This fall, my friend Jeff commissioned me to paint a gift for his wife, for a combination 5th anniversary and Christmas present. It was an interesting challenge keeping it a secret for two months, but the moment of presentation was a smashing success!

Here’s a bit of the process, for the curious…

The worst thing in the world: a blank canvas.

Look, color!

And here’s a little more, getting in the shadows and a vague hint of what will someday be the background.

You can see my references taped to the easel now, or some of them, anyway, and the blocked-in color for the ghost ship.

Some detail going in on the ship:

More ship, and some foliage!

Rawr! He’s a little toothless, but he’ll get his later.

And now we block in our mermaid! The real star of the painting.

Our shark has teeth, and the mermaid has some color now.

Texture on her tail, and a whole lot of kelp.

All done except for the lighting. Little fishies!

And here’s the final! Click the image for a bigger version: