Avalokiteshvara - The one with the unwavering eye

[Karateed]

Not only is the artwork exquisite Fred but so is the sentiment of the drawing. To me, it shows the level of respect we should all have for having our needs met. Beautiful in every sense of the word.

[Fred vanderZee]

Thanks all!

@Grey, my teacher told me once that his art work is badly scanned, reprinted and sold in India and Nepal for a few rupees in small shops. He thinks - and I agree with him - that it's some kind of repayment for the knowledge of thangka painting, that is passed on through the centuries. Most people there cannot afford to pay for a better image anyway, so this is the only way they can purchase one of our images and enjoy it.
Beyond that, most of my work is printed as high quality giclee prints on paper of canvas, or made into complete thangkas with brocade - for a totally different market.

[Fred vanderZee]

The iridescent shading of the blossom that's your Facebook profile picture is very impressive too.

I'd always had an intuition that this type of rendering was the classical art style for which Xara was best suited.
(Compared to, say, the technique of Vladimir Konstantinovic, which, while amazing in its own right, seems to be executed despite, rather than because of, the vector nature of the program.)

That's part of a White Tara image done in gold on red - Chinese style. I used lighter shades of simulated gold in the image to emphasize certain parts of the face and to bring more depth into the entire image.

[Fred vanderZee]

And just another update.

[Boy]

Beautiful!

[Fred vanderZee]

Thanks Boy!

And here's another update - slowly getting there. The body now has a very subtle pink shading, hands and feet are painted and I did the final work on the auras. Small one went from yellow to red and some more detail in the outer aura. Still have to do some work on the landscape (adding some small pine trees, not totally happy with the clouds) and the two hunter friends on the left.
After that: adding lots of (virtual) gold.

The final stage is checking the image for small defects, like lines that are not connected or incomplete fills.

[Fred vanderZee]

Example of gold brocade, embroided on the garments of the deity.

Traditionally, this was done with real 24 carat gold, although nowadays it is sometimes done with cheaper paint.
In my drawings the gold is added as part of the painting, using the reflection in the gold to enhance the 3-dimensional effect of the garments flowing around the body.

[jpavel]

I particularly appreciate how you express the elements of traditional visual representation in your vector art (as with the gold brocade contributing to the volume of the garments). As everyone eventually discovers, there are no programmatic shortcuts to skill and experience-- and indeed the diligent hours in which each component of the composition is rendered and put in its proper place.

Your series of work-in-progress images of this piece on Facebook is very interesting as well; I recommend that everyone who hasn't seen them yet follow the link in Fred's signature.

Cheers,
Jesse

[Fred vanderZee]

Thanks Jesse.
And adding to that: if you have any questions about the techniques I use, feel free to ask.

[Fred vanderZee]

And the final result. Currently it is with the printer's for a giclee print that will be delivered tomorrow. My better half and I will sew it in a brocade this weekend.