Slowvember: Macbeth. Feedback on thumbnails

[robgale]

Hello everyone!

I've been really trying to take things slow as per @Lee-White 's Slowvember prompting. I spent the entire first week just thinking about what I wanted to do, concepts, and looking at other people's work and reading but no drawing (on this project at least). Then last week I spent just working out thumbnails and then moving into these bigger thumbnail comps.

I have realized that one of my biggest problems these days is trying to get things done TOO fast... way too fast. Slowvember is the perfect exercise for me as I build out my portfolio.

I'm thinking of this project as poster for Macbeth.

I am now in the mode of trying to decide which direction to take things. I would love to know:

A. Which one you like best and why
B. Thoughts on how well these read compositionally, if there is anywhere I could improve the composition
C. Any other thoughts or feedback is very much appreciated!

Thank you!

[chrisaakins]

@robgale I think 3 is by far your strongest composition and for me, it captures the essence of Macbeth. It has a really nice contrast with the values. In fact, I think that you could push your blacks more on some of the other pieces and they would read great as compositions. I especially like the hand print one but it needs some more contrast. Although I think the color of the red would totally fix it. These look great though and I look forward to see how they play out.

[braden H]

No woods of Dunsinane reference?

A - I'm a fan of number 3. There's something about the real stark contrast between his bear and face.

B - Compositionally I like 1 and 5 the best. The others seem to put a lot of the action dead centre (tough not to do with a poster, though.) For option 3 I would macbeth up so that his eyes are resting on the top third. You could even have the crown stretching off the page in a neat tim burton-esque shape of madness.

C - I'm lovin' the super simple 3 value breakdown. Awesome awesome

I'm lookin' forward to how it goes from here

[Rachel Horne]

I agree, I'm also always working super fast so I've enjoyed slowing down a lot too.
I also love number 3, it stood out for me straight away although I'd be interested to see how number 2 develops, I really like the composition here.

[bugeyefly]

@Rachel-Horne this was my thought too. I'd try pushing #2 around.

[Oriana Fernandez]

@robgale
Great stuff here!
A. I am really captivated and drawn towards #3, there's something raw yet definitive and real about it. The contrast in #3 is reading well, visually. I would look into #2 and #4; they have the same character play of Macbeth and the three witches and blood (and gore). I would love to see how this would play out with details of background and foreground in place. Both combined would have potential!
B. All the thumbnails and scenes read well. There is a clear focus and contrast at play. So no complaints there!
C. Can't wait to see the final piece! Kudos! And may the Force be with you!
D. I recall Macbeth figuring in the old Brit comedy, Blackadder (few lines from wikipedia follow): Blackadder torments the actors by having them repeatedly perform the painful Macbeth ritual (which comically consists of them playing pattycake and chanting "Hot potato, orchestra stalls, Puck will make amends!" before squeezing each other's nose).

[Kevin Longueil]

@robgale These are great! 3 is very striking - it evokes Goya's Los Disparates. Number 1 is nice too - for some reason i want see the dagger straight up and down and not pointing diagonally toward the corner...maybe to make it more of a graphic style?? ...not sure - 4 is a great concept too - evokes Kurosawa's Macbeth "Throne of Blood" ..... so i guess 3,1 and 4 ...but mostly 3

[KaraDaniel]

I like 2 and 3...I'm not familiar with the story of Macbeth but now I'm interested to learn more especially what those three witches are all about.

[Fossi Images]

I really like 2 & 5. I love the comp of 5, and I think they both portray the most information about the story, and I've always been a fan of the weird sisters. I'd like to see lady macbeth incorporated into one, or maybe more options with her, as she is pretty integral as well.

To me, lady macbeth and the three sisters were representations of manifestations of greed, envy, etc in Macbeth's head. Not in a sixth sense way, but a symbolism way.

[Chip Valecek]

Can't really add much more that hasnt already been said, but number 3 is my favorite.

[phoenix yip]

Great job! My favorite is 2 and 4, I like the contrast and emphasis you put in them.

[sigross]

@robgale I think the expression of Macbeth in 3 is great. Looks like he's having a tough time at the King game. But I also like the idea of Lady Macbeth (in 1) being in the picture as she is the key villainous manipulator of the whole downfall.

[xin li]

I love the thumbnail #5, love the storytelling in this image. The composition is very interesting as it is now. I would work it out more with a couple more thumbnail variations based on the same idea. For the witches in the background, I will push it to be less symetrical. I will also experiment with where the line dividing black background and white background should be - I will avoid letting the line to be too close to the center for this particular image.

[robgale]

@chrisaakins Fantastic! That's exactly the kind of feedback I was looking for! Thank you.

[robgale]

@Braden-Hallett Thanks for the feedback! I hear what you're saying about the action in the dead center, and I'm totally going to play with that idea of the crown stretching!

[robgale]

@bugeyefly @Rachel-Horne Thank you both for the feedback! I like that throne in the center thing too, maybe I'll play with that a bit more... slow is the name of the game right!

[robgale]

@Oriana-Fernandez Thanks for the feedback! I like the idea of playing with 2 and 4 some more and maybe combining them. I had to youtube the Blackadder bit! Hah! Love it.

[robgale]

@Kevin-Longueil Thanks for the feedback! Agree on the dagger straight up and down on #1. Throne of Blood is basically what led me to Macbeth in the first place, so I suppose the influence sneaks in. I'm working on another piece based on Ran, so I didn't want to do 2 Kurosawa takes on Shakespeare.

[robgale]

@KaraDaniel @Fossi-Images @Chip-Valecek @sigross @xin-li Thanks everyone for the feedback! I feel like everyone's feedback has really encouraged me to stay in this thumbnailing world even longer, even though #3 seems to be the clear winner (for now). I was half expecting I was going to move into the drawing stage, but I feel like there are still some fun things to play around with thumbnailing.

@KaraDaniel I'm no Shakespeare expert, but I've been trying to read more classics and so I thought, why not paint what I'm reading. It's been a lot of fun and because I'm trying to interpret it into a painting, I definitely pay more attention.

@Fossi-Images @sigross Definitely get what you both are saying about trying to get Lady Macbeth in there. In a way, they're almost like two parts of the same character and equally important. I'll have to play with that.

@xin-li I see what you mean. I kind of did #5 and thought it was an interesting idea and then I didn't really work it as much as some of the other ones. Definitely worth a revisit.

[Rachel Horne]

@robgale exactly! I'd be really interested to see how it turns out.