"Step-by-step development of an illustration for Book 3 of the LET'S MEDITATE SERIES." - by Thais Suizo
My homemade process
Over the past few days, I've been working on an illustration for Book 3, and I thought it would be interesting to take some photos to show more of how I develop this entire process.
On this page, David explains that the purpose of the chakras is to channel higher energy to expand our consciousness and promote personal growth. This process creates a 'space' between stimulus and reaction, allowing you to choose more positive responses instead of acting on impulse.
It is a lifelong, slow, and integrated cycle, where all energy centers collaborate so that you can gradually handle new levels of perception.
So here we go. The first step was to develop the sketch to send to David.
(Note that here I had already copied everything neatly onto a sheet of paper to remove the marking lines, this time I used carbon paper.)
This is just a super rough draft, David and I still haven't figured out the colors or the background yet. I just put a person in there with some chakra markers and thought bubbles to show how we can start spotting those old thought patterns.
I’ve already traced the drawing onto the hand-cut watercolor paper using carbon paper, so it's the exact size for the project., I just started messing with the colors. I tried to picture the chakras opening up and added some yellow spirals to the background, then some blue, just letting it flow.
Every time I added some blue to the spirals, I’d let it dry for a bit so each layer would really stand out on the paper.
You can see the illustration drying on my living room shelf. It’s a very homemade process,I just use whatever I have around me to get the work done.
I kept working on those spiral chakras in the background to give it that feeling of expansion. I’m also coloring the thought bubbles from dark to light, showing how those thought patterns start to become clearer as you go.
I outlined the thought bubbles in brown so they’d really pop without getting lost in the background.
This is how I work on the chakras: I start with a yellow spiral and blend in some white. Then I layer on lots of little white dots, over and over, just to make sure they really pop when I scan the illustration later.
Once the illustration is done, it’s time to let it rest. I press it under some heavy folders and sketchbooks to flatten everything out. I keep my press inside the wardrobe, the drawing is right there, tucked under everything you see, wrapped in plain paper for at least 8 hours.
Once the pressing is done, it’s time to scan the illustration for David. I make sure the scanner glass is spotless first, then I scan it and tweak the colors to get them as close to the original art as possible.
And here it is,the finished illustration, just as I sent it over to David!
I really hope you enjoyed following along with the process for the Let’s Meditate 3 book. It’s such a joy to share these behind-the-scenes moments with you all.
Warm hugs from Brazil,
With hands and heart,
Thaís Suizo