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    Creative Composition- 25 Things WIP

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    • MirkaH
      MirkaH last edited by

      i love it. i am having some issues with scale in the middle ground. The girl is either too small, or the tent and surrounding are too big. Id adjust those just a little to give it more sense of depth.

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      • MirkaH
        MirkaH last edited by

        and to add a bit more to values, I would make the tree on the right dark, like foreground and the trees on the left as well. i think it would frame the piece nicely

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        • NoWayMe
          NoWayMe last edited by

          I really love the composition!

          I am glad you changed the log framing the salamander. It was a good idea in theory, but it looked like the log was hitting the salamander in the head!

          I think you're right that it's a little too dark overall.
          0_1497265506834_Capture d’écran 2017-06-12 à 08.02.53.png

          I opened it in photoshop added a curve adjustment layer on it and I simply used the "automatic" button and I feel it makes a good difference!

          For the sketch, I think you should do another more refine sketch before moving to color... At first I was usually starting my colors way to early because, like you, I didn't want to include the sketch in my final image so I thought it didn't matter. But everytime I ended up doing so much reworking and changing things which are a lot harder to fix in color. So now I usually do a rough sketch, rough value and rough color and then I clean up my sketch before starting the final color (usually I even go over my sketch twice... and each time I end up changing things and fixing problems I didn't see before)

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          • TessaW
            TessaW last edited by TessaW

            Thanks @MirkaH and @NoWayMe! I made the tent a bit smaller (the one on the right). Did I go far enough? I'm also going to refine the sketch more because I can see areas where I might have trouble painting out, like you were saying, @NoWayMe.

            I played around with different poses of the salamander and I'm lean more toward this new one on the right. What do you think? I'm thinking it gives it more action, like the salamander is on alert and is poised to run away if necessary.

            0_1497281159226_Salamander-pose.png

            Website: www.tessawrathall.com

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            Chip Valecek 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
            • Jon Anderson
              Jon Anderson SVS OG last edited by

              You're going in the right direction! I would echo the comments about the values. I struggle greatly with values so I know it's easier said than done but you're making good progress.

              instagram.com/jonandersonillu

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              • Chip Valecek
                Chip Valecek SVS Team SVS OG @TessaW last edited by

                @TessW I like the idea of the salamander about to run away. I would watch the arch in its back. A quick google search on salamanders doesn't show them with an arch like that, unless you are trying to show its curve in the body.


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                • MirkaH
                  MirkaH last edited by

                  The tent is better but now the salamander is smaller, which now again makes it out of proportion. I'd ease on the curve of the back and bring the size of it up again. I'd also move the squirrel up over to the left on the tree branch a bit. The three things in the picture make a straight line, girl, squirrel, salamander, and I'd stagger them to make the composition look more natural.

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                  • MirkaH
                    MirkaH last edited by

                    It seemed less obvious when the salamander was partially covered in the leaves.

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                    • TessaW
                      TessaW last edited by

                      Ok, worked on it more, taking your suggestions in mind. Still playing with the look of the squirrel and salamander and might tweak the anatomy of the girl. I thought I tweaked the arch of the salamander's back, but I must have got my layers mixed up.

                      0_1497371344095_sALAMANDER-WIP-copy.png

                      Website: www.tessawrathall.com

                      Instagram: www.instagram.com/tessawrathall_art/

                      ambiirae 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                      • ambiirae
                        ambiirae @TessaW last edited by

                        @TessW I love it there's so many little details and things to look at but the main focus still reads really well! I think you've done a great job with all the changes

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                        • tombarrettillo
                          tombarrettillo last edited by

                          Overall, I really like how this has changed from the beginning of the thread, but... If I might add my 2 cents...

                          I know this has mainly been about the values and all, but the thing that has really stuck out to me are the binoculars she is using. As close as she is to the action, binoculars aren't really needed. Maybe turn them into a camera.

