December contest WIP as is tradition. Feedback always appreciated :)

[braden H]

I'm much happier with this one so far. I'm gonna make a few more tweaks with the colour and value (and I'll be doing some design exploration on the granny) but I much prefer the candlelight and the lightbulb off to the side

[Heather Boyd]

@Braden-Hallett only one tangent I see Braden is where her ladyships knuckle matches with the crown moulding on the floor.

[braden H]

@Heather-Boyd It absolutely does! Her ladyship must rectify the situation

Thank you for the catch!

[Heather Boyd]

@Braden-Hallett that and the picture frame corner hitting the light ray - I was rushing to get to the live critique.

[braden H]

I think I'm almost ready to start painting. Thanks everyone for the feedback so far!

I'd love some specific feedback at this point if anyone cares to do me a solid

-Do the colours feel harmonious?
-Is the purple poison bottle too overpowering and does it look like a half full translucent bottle?
-Does the bottom scene look like a dark room and is granny's skin colour too warm (I like the super red nose, but understand if it's too much)

Thanks again for the feedback! I can't imagine doin' something like this without help

[ZeeZeeMonster]

@Braden-Hallett I love where you're going with this one. The super red nose is a bit nuch, it almost looks like it's glowing by itself . . . but I wouldn't get red of that color altogether, since it helps to connect the room below with the attic above (my two cents)

[KathrynAdebayo]

Hi Braden! As usual, I love this piece. Your creativity is really at a whole other level, and to me it’s phenomenal.

As I’ve been admiring your work in progress, it came to mind that the bed looked really close to the ceiling, like she was on a top bunk, but this dear old lady doesn’t strike me as the youthful type who would climb up a ladder to get to bed every night. I’ve never done a paint over before because I suppose I never thought myself in the tier of artists professional enough for that sort of thing, but then I remembered my first ever SVS forum thread where someone did a draw over of my WIP, and it meant a lot that they took the time to do that. So, here is an attempt to pay it forward and to share some ideas that came to mind for perhaps making your composition look a little more natural. Also, it occurred to me that the light rays might be coming through the floor boards if they’re making stripes on dear lady’s face like that, and that they would probably come down in perspective from an approximate-floor-board distance apart.

All the best, and thanks for sharing your process.

[Heather Boyd]

@KathrynAdebayo This brings a lot more of the warmth down along with the addition of the light reflected off of the lightbulb.

[braden H]

@JoannaH I'll tone it down a tad! Thanks for the feedback

[braden H]

@KathrynAdebayo said in December contest WIP as is tradition. Feedback always appreciated :

but this dear old lady doesn’t strike me as the youthful type

m'lady was once a well-renowned olympic gymnast. Vaulting into a bed 6 feet off the ground every night keeps her spry (and away from the murderous mice) :smiling_face_with_open_mouth_closed_eyes: joking

I like a lot of what you did with the drawover! Thanks so much for that (I know they take time). The lady looks much more at home in your drawover and gives more room for bedroom props (dressers, more traps, etc) I'll totally incorporate that. I'm not sure why I was stuck on a larger lady compositionally, but this does look better

Those rays of light may get axed overall. With the flashlight they made a lot of sense, but less so with the canlde. Though your drawover's given me some ideas on how to keep them

Thanks so much again! All this feedback is gonna make one heck of a portfolio piece (I hope, lol)!

[aprilshin]

@Braden-Hallett I love seeing your process, Braden! Thank you for sharing it with us because it helps me learn, too. I love that you changed the flashlight to a candle and that the lightbulb was moved to the side, and that the master plan drawing was changed to a simple bottle of poison. It makes the story clear and easy to read!

I thought it would be a fun detail to add like a cup of water next to her on a nightstand to show where they would put the poison. Or somehow show that they've already put poison in her cup.

Amazing work as always!

[KathrynAdebayo]

@Braden-Hallett Oh of course! She certainly looks dedicated enough to be a gymnast. You could show her vaulting pole in the corner . Haha...

I see what you mean about the candle vs. flashlight. Looking forward to seeing what you do. And I like the glass of water idea mentioned above.

[braden H]

@aprilshin said in December contest WIP as is tradition. Feedback always appreciated :

thought it would be a fun detail to add like a cup of water next to her on a nightstand to show where they would put the poison

That is an aewsome idea! I'll see what I can do to fit that in during the sketch! I may keep my secondary story to the cat paintings, we'll see.

If I could go back in time I'd build that glass of water in along with a set of stolen dentures in the mouse realm, lol. Thank you for the input!

[braden H]

I think it's time to start sketching Now I get to play around with character design and stuff.

The reason I did such a detailed mini painting before even doing the sketch is because it's on the colour and light (and therefore the value) stage that I always fall flat and get frustrated. I'm trying to move that stage of frustration up in my process so that it happens when I'm still very rough so I can play around with major changes and crazy lighting in a fairly non destructive manner.

And now I can look over at the minipainting and go 'remember, it's supposed to look like THAT'. Keeps me reigned in.

Thanks again for everyone's input so far

[deborah Haagenson]

@Braden-Hallett I like the move of the light bulb! I'm wondering if you need her large right hand. Couldn't it be under the covers? Maybe There is a good reason to have it there and I'm just missing it.

[braden H]

@deborah-Haagenson She's holding her hand up to her ear to better hear the murderous mice

[deborah Haagenson]

@Braden-Hallett Oh, I like that. I would absolutely leave her hand there, now that I see that!!

[NicolaSchofield]

@Braden-Hallett I can't help but imagine that she is the farmer's wife (with her carving knife) and that this plan by the mice is fated to go disastrously wrong giving us the origin story of the three blind mice

[cortney mahone]

@Braden-Hallett this is so cool, I love the description In the upper right image lol, can’t wait to see it finished

[braden H]

Sketch! Down to the wire. Got a day and a half. But at least the hard parts are all figured out