No overpainting or whatnot, it was painted from scratch in photoshop using my wacom intuos2. Reference images purchased from dreamstime.com.

A mermaid on a rock wishing she was human so she can be with her love. Her lover? Or perhaps dancing is her love, make up your own mind. Everyone has something they wish to do but simply can't. I like showing such things in my paintings, something like a hidden message. People often think that fantasy art is empty, no emotion. It's not true, the characters have personalities. They are creatures from the artist's mind. In my case often triggered by things that have happened to me and things I think about.

A lot of thought went into this painting, I truly feel that I did the best I could with it. I think it's one of my better works.
Painting such harsh lighting was very hard. I also tried to work with some more colours than I usually do. I had a lot of fun.
Some of you have asked me why I haven't been painting mermaids lately. Well.. here you go. Hope you like it!

Emerald


for those interested in the steps