For a big Lovecraft fan
A dear friend of mine graduated this year, and he asked me to make a painting of him based on the H. P. Lovecraft books; I really wanted to make him happy, but since I don't really know Lovecraft that well I asked him further informations about which creatures he wanted to appear in the piece. He told me of Dagon, the Yellow King, Niarlathotep, Yog Sototh and obviously Chtulhu, so I searched for reference and started to paint.
I really like the way it turned out, and my friend loved it too.
Sketching on the canvas, planning where to put the various elements trying to achieve a good composition.
With the initial sketch done it's time to paint, starting with a background gray, clouds, fog and the foreground.
The first Lovecraft creature I wanted to paint was obviously Chtulhu; to show how massive he is (and also to give him enough space) I positioned him behind the mountains on the background.
Finisced painting Chtulhu, I moved on to the sea, trying not to give too much detail to the water; I also added the rocks where Dagon will be positioned.
After Dagon was done, I painted the waves on the rocks and added sun rays in the background.
Adjusted some values and the Yellow King is now done, he was a real pain in the ass to paint due to all the tentacles and his mantle.
Niarlathotep on the other hand was easier, the lasso tool helped me a lot.
Now someone could realize that some parts are positioned or made different from the initial sketch, this is due to the fact that later on I referred to the Fibonacci Spiral for the overall composition.
Added Yog Sototh in the meanwhile.
I then painted my friend and positioned him according to the Spiral, adjusted the tone values and the painting is finished.