Slowvember progress.

braden H

@MichaelaH I friggin' love autumn

braden H

@xin-li Sometimes I just paint overtop with whatever colour i want, too This one though I like as is.

xin li

@Braden-Hallett thanks for the explaintion. Hmm. Your colorize layer does not look muddy or overly saturated. I do that as well, I often having a hard time with colorizing, because it feels a bit random. I eventually got something I satisfied, but it feels like a guessing game for me. I think I will just do more of paint overtop with whatever color :-).

braden H

Sketch!

I think I redrew that friggin' mouse rider at least 12 times.

braden H

Hyah!

jdubz

Being 100% honest, I like the silhouette of the mouse rider's head/hat area much better that you had in the color value test. Just looking at them side by side the shapes looks a lot stronger at first glance.

Trying to come up with a technical reason for that, maybe the hat is taking my eye too far to the right and out of the image?

Curious how others feel about it or if it was just me.

braden H

@jdubz I absolutely agree! I much prefer the original silhouette.

I spent a good hour drawing and redrawing and redrawing and couldn't get it to look right, so I decided to move forward with an option that worked 'okay'.

I'm gonna try redrawing the mouserider so that it more closely follows the original sihl, though.

braden H

Redid an idea and used the colours I'm planning on using for the slowvember piece as well as the process that I've worked out.

xin li

Beautiful color. also I started to notice your unique way of paint cloud in the background

chrisaakins

@Braden-Hallett How are you so prolific at this? Do you have a job/family responsibilities or is this your full time work? I am amazed at your work ethic and passion (as well as your art). I'd be interested in knowing what a typical Braden Hallett day looks like.

braden H

@xin-li I do like drawin' them clouds

@chrisaakins I saved up some money when I was working as a teacher in the butt-end of nowhere BC. Right now I have no responsibilities, so I'm doing this full time I wake up at 5:00, work from 6:30 - 9:30, then 10:00 to 11:30, and then 1:30 to 3:00. So a good 6 hours of drawing minimum. Then I fit in some sketching and whatever I feel like for the rest of the evening.

braden H

Second process and colour test.

braden H

Rough paint. Throwin' colour around. Pretty much ready to settle in and paaaaaaaaaaint away. Hooray!

@jdubz I resketched and reinked the mouse rider a few more times. For some strange reason this was still the best option of the inked versions both for sense of movement and silh. I still love the original silhouette, though

Chip Valecek

@Braden-Hallett said in Slowvember progress.:

I have no responsibilities

Man am I jealous!!! I wish I would have done something like that. I'm lucking to get an hour a day to do art with crazy ass job and crazy ass family LOL.

braden H

@Chip-Valecek It is both fun and terrifying :smiling_face_with_open_mouth_cold_sweat: But better to try it earlier rather than later

braden H

I think I'm ready to paint away. Huzzah!

KaraDaniel

@Braden-Hallett This is fantastic. I want to read my kids this story!

braden H

@KaraDaniel Thanks I'm getting a lot out of this project

KathrynAdebayo

Braden, this is awesome! I love the characters and the adventures they’re having. Especially Charlie and mouse! I know this is late in the game, so feel free to ignore, but just thought I’d offer the observation that, at least for me, my eye is drawn to the spot where the wing, hill and fence touch. Thank you for sharing. I love this.

Neha Rawat

@Braden-Hallett Wow! Brilliant work! I love love LOVE how you've documented all your research and practice. Thank you so much for that!
I really love the coolness of the sky with the warmth of the field and the characters and the super dynamic poses.

I'd like to share a few thoughts (these are some nitty gritties because with a wonderful piece like this, that's all you can find!)

The angle at which the hat is flying based on the distance from the kid doesn't seem realistic. If it has flown of the kids head, it would be rotated about 120 degrees clockwise (almost upturned)
I'm not sure what the shadow is of the rabbits chin at bottom left but it's creating an assumed tangent line along the fence and is a little distracting.
And I agree with @KathrynAdebayo about the eye being drawn to the spot where the wing, hill and fence touch. Unless that's intentional, I feel it would be nicer to have some space around the tip of the wing.

Wonderful piece! Your work is an inspiration!