The First Unicorn; mixed media on watercolor paper. 5.5 x 8.5"

I made this for my darling friend, Zac’s birthday. He loves the book The Last Unicorn and I wanted to do something that related to that. Another friend of mine had loaned me the DVD of the animated children’s movie of the same title. Which I may or may not have watched while creating this. I also might have a few others started, hence “the first”. There might be a few more unicorn silhouettes popping up in the near future.

MAKER NOTES: I referenced the dvd cover for the general unicorn style and created a modified silhouette from it on parchment paper (hot damn, I love Bienfang; a design professor got me hooked in college). I then used my portable light table to transfer the final silhouette (there were a few drafts) from the parchment paper to the watercolor paper. I used masking tape to affix the watercolor paper to a large drawing board to keep the paper from warping from the moisture. Anything flat and sturdy will work; I’ve used clipboards, random pieces of wood or cardboard….pretty much anything I could get my hands on. My masking tape didn’t seal perfectly as illustrated by the small bits of feathering around the edge. I painted white acrylic for just the silhouette and then lined with a pen/nib/ink & filled in the background with the same ink but with a small nylon brush for a smoother (& less tedious) fill.