The Little Merman

I had previously tried and struggled to design a composition for Little Merman, and was really excited by Kelly Murphy's suggestion to play with the setting of the story and to find inspiration in the forms of the environment.  I was trying to choose between a tropical and arctic setting and decided the arctic setting would be a good chance to try a more muted palette.

I also recounted the wonderful collection of Inuit art at the National Gallery of Canada during my visit to Ottawa. I was really inspired by the abstracted and playful shapes they used to describe their world.

Sketches:

Final Sketch + Color Study