vivid or intense.

The purple idea for the third piece came because I’d already thought about the names and titles of the pieces and it was the obvious choice to create the correct atmosphere and character charm for ‘Wisdom’. I ended up including some pink because it needed a brighter colour to pop out against the darker indigo shades.

What’s In A Name ……. EVERYTHING!

As previously mentioned, I originally thought the first piece was going to be called ‘I See You’. With that in mind, I considered the concept of each lion touching a different sense and therefore the following lions would be named ‘I Feel You’ and ‘I Know You’. The implication was that the first lion sees your outer qualities and values, the second lion can really feel and sense your emotions, and the third lion knows exactly who you are in the depths of your soul.

I wasn’t fully convinced about these as final working titles so I thought more about what the lions could represent and what characteristics they could embody and exude. At this point, I was already half-way through the first piece and I felt ‘Strength’ was the feeling I was getting from him. I guess my mind naturally came up with the word ‘Courage’ because it’s a common word associated with lions. With these two words whirring around my head, I instantly had the lyrics of an India Arie song come to me: ‘Strength, Courage and Wisdom, it’s been inside of me all along’. (LISTEN HERE - chorus begins at 1m 22s)

YES! That’s it.

Strength – I See You

Courage – I Feel You

Wisdom – I Know You

My artwork has always been a symbol, a self-portrait you could say, of my life at the time of creation and the lyrics and sentiment of the words embodied themselves within the lions and in turn, also within me.

Seeing, feeling and knowing that I have strength, courage and wisdom inside me is powerful.

Photo Credit: © T J Allen Art

 Nicknames

Just as a cheeky insider bit of news, I also had some other names come to me for my lions. So, drum roll …..

Strength is called Raphael (the healer)

Courage is called Lazarus (the helper)

Wisdom is called Oracle (the messenger)

On safari, male-only lion groups are called ‘coalitions’, so I also decided to give my boys a Zulu-inspired name: ‘The Ingonyama Coalition’ which means ‘great powerful kings’ ….. indeed, they are certainly three powerful kings to me.

These lion brothers have taught me a lot over the past few months and it has been a delight to see them come to life in full detail. I couldn’t be more proud seeing them fully finished and all together at last.