                          also, it seems as if you added more detail to the background around the tent and cliff & bridge areas. To me, the bridge area work better with less detail, letting us know what is there, but not distracting from the foreground action. And the raccoon in the tree and rabbit(?) in the pot by the tent seem to distract as well. Not sure if you needed those to get to the 25 things, but they seem unnecessary to the story at large. Also, those clothes on the tent, again, add too much busy-ness.

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                          TessaW 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                          • TessaW
                            TessaW @tombarrettillo last edited by TessaW

                            Well, it's been a while since I worked on this piece. I was intimidated to start rendering, so I let it sit for a while. Coming back to it, I've played with the drawing a bit. Is there a version you like better?

                            @ambiirae Thanks!

                            @tombarrettillo said in Creative Composition- 25 Things WIP:

                            Overall, I really like how this has changed from the beginning of the thread, but... If I might add my 2 cents...

                            I know this has mainly been about the values and all, but the thing that has really stuck out to me are the binoculars she is using. As close as she is to the action, binoculars aren't really needed. Maybe turn them into a camera.

                            also, it seems as if you added more detail to the background around the tent and cliff & bridge areas. To me, the bridge area work better with less detail, letting us know what is there, but not distracting from the foreground action. And the raccoon in the tree and rabbit(?) in the pot by the tent seem to distract as well. Not sure if you needed those to get to the 25 things, but they seem unnecessary to the story at large. Also, those clothes on the tent, again, add too much busy-ness.

                            Thank you Tom! I guess I have a soft spot for little kids using binoculars. Have you ever noticed how they love playing with them to make them feel adventurous, even if they are totally using them wrong? I took your advice though, and tried some different options.

                            As far as the busy-ness goes, I hope to resolve that in the rendering stage. The spirit of the assignment is that you can have a lot of things going on in the piece, but you can still establish the focal points with color, values, textures,, etc. I will try to de-emphasize the areas you mentioned with less detail and contrast.

                            0_1499892361358_Untitled-1.jpg

                            Website: www.tessawrathall.com

                            Instagram: www.instagram.com/tessawrathall_art/

                            aska 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                            • aska
                              aska @TessaW last edited by

                              @tessw defenietly 1st one! I like their eye contact;)

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                              TessaW aska 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 1
                              • TessaW
                                TessaW @aska last edited by

                                @aska said in Creative Composition- 25 Things WIP:

                                @tessw defenietly 1st one! I like their eye contact;)

                                w or x? The one on the left or right? Sorry, just making sure we're on the same page.

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                                • Jon Anderson
                                  Jon Anderson SVS OG last edited by

                                  I like "x" better than the others.

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                                  • aska
                                    aska @aska last edited by

                                    @aska its W

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                                    • Jason Kilthau
                                      Jason Kilthau last edited by

                                      This is amazing work, and I can't wait to see the final result. However I am going to go with Y out of the last 4 you have posted here, mostly because I like the girl looking away. It just makes me wonder what else there is too see. But that is just me.

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                                      • MOO
                                        MOO SVS OG @TessaW last edited by

                                        @tessw If you want to highlight the girl and squirrel while it is evening, I think that A or B work best. C zones in on the squirrel. The last two don't feel separated enough from the rest of the composition, the emphasis seems to be more on the end of the log..oh wait! It's the squirrel and the salamander so, I choose E. The rest of them, the salamander doesn't stand out much at all.

                                        Marsha Ottum Owen

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                                        • tombarrettillo
                                          tombarrettillo last edited by

                                          I vote for X, but with a camera. : )

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                                          Tyson Ranes 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                                          • Tyson Ranes
                                            Tyson Ranes @tombarrettillo last edited by

                                            @tombarrettillo excellent idea
                                            I was struggling trying to imagine what it was that the lil girl could be doing to better tell a story The net made more sense for butterflies and the binoculars more so for something not as close and enclosed. I think the camera concept nails it! I think it's a great concept.

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