Persephone

This is a mate to my illustration of Hades. Persephone is daughter of Zeus & Demeter; made queen of the underworld by Hades, her husband, in Greek mythology; identified with Roman Proserpina. After being abducted by Hades, she lives in the Underworld for six months & with Demeter for the rest of the year - explains why we have seasons of plenty & seasons of draught.

The Making of Persephone

How'd I do it? Watch how I work! Here are scanned images of the illustration in development! See Persephone in the works, from preliminary pencil sketch to the final pen & ink drawing! These phase-by-phase drawings may also give you some ideas for your own drawings!

C lick the images to see full-view

Phase 1

Now that Hades is completed, Persephone follows.

To define her face, I gave her full lips, cat eyes & high cheekbones. Then, added curly hair arranged on top of her head.

The white space on the right is for her hand, which will be held forward.

Phase 2

I wanted Persephone to look like the Earth goddess that she is so, I added rose branches around her hand & fingers.

A rose in a glass orb is suspended above her hand to add an element of magic or ethereality.

Phase 3

I've added ornaments - a necklace & a crown.

I also cleaned up the lines to make it ready for outlining in ink.

Phase 4

Outlined in ink, lost Persephone's smile in the process. I'll fix that as I render the textures on her face.

Phase 5

Shaded-in textures of the face... Her facial features are new (high cheekbones especially) to me, so it took a while before I got all the shadows & highlights right.

Phase 6

Inked in the crown, necklace & earring. It's detailed work so it took a while to complete.

Phase 7

Shaded-in the hair & added a few stray strands around to give it more life.

Phase 8

Shaded-in texture on branches & the leaves. The rose & the leaves are black to create contrast with the branches.

I've also Shaded-in the hand! I gave her dark lacquered nails.

Phase 9

Shaded-in black background to complete the drawing. I carefully added a feathered cross-hatching effect around the orb to make it look as if it's glowing.

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