The Undersea Temple City
This illustration was for my MFA thesis. I wanted to depict an undersea city, built by ant-human hybrids, organized around the study of submarine life.
The buildings had to look futuristic, yet organic, somewhat biomechanical. I wanted to evoke a sense of wonder and awe, as well as abundance of life with fish and coral and a couple divers.
the process
step 1: Ideation and sketching
I started by drawing on my iPad. I drew some ideas for the main temple structure, as well as what sort of fish I wanted around, and even an idea for a deity that might be worshipped by the denizens of this city, which I had decided to name Pecca Pocca.
I loved the idea of a large dome-like structure that could be the site of study and worship. I wanted everything to look like it could be made from coral, and have a warm glow that would contrast with the cool blue of the surrounding ocean.
I thought it would be cool to have a long spire that could transport oxygen or other valuable materials from the world above. I also liked the idea of a massively tall structure that could span a huge range in depth and thus be used to cultivate and study all sorts of marine life: from deep sea snails to basking tropical sharks, and everything in between.
During this stage I mocked up a rough thumbnail that ended up inspiring the final piece.
step 2: the inhabitants
For the inhabitants of this undersea city, I sketched some humanoids: descendants of current day humans, but with greater capacity for collaboration and communal effort.
I dressed them in sleek wetsuits. I also wanted to add some futuristic tech, so I gave them a “melon” like device attached to their forehead, which might allow them to communicate via sonar like a beluga whale. Since these humanoids contain ant DNA, they have highly sensitive antennae sprouting from their sinuses. Therefore a sonar sensor positioned over these antennae would make a lot of sense.
step 3: thumbnails
I drew three thumbnails for what would become the final painting. I ended up choosing the first one I drew, but decided to add in a large whale in the foreground to add movement and visual interest.
step 4: tight sketch
Once I’d chosen a thumbnail, it was time to create the line drawing, where shapes, structures, and creatures would be defined. I did this part digitally, using Procreate on my iPad.
step 5: graphite transfer
I printed my digital line drawing out at size (28”x18”), tiled across 8 pieces of letter size paper. I taped this down over my canvas, with a sheet of carbon transfer paper in between. Using a ballpoint pen, I went over each line to transfer it onto the illustration board.
Then I went over all the graphite transfer lines again in technical pen, which I knew would be better to paint over in acrylic.
step 6: paint
Finally it was time to paint! I started by blocking out all my values in black and white and then going over the whole thing with a raw sienna wash. I thought the orange ground would lend depth to the overwhelmingly blue scene, but didn’t realize how much extra work I was making for myself - every last inch of that orange had to be fully covered in blue paint! Almost none of the original ground was to remain visible.
Once the monochrome ground was established, I painted the whole thing in acrylic, moving from the background to the foreground, using an airbrushing of gouache to achieve the glow effect on the structures.
