February contest WIP - nightfall

[braden H]

Are you going to have the human characters in any of these? Showing the fear in anticipation of the coyote about to run off with the blanket or shock at the spraying stars?

[Aaron_T]

@Braden-Hallett Yeah, maybe. I’m not sure the actual story involves any fear per se, but I don’t want to rule it out if it helps.

@TessaW Thanks for the feedback...I had some time in between meetings to flesh out that idea a bit. Still need to work out the blanket so it looks less like sushi and more like a Native American blanket. Still not in love with it but we’ll see.

[Aaron_T]

Not sure this tells enough of the story, but man it was fun to draw!

[chrisaakins]

@Aaron_T Cool concept! It looks very dynamic too with the diagonal coyote. What if you made the stars and such more of a night sky at the bottom? THey kind of just look like sparkles rather than stars. Maybe put the moon and planets in there??? Just trying to brainstorm.

[Melanie Ortins]

I really like the composition of the bottom one, the diagonal and overhead view helps make it a lot more dynamic! I agree that you could add more stars in the background or a moon to emphasize the night sky feel and possibly up the texture in the sky a bit more since I didn't notice it at first.

[Aaron_T]

Thanks @Braden-Hallett and @Melanie-Ortins,
The trick is that in this POV we’re looking down at the coyote as he runs off with the blanket, so its the ground that we see in the background. Maybe if I put some plants or rocks on the ground it would be more obvious, but I wasn’t sure if this angle was going to roll or not.

I did want to try the same scene but from below, in which case I could add the stars and moon and such in there, since I really am liking the way the blanket full of stars/dust is coming out, but a below view of a dog running/flying by seems kind of unappealing. Unless I put him way off in the distance, which I might try next.

Tried doing a more horizontal view of the same scene but I don’t really like it. Might rework the coyote a bit more to see if that’s the issue:

[Aaron_T]

I dunno guys...I’m really starting to like this version. Still don’t think it tells enough of the story without having text in the image, but I might be okay with that.

Lightened:

[NicolaSchofield]

@Aaron_T this was my favourite of the thumbnails and it looks great drawn out. I prefer the previous version though. I'm not sure if it's the angle ( running bottom left to right top), the simplicity (no plants, etc.) or the contrast (the new version feels a little dark and it's less easy to see what's happening).

I think it reads fine as an overhead view and it's really interesting to see it from that angle when the image is about the sky! I think as @chrisaakins and @Melanie-Ortins suggested, you could still fade out to more realistic looking night sky at the edge of the blanket. I know we are looking down but essentially the milky way is being created here so we could still see it before it flies up into the sky? Maybe just something to try to see if you like it.

[Aaron_T]

@neschof Thanks for the comments! The first time I posted that from above I did have to lighten it up in Photoshop… For some reason things on my iPad come out very dark when I export them. I lightened up a second version and posted it above.

It really is interesting how the direction of the coyote impacts the implied meaning. I simply rotating the canvas it gives it almost a different feel. As I’m drawing I keep spinning it around and feel like I could almost go with any direction… Except bottom right to top left. For some reason that one just strikes me as odd

[Aaron_T]

I had an idea while sitting in traffic on my commute home tonight, and because I must be some sort of masochist I decided to see if I could make a stronger image from an idea that’s supposed to be funny. Here’s where I am now...text will be something along the lines of either “they were right here!” Or “get the fire going, I’m freezing” etc. either way, had some fun with this one tonight.

Looks super dark on the iPad tonight, might try to lighten it up and repost from photoshop tomorrow.

[carlianne]

@Aaron_T It's too dark on my screen too, I can't tell what's happening.

[Aaron_T]

@carlianne Sitting in a dark room, drawing on a dim screen, I could see everything. Click on the forum to post it and I feel like I was blinded by the insane white background

I lightened up the image in the previous post but it’s still dark on here until you click on the image and open it in a new window. Depending on the browser it’s a dark background or a light one.

[Aaron_T]

[Kim Hunter]

I like #9 the best. I love the use of a traditionally patterned star blanket and the movement from the horizon upward mimics the darkness rising off the eastern horizon as night falls. The angle, not only looks good, it also mimics the patterns of clouds, coloring in the sky as it darkens. Very nice all around.

[carlianne]

@Aaron_T cool! Just wanted you to know that it wasn't just you.

For the record I kinda like your wolf with the blanket more. You can always add the text to it if you feel like it is needed.

[Aaron_T]

@carlianne @Kim-Hunter Yeah, thanks folks. I just had this image in my mind and felt like I needed to flesh it out.