When Pigs Fly

I’m excited to share about a unique commission that I worked on last month. I was asked to work on a flying pig painting and was given 100% artistic license. At that point I knew that I’d have a blast with this piece but what I didn’t know was how much fun it would be. I started off by discarding the idea of doing a flying zombie pig, yes that idea was the first to cross my mind, and instead decided to work on generalized thumbnail sketches to test out the overall style and feel of the piece.

I experimented with various styles trying to get a feel for where I wanted to go. For the first thumbnail I started aimlessly doodling and something circa 1990’s Cartoon Network came out for the first piece. This was quickly rejected and I decided to attempt a cuter route. I worked from extremely abstracted pig shapes and made each a bit more realistic.  Once I drew 4 I knew I had the perfect pig, though pig #2 was a close runner up.

With the pig figured out, I began sketching it out in a larger format on nicer paper and got to my final drawing. I don’t have any pictures of this part because after sealing the sketch with a 2-1 ratio of water and matte medium I immediately started painting it (I may have been a bit excited). Check out a speed painting video showing part of my process:

This is the final result of the commission.
Note the amazing clouds that are painted in the background. Those are all thanks to this tutorial video by Painting with Jane. It has saved my bacon on multiple occasions now (pun intended).Checkout her YouTube Channel for more painting tutorial videos. 

I’m quite pleased with how this commission went. Let me know your thoughts by commenting below. Also, shoot me a message if you are interested in commissioning your own custom art piece.