Osborne Mint
The second release in the Cthulha Collection features a gorgeous brown-haired woman sprawled out decadently with tentacles crisscrossing under her torso. One tentacle grasps a margarita and the other holds a strawberry Paloma. A sombrero hangs jauntily from the word TEQUILA, which crosses the woman's pelvis and upper thighs.
Working with Echo's giclees art poses a particular challenge for our design team - what do you do with art that is designed vertically? How do you put that art on to a circle? First, you have to consider the intent of the artist and the full composition. Next is to take a step back and ask, "what IS and is NOT important to convey the full flavor of the art – aka what elements MUST stay, what would be nice to keep and what isn’t necessary? Once that decision is made, you have to dive right in to the rendering and see what happens. You may discover that elements you thought would be critical, in the end, aren’t critical at all.
The first version of this round showed agave leaves on the left side of the image. We thought, given the importance of the agave plant to tequila, they were a critical part of the design. What we discovered is they were more of a distraction from the main image and quite honestly, you may not even know what they were if the original art wasn’t shown next to the round.
We subsequently determined that the sombrero was a pivotal part of showing the giclees’s Mexican flavor and had to figure out how to incorporate it into the design. The answer, shift TEQUILA to the left so it’s centered across the top, and then hang the sombrero from the “A”.
You may also wonder why the serape blanket wasn’t included. The team felt that the blanket and its placement would detract from the tentacles and drinks. As the final art shows, the highly modeled tentacles stand out from the polished background. If the serape were under the tentacles, they wouldn’t be so prominent and the design would look very cluttered.
This round is struck in .999 fine silver, and has ".999FS" on the edge, as well as its individual number. It comes packed in an airtite capsule to protect the surface and prevent tarnishing.
First rendering based off her original art.
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This version removed the agave leaves from the left side.
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The final rendering with the strawberry paloma.
This is the final round with the addition of the colorized sombrero.
Are you a fan or collector of Echo Chernik's artwork? Then don't miss this unique opportunity to get her Chuthlu Collection on a solid silver coin! Sign up to get release updates and more exciting updates about this collection from Osborne Mint.
Echo Chernik is a master of the art nouveau style. With over twenty-five years of experience as a professional commercial artist in the advertising field, she has created posters and package designs for clients such as Disney, Miller, Camel, Coors, Celestial Seasonings, The Sheikh of Dubai, Arlo Guthrie, Sears, Kmart, Trek Bicycles, and many more.
Chernik is a geek and gamer and creates a lot of work for her favorite game Shadowrun. She also has designed other games for Hasbro and the original board design for Tak. She paints both digitally and traditionally in oils, as well as has a love of the traditional pen and ink.
Echo's art gallery is in Fairhaven, Washington, where she continues to create award-winning pieces.