Collaboration!!!

[kaitlinmakes]

Haha ok - if you post it on the forums in a new thread for feedback, I promise I won't look. Pinky promise.

[burvantill]

Done!
This collaboration project with @kaitlinmakes definitely challenged my comfort zone. She drew a dynamic picture and I had to not ef it up. I am happy with the end result. We had planned on showing our finished works at the end of February, but Miss Kaitlin got to go on vacation so we have put off the reveal until now. I have not seen how Kaitlin has finished my raccoons yet. I was told last night that she has finished so she should post it soon .
Here are the Mammoths:

[kaitlinmakes]

@burvantill I just absolutely love these elephants and look forward to either hanging the finished piece on my wall, or getting a print of it up there.
I think the way you handled it really showcases the emergency of the environment - not only does the light of the fire reach out into the waves of the ocean to press this - but your choice to go monochromactic (sp?) really engulfs (lol, thats a fire joke) the whole