Saltar in Caelum Nocturnum dig

Major edit: I fixed up some contrast issues by desaturating the rocks. I also added a bunch more stars, and I added some silver border treatment around the circular cut-outs. It's subtle stuff, but it makes the digital version look much more like the analog version.

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I *like* Latin titles. It makes me look much more serious than I actually am.

Big thanks to , who is a Latin teacher! She recommended the current title phrase and fixed my pitiful verb conjugation. The Engrish is Dance in the Night Sky.

This is the digital composite of Saltar in Caelum Nocturnum, and it does look a bit different from the actual, real-world version. I had to pretty much reconstruct it from scratch in Photoshop by "cutting out" all of the rocks from various scanned watercolor backgrounds, scanning the individual planets, and layering everything together. The background patterns, ball-chains, and all textures and colored objects are of my own design. There's almost as much work in the digital version as there is in the analog version!

When I originally envisioned this concept, I had plans to make it a more earthly sky, with a normal white/gray moon. Then I discovered I had more Model Magic left over than I thought, so I made some more little moons. The pale colors of Luna did not appeal to me any more, so I went crazy with gas-giant colors instead. I painted the Model Magic with acrylics.

Then came the rocks. With holes in. And little dangly things. Those rocks are made of bristol board with watercolor and salt, and the danglies are freshwater pearls, stone beads, and acrylic gems.

Then came the dragon itself, which was originally going to be part of the Song in the Sky 4 project, but the pose was all wrong. The dragon was done with watercolor and colored pencils on bristol board, then cut out.

The background layers are acrylic paint on paper and illustration board, with star sequins, paint pen, and acrylic gem accents.

I piled everything together, scooting the different pieces around until the composition looked about right. Everything is attached with either foam board and foam tape, or with glue.

I still need to get this puppy matted and framed; I plan to show it in the ART/Work competition that the Kansas City businesses participate in every year.

Original art: available for $350

Prints: (shipping included)
8x10 inches for $15
11x14 inches for $30
16x20 inches for $50

Dragon by itself:



Photograph of the actual artwork:




Lineart for coloring: