Friday, April 30, 2010

"The White Hart" Work-in-progress 2


More work on "The White Hart." Just started on the foreground. Any feedback is appreciated. Thanks, guys.

10 comments:

  1. I like the way the flowers are looking. There is something a little odd in the curve of the hart's back. I only notice because I have been sketching a lot of deer lately. The face of the deer is looking fairly realistic and the back and shoulder look a little stylized.

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  2. Interesting, I was thinking the same thing. I need more reference of the hart's side from that angle. I think I need some temperature changes in that region to denote the folding of the form and the reflection of the light on the animal's flank. Maybe some lighting to more clearly define the ribs and spine. Plus the way the foreshortened back is meeting the neck seems a bit off to me. Thanks. I probably would have left it if you hadn't said anything. Does the crown look better/Less dominant now?

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  3. Yes, and no. As the piece is worked the colours all react differently. One of my favourite things about painting. I love how adding just one little tiny touch of colour will change the WHOLE composition. I scanned it last time with a feature that pulls out some of the under-layering of colour. It makes it more vibrant but, in the end, it detracts from the piece. I have spent a long time scanning in images and then reworking them to see how best to paint to maximize the quality of the image with no manipulation in the CPU. The scanner will expose underworked areas nicely, much as sunlight will.

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  4. I noticed the same thing as Paula. In this scan, the lighting effect with the sunlight obscuring the background and backlighting the deer's ear, is greatly diminished.

    I know far less about animal anatomy than Christina, so I never noticed the problems with the deer's back. Sometimes in artwork (maybe particularly in fantasy artwork), the positives you bring to the piece: creativity in lighting, composition, use of color, the perfect expression, can outweigh the few nagging deficiencies. The red marks on the antlers in version 1 somehow made a lasting impression on me.

    Adding tags to your art would be a helpful tool in getting feedback. I'd like to see the three stages you've posted all at once. Your dedication to your drawing is inspiring —Keep it up!

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  5. Good point about the tags Chuck. I had been meaning to do a post on that but got bogged down in deadlines.

    You cannot sort posts on blogger easily through blogger author. Tags are a handy way to sort posts. For example, you should tag each post with your name if you are showing your artwork. That way, if someone just wants to se art by you, the can click the tag.

    In this case, a tag relating to the art like say "Hart" would bring up all the earlier posts so we could see the progress of the work (I admit I referenced the earlier posts.)

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  6. You are way ahead of the curve, Christina!

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  7. Thank you, guys, the feedback is wonderful. I'm not done yet, Chuck, I'll add some of that warmer hue into the antlers again. That red is an undercolour I use as a mother colour to unify the painting. Since it's a fairly bluish image I used the red-orange since, after the yellows, there will be a greenish cast to the painting. This way it neutralizes the colours a bit, too.

    I use the BLAST method when working:

    B - Big Brushes or large areas of value and hue.
    L - Large to small or general to specific.
    A - Accents last.
    S - Soften edges.
    T - Take your time (this is vital)

    Most of what you say about the lighting will be solved in the lasts steps when I add the brighter highlights and accents of colour to draw the eye and unify the piece. This is when you'll get that warmth in the antlers again. I could leave the red, which APPEARS red (but is really just an orange leaning to the reds) when next to the blues. If I left the reddish colour it would mean he's molting, which would be interesting. In hindsight I should not have scanned the other step the way I did, it wasn't totally true to the piece, but it gave the impression of light I will in the end achieve. So a bit of misguidance on my part, I apologize.

    I'll add the tags, too. Sorry, Christina, I didn't realize the tags would help you so much. I will make a post when I'm finished that features each step in succession, ascending.

    Thanks a lot for all the criticism. I can't tell you guys how much it means to have such wonderful artists spending so much time on my work. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for me. Thank you. My brain is soaking it all up like bread sopping up what's left of a sauce on a plate :P

    Justin

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  8. And, yeah, you're right, Chuck. Darryl K. Sweet is a perfect example of fantasy artists getting away with a lot. Same with John Howe. I think it also lends itself to a kind of folk art tradition, the idea that the essence is present, coupled with a high level of craftsmanship. And it's totally acceptable. I never really question these images. One thing I really admire is Mr. Sweet's colour. He establishes these areas of bright, pure colour that I find very appealing. My other illustratour friend hates it, though :P

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  9. I can't imagine why no one's posted the most obvious bit of advice: just create hart for hart's sake.

    (And really, that line should have come from Dave.)

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