Mermay Direction!

Kanna . E · 2026-05-25T17:00:21.806Z

Worked on the Advice i got from Grant and it's starting to really come together now! Does anyone else have some ideas, would love to hear more thoughts, especially with how i should approach finishing it, should i do a night time illustration here, or would a dusk/noon theme be better? or I could just keep it as is refine and render it in grayscale with a a more traditional pencil look, would love to get more direction on this or anything else you might feel the drawing should have!

@pvppoh3 months ago

Hi kanna! It’s already coming together very beautifully, the mermaid looks so enchanting! Hmm, as for finishing this, I’d say either go with a sunset or dusk theme. Not only would a foggy air with a low sun nicely frame your mermaid, but colors associated with this weather also play into her alluring vibe. I also added a tree in the foreground of your composition to make the pathway down to the mermaid smaller (again reinforcing her size) and also give the impression that you, the viewer ran into her while exploring nature, and her looking at you(the viewer) as a means of connection/communication, giving the piece an extra layer of storytelling to it. My overpaint is a little rushed and the values are wonky, so i hope that this, along with my feedback text, explains what i mean clearly enough for you to understand what i am getting at 😅 Other wise id love to elaborate further on discord. Good luck 🙌🙌

@kanna3 months ago

Thanks a bunch for the input Cal, I'll definitely start heading in that direction then, really like the idea of adding a tree in the foreground as well and a dusk setting is always fun to work with!

@grantw3bart3 months ago

Hi Kanna, Awesome work on your drawing so far. I love the idea of a giant scale mermaid. I think something that could really push the idea, furthering on what Mars said is to really show the difference in scale and add some depth with Foreground and Background. One of the best ways to show scale is to add recognizable objects the we humans know has a scale like the row boat (also foreground) in the scene so the viewer can gauge how much bigger she is. It could also be a great story narrative opportunity. For example, what happened to the sailors of the row boat? Did she get them? etc. You could also push the depth in the background, I added some Thailand sea mountains but it could be other geography or a ship that the sailors left to explore the island. I hope this helps, all the best. Keep up the great work!

@kanna3 months ago

Great idea Grant! Will definitely do that

Mars3 months ago

First off, I love the idea of a giant mermaid, and I like how her tail is so big that it extends off the lake and the way that that helps express depth in the illustration. Can't do a drawover at this time but I think it would be interesting to play around with the angle of the camera to communicate her size. On first glance, I didn't realize that this was a giant mermaid and thought there was something wrong with the perspective/proportions of everything else (especially the tree - I thought it was too small or something at first). Composition-wise, while I initially found the tree too small, when I think about what the idea is here , I think not only a low-angle but making either her bigger or the tree smaller would align more with giantess mermaid. Otherwise, my head is thinking, 'Oh, it's a giant mermaid, but this tree is still somehow bigger than her. Is this tree important?' Related to importance, but because the environment is otherwise pretty bare and there is a lot of open space in the sky, the tree does draw more attention than I think it should. Perhaps more trees to make it seem less dominant? This is another reason why you could consider adjusting the sizing of things, because the width of the tree somewhat dwarfs the overall area of the top half of the mermaid's torso.

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