while waiting for an eclipse

Nations, like stars, are entitled to eclipse. All is well, provided the light returns and the eclipse does not become endless night. - Victor Hugo

Hello! It’s Lea again,

I hope you had a great week. If you don’t know me, it's nice to meet you! This is Sunday Spreads, my (late) weekly personal illustration challenge. This week I wanted to stick to a traditional medium piece, which I ended up finishing with a bit of digital details.

There was a Solar eclipse this weekend! And although I missed it, it reminded me of the only eclipse I remember, the one in August 1999. I was 4 at the time, and it was a couple of days after the birth of my little sister. My parents had brought me to the countryside in Normandy to stay at my grandparents, and I have the distinct memory of waiting for the eclipse with my grandpa, while my aunt thought it was the end of the world. Here is the final drawing, and you can read more about the process below:

When researching ideas for this illustration, I stumbled upon this video from one of my favorite YouTube channels ever: the French National Archives.

Yes, it’s all in French, but you can see the level of enthusiasm of these people from 25 years ago, it still feels so precious. And there is a moment, when it all goes dark and they all shout: the stars ! I just wish I had a Time Machine to go back to this summer morning in 1999. I started sketching little ideas, and I decided on a half circle composition.

I really love old astronomy illustration, and for a while, the whole scientific community was convinced that the sky was a giant dome above us, this belief still exists for flat earthers today ( don’t worry I know the earth is round ) but still those ancient illustrations are beautiful:

So half a circle composition it is, and I also wanted to have stars going up along the curve towards the eclipse, a bit like in this painting which is a set design drawing for Mozart’s Opera: The Enchanted Flute. How incredible this must’ve looked on stage, this would be my 2nd stop with the Time Machine.

So I finally managed this rough that I was happy with :

I printed it, and used the light table to paint the background:

I initially thought I would do the character traditionally too, but I ended up drawing them digitally with the stars as well. Here was the Timelapse of the process:

So finally here is the final illustration:

Still thinking about the text, I’m having difficulties writing lately, but I think it can also work as a standalone image as well!

Anyways, Let me know what you think, and don’t hesitate to reach out. I am always looking to connect with fellow artists & illustrators to share the joys and sorrows of creating pretty pictures from our heads.

PS: Always wear glasses when looking at an eclipse!

Lea