Have you seen this viral picture of Mayon Volcano recent activity?

Just look at that smoke ashes formation, people claim especially in the Bicol area, they can see Mayon and Panganoron embracing each other. According to an Old tale has been told that once there was a beautiful lady who lived in a village named Magayon, almost every men in the village admired her, then she met the love of her life but another envious man, took and imprisoned her, the news went to the knowledge of her beloved and he came and rescue her, they won the battle but unfortunately the couple has been slayed, the whole village mourned and burried them together, few years later the land where they were buried rises and became the most famous Volcano with a perfect cone, the Mayon Volcano.

This image that has been formed by the smoke from Mayon Volcano, might be unbelievable to others, but even though it is too good to be true, their story also happens in our generation.

With this viral image, artists are also quick to post their interpretations and drawings of the formation in social media, like this one:

One more thing, I have to give credits to the owners of the respective images. They have sparked my interest to make this post.

#Now im going to show you my interpretation of the viral image:

It may not feature the old folktale characters, but i was inspired by Fernando Amorsolo's Paintings of Mayon Volcano. It includes some happy, vibrant and warm scenes depicting the life of Filipino's in his period. That is what i am going for my painting.

The Process:#

First, i gathered reference images and compiled them into 1 image board.

At first, I was going for the traditional costumes of the couple but eventually went for Amorsolo's style of characters.

Second, I used photoshop to sketch the drawing until the final image. In my sketch i used some swift gestures for the drawings. Remember, you have to be relaxed, drawings aren't meant to be final and rendered

In the sketch i used the L shaped and Rule of thirds composition.

In Rule of thirds, i aligned the characters on the red intersecting lines to the left and the Mayon Volcano in the right intersecting lines to the right. In the L-shaped composition, it self explanatory, the couple and the tree are in L shaped form.

To achieve and emulate the traditional oil painting look digitally, i first apply sepia tones on my sketch. Loose brushstrokes are important in early stages of your painting.

In the next image, i applied some basic middle tone colors, no highlights except for the clouds in the backgrounds. Just establishing here some contrast of dark and middle tones. Applying some loose diagonal, horizontal and vertical strokes.

Introducing some highlights and working on the image

Rendering the faces of the couple

Rendering and tightening up the background.

And then, the final image:

Overall, it took me 4 hours to make from sketch to final image. I could have worked and developed this more but i dont have the luxury to do so. Anyway, i hope to make a better art next time. Here is a gif image of the process:

Anyway, what are your thoughts on my 1st ever art tutorial/process? Was it clear, concise or was it lacking something? Leave your thoughts on the comments section. I would be happy to read you feedback and suggestions. Hope you enjoyed the content. See you in my next post!