cover story By RP Roberts
I love the way that alpine villages are dwarfed by the mountains yet still feel like an integral part of the landscape. To me, alpine villages always feel like they've evolved and grown in a natural way, in response to the environment. In the making of this magazine cover, I wanted the buildings to look like they'd grown amongst the trees to become a part of the forest. I started by talking with Amie and Michael at Morzine Source Magazine about the specifics for the cover. They gave me an overview of the theme for this issue and I learned that the natural environment runs throughout the pages. I then set about trying to find the correct reference photo to work from. Nyon is a fantastic looking and iconic peak, but I wanted to show the town alongside the mountain. Morzine isn’t just a ski resort; it’s a home to many people and I wanted to reflect this on the cover. Once I'd found the correct angle, it was time to sketch it out. I wanted to keep a crisp edge on the top half of the piece, then fade out into a looser piece down below. Masking taping the top and side edges meant I could go a bit wild with the ink and still get a crisp edge, whilst also allowing it to fade out to looseness towards the bottom of the piece. I wanted to use a more autumnal colour scheme, and not go too cold with the winter colours. Morzine is a resort for all seasons, I wanted to show this in the piece. I usually get the lightest colours blocked in first, then start to build up the detail with a fine liner pen. This cover took me just over two days to complete from start to finish and I’m very happy with the result. I wanted to make the buildings look like a part of the Alpine environment, blending in to the forest and mountain and I really hope you enjoy it. Head to page 150 to discover how you can buy a limited edition print of our cover artwork 124
cover story
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