Dec. 3rd | Restart - Thumbs

Lydia M

I like this idea because it's original. I didn't get what you were going for immediately however. Santa's hands pouring the syrup are small and at the bottom edge of the page. The grossed-out reindeer (who I can identify with!) is capturing all my attention. I think a tighter view of him with Santa would help.

Thrace

@AWall really clever!!

AWall

I plan to have the two reindeer making faces as having already received the medicine. The closest one will just be blah and sick.

I'm hoping that the warm lighting I have planned from the lantern and the cool/dark lighting from the moonlight will help direct the eye.

Does everyone feel I should just focus on one reindeer and santa and steer away from the stable idea? So far I'm not ready to give up on it at this stage but will change if its not working come toning stage....

mattramsey

@AWall If you are on the fence you can certainly paint the entire scene and then check it afterward.

It's easier to crop down than expand out if that makes sense.

Naroth Kean

@AWall I like the idea. I thought having the deers with thermometer in their mouth, warm towel over their head, and Santa with stethoscope can add more about them being sick. I hope this helps.

bharris

Great tongue! I love the reindeer making faces at him, animals really do that behind our backs!

Rich Green

@AWall I am looking forward to seeing how this turns out and what sort of painting style you go with. As there is something about this that also feels like it could be from a classic holiday themed advertisement with the illustration and tag line for the cough medicine!

AWall

Thanks for everyone's feedback! I disappeared on holidays for a little while but I'll be putting everything mentioned to use.

AWall

Update:

Lee White

Hi Amanda,

Your sketch work and process is very nice. I can see you have good control of your lines and a good feel for building up your work in a sketch. Lovely!

Now, time for my maybe not-so-easy-to-take crit. I think that this image is perfectly serviceable and if a client asked you to do this, they'd probably be happy with it. But as a "blue sky" type image where you can create something on your own, I feel like it's WAY too safe. Once I look at it and get the concept, I can't help but think it's sort of just there. I would never come back to it as an illustration. These projects are meant for pushing your portfolio work. So, with this sketch in your back pocket already, I would go for some more eye catching concepts.

The easy way to do this at the beginning of a project is to really try an pitch 3-5 solid ideas. There is nothing more dangerous than having just one. So this may take quite a few sketches and maybe 20-30 initial ideas (or more).

I'm very excited to see more from you and see how you take your images to paint.

Let me know if you have questions at all. : )

AWall

@Lee-White

Thanks for the feedback. The kind words are appreciated and the tough words even more so.

Still working on some solid ideas. I find Christmas related illustrations so tough. There is a lot of regurgitation of concepts and imagery in general.