November 3rd Thursday - Poe sketches
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@Dulcie Wow. Great concepts here. I too am a fan of the cat, but I also really, really like number 3 as well.
The tree is stunning, but I'd maybe connect the facial features to the tree somehow or make them out of falling leaves or something so that it looks like nature has made it happen and that exact point or just that nature made it instead of it being a tree and a face. If the face looked like it was made out of tree bark it'd really sell the image. Or, and I don't know if you were thinking of adding colour or not, but if there was a fire or something behind the tree and the wood that's making the features makes it look like a pumpkin in that way.
I don't know, just throwing out ideas but the cat pose is dynamic and stunning and iI love the dark simplicity of the last one too.
Ace
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I like each idea but favor the first idea the most.
Edgar doesn't quite come off as a likeness but idea is very strong. What if the cat's tail was pointing at the title rather than curling back at the tree?You have some great sketches here. I really like your style. I'm anxious to see where you take these ideas!
Rob
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I enjoy the first one the most because I think the concept and image are stronger.
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Thanks everyone for the feedback, that’s really helpful! Looks like I will have to go with idea no.1 then
@Rich-Green Thanks for the positivity
@Kevin-Longueil I know what you mean about the woodcut style, I agree that would be a good way to develop it. I just know it will be fiddly and detailed and I’m gonna get frustrated with it….actually I think you or @Sarah-LuAnn would do a great job with a similar sketch, you’re both so good at getting the detail right
@Thrace-Shirley-Mears - Thank you!
Whoops about the spelling, will fix that…@mattramsey It’s nice to have one vote for the cat
Yeah I’m sure there are issues with the tree, I will have to address those next…@Ace-Connell Thanks for the thoughts and ideas, appreciate it
Yeah I did wonder about fitting the portrait within the tree and making it more integrated and bark-like, didn’t want to do anything too much like @Kevin-Longueil’s recent pieces though. So I thought the head could be like a corpse coming out of the ground in front of the tree…I think it’s not obvious though so I need to fix that.@Rob-Smith Thank you, that’s a good idea with the cat’s tail, will see if that works better
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@Dulcie Dulcie don't let what anyone did recently stop you from trying it - the anthropomorphic tree has been done thousands of times i'm sure - i had never done it until last month and it was fun and challenging trying - everything has been done so we are free to do whatever we want - i don't think there are any egos on this site either so i don't think anyone should worry about doing similar themes - i would love to se Poe coming out of the bark of that tree too!
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Thanks @Kevin-Longueil for the encouragement to try the tree idea - glad you don't mind
Knowing that almost everything has been done already, it's sort of deflating but also liberating at the same time. I will see what works best, might try both a corpse version and a tree version... -
Here's an update...hoping I have made some progress...or should that be Poegress? I was planning to break out my dip pen and ink for this, but I was having too much fun with the digital ink.
I thought about making Poe really tree-like, but I'm not sure how to do it without ruining the portrait...and now I've done it I see him as a sort of corpse mushroom growing from the ground. I do need to finesse the underground spirits though.
Also not sure whether to add any colour....
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This is god damn gorgeous! Well done @dulcie!
The biggest strength to me is the mood - you've really captured it!
Ace
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I have loved this since you first shared the original concept sketch and it is absolutely the perfect amount of creepy and delightful!
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I think this is such a great piece! What if Poe's hair melded and flowed with the tree texture? Your drawing just keeps getting better. If you were to color it I would stay with a muted limited palette.
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I thought it might look good on off white paper. What do you think?
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LOVE this one
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@Ace-Connell and @Rich-Green Thank you
@Rob-Smith Thanks! I like the idea of the hair melding and flowing with the tree, I’ll try to do that a bit more. I agree also about muted palette.
@Thrace-Shirley-Mears Great idea I will try that! It takes the edge off the white but not too colourful either.
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Updated version...I tried to be subtle with the changes, hope I went far enough.
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@Dulcie Yup... I'm a big fan
Ace
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@Dulcie Looks so good!!! Great work!!!
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@Dulcie I like your cover. I can really imagine it on a bookshelf. 3 little things are bothering me.
- hill on the left is cut off.
- Tree on the left seems like was cut shrunken because there was not enough space. (original version with just half of the tree works better imho)
- I dont like how the title "the COMPLETE short stories" is written. Just a gut feeling, Also I am not a native speaker, but is "of" ever used? I thought it is always "by E.A.POE".
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Thanks @Jiří-Kůs, all good points. I'll crop a bit of that left side off, but allowing room for bleed I should fix those things anyway. I will have a think to see if I can do the title better.
I didn't think too deeply about the exact wording, to be honest....going a quick google, I think 'of' is permissible in this case, because there are other books like that. But perhaps I could phrase it better....will have a think.
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This has turned very nice! I really like the feel of this cover.
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Hi @Dulcie as you know I think this piece is really fantastic. The one thing I keep seeing when I look at it is this: the house appears to be leaning or sinking in towards the viewer. The perspective is off -for example on the back roof I do not think it should be drawn with such a slant down towards the tree - it would actually be almost horizontal from the angle the view is at. With the current slant it makes it appear the farther side of the house is taller than the side we are facing and therefore it looks like its leaning. And the same is true for the entryway - you would not see the top edge of the far side of its roof from this position. Hopefully this makes sense.
