Kamari Concepts-Which one?

@kirsten-mcg I like number 1, the composition is more dynamic and exciting. My eye is drawn to it.

kirsten-mcg

Progress. Finished sketch and color studies.

Asyas_illos

@kirsten-mcg these look great, could you maybe try a blue toned background? It would lend to fact that were sad because it died and go nicely with the warm tones.

Chantal Goetheer

@kirsten-mcg nice! They both look good. In the purple background the characters blend more into the background and are not so obvious in their sadness. I like the suggestion of blue of @Asyas_illos . The green gives a more retro feel but also not much sadness

ArtistErin

@kirsten-mcg I love the Phoenix concept! It's easiest to understand and you are doing great so far with color

kirsten-mcg

@Asyas_illos THat's true! I've been trying to keep too much blue out of my artwork, because in the past I've had a tendency to use it too much. But you're right that this time there's a good reason for it!

kirsten-mcg

@ArtistErin I'm so glad to hear that my concept comes across! I've been a little worried about that part.

MarcRobinson

@kirsten-mcg liking the way this is going! Idea... Maybe try and keep the background elements cool in colour temperature. This'll help the warm phoenix glow better. On the two colour comps you've got the whole image quite warm, and it'd be a shame for such a great creature design to not pop off the page.

kirsten-mcg

@MarcRobinson Good point! I'm working on a blue version right now to see how I like it. That would definitely cool things down.

Sarah VanDam

@MarcRobinson I agree. Maybe more of a sapphire blue or blue-green base

kirsten-mcg

Started working on this version in blue. I’m liking the color combo with the warm phenix colors.

Chantal Goetheer

@kirsten-mcg indeed the combination looks great! Could you make those brown edges on walls, stairs and paintings more a blue tinted type of brown? Now they steel too much of my attention from the Phoenix.

kirsten-mcg

@Chantal-Goetheer I've been playing with the color of those quite a bit. Still haven't hit on something I'm completely happy with. I'll try a more blue shade and see how it looks. Thanks!

mzameckaart

@kirsten-mcg I think a phoenix is a very clever idea for this prompt!
For some reason I really liked the green background, but the blue one will also work well.
Maybe the cage should be bigger? Or was the previous incarnation smaller than this one?

Miriam

@kirsten-mcg This is looking great! I really like the blue & agree with @kirsten-mcg that it would be good to tone down the browns.

I'm not very good with colors, but maybe you could try lowering the saturation on the brown? (more like the edges of the rug)

kirsten-mcg

@mzameckaart When I asked my family about half of them like the green! I think it's just personal color preference. I'll check the size of the cage. Thanks for noticing that!

Asyas_illos

I tried going over everything but the Phoenix and kids with a low opacity aqua color to see how it looked. I think a more orange based brown for the woodworking could help too, it’d be less contrast-y if it were a tad lighter

kirsten-mcg

Just about finished. I still need to add my watercolor texture, but I like to save that for vert last as I have to flatten all my layers first. I might try another version in more of an aqua color like @Asyas_illos suggested. Finding the right color for the wood is just killing me! What do you think @Miriam @mzameckaart @Chantal-Goetheer @MarcRobinson @Stephanie-H and @LittleRaven ?

Chantal Goetheer

@kirsten-mcg the background is taking much less attention now and the Phoenix is popping out much more, so good job!

MarcRobinson

@kirsten-mcg I like it a lot. I particularly like the pattern textures on the floor and steps which add a lot of visual interest.