The moment before - April WIP

@Aleksey I would heighten the fox, bend the tree slightly to be in line with the wood mice. For me, the Fox needs a bit more of an intimidating pose. A lot more threatening, just to add to the sense of anticipation. I'd maybe even have him a little closer to the wood mice, so you could ramp up the emotion and that sense of anticipation a lot more. This might be a narrative issue for me, but I would remove the tree house and have them hiding in a random tree in a distressed bit of the forrest. Could add more to the tension? The house might be a 'give away' e.g. the fox would spot the letter box or see that this tree was lived in...I know Im getting super technical (!!!) I love how the bigger mouse is pushing the younger mouse back to protect him. Great piece so far.

ArtofAleksey

@lovetherobot great feedback ty

burvantill

I really like the wood cut look of your line work.
I am in awe of the length of that Fox tail.
The white space to the right of the tree is bugging me.
What if you cropped it out and brought that foxes head closer to the front as if he is hovering just outside the mice’s sight. Bring all the suspense right in close.

Jon Anderson

I really like the concept of the illustration. I know you might be pretty well invested at this point but what if you moved the camera to the left and even down more after that. Have the fox a little closer like he's midway coming around the tree. Shifting the camera puts them all it 3/4 view and having the fox rounding the tree breaks up that dividing line a bit. If you drop the camera angle too the worms eye view makes the fox very imposing. Hope that gives you some ideas to help.

ArtofAleksey

@burvantill
@Jon-Anderson

Yes actually you’re making me think about this more creatively rather than 2 dimentionally. I’m going to play around with it a bit to see if i can make it look more dynamic and interesting.

Erin.Cortese

@Aleksey Great build up of tension!

braden H

@Aleksey I suppose when in doubt, you can always use reference Whenever I do a 'hiding from the bad guy' pic I can't help but think of Lord of the rings.

Both Mr. Jackson and Mr. Bakshi know their stuff!

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This one by John Howe's pretty cool, too

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steph_artist

I'm really enjoying this image! What if you have the fox a little closer or have the spear just right about to touch the mice?

ArtofAleksey

@Braden-Hallett i was actually just thinking about these scenes! Ty for the images

ArtofAleksey

I was trying to do a low angle shot from the point of view of the mousies. I might lose the clouds. I’m trying to use the trees as a way to make the view more dynamic.

MichaelaH

@Aleksey I really like the last version, there is more tension, great composition. Maybe I would make the mice bigger.

djly

I prefer the most recent version as well. You are getting a more dynamic composition by changing it to this angle.

I do agree with @MichaelaH about the size of the mice. Or it seems to me that the hole has some unused space that you could either show maybe the foreground of the cave or add a bit more interest so that it isn't completely black.

ArtofAleksey

Good point I should make the mousies bigger. The black space in the tree hollow I’m using to contrast with the white mice. I wanna make all this in ink. I might leave it in black and white with tones of sepia in the back.

burvantill

Ooo. I like where this is going.

ArtofAleksey

Chipping away at it. The orange is a place holder

ArtofAleksey

Ok so this was what I was thinking. I’m gonna attempt this on paper next. Any feedback?

Ooooh love it that mouse with the glasses is amazing, i love him haha! The way you've framed the fox too is brilliant, i can't wait to see this in colour!

MichaelaH

@Aleksey You did so well with the last composition, I like it a lot.

burvantill

Wow, this is looking great!

braden H

@Aleksey Nice! I think the sepia ink'll look really cool!

I almost want to se the fox looking not quite at the mice (up and away, maybe?) to show that he hasn't QUITE found them yet, but that may put his foxy face at an awkward angle to draw. Super nitpicky thing looks really cool so far. I get a wood-cut vibe from it.

Also, the little mouse skulls hanging off the spear is an awesome detail. a DARK awesome detail, but an awesome detail!

OOH! have the spear tip end in that nice empty space between the foxes paws instead of over his bracer. Stronger silhouette that way I think.

Lookin' forward to the finished version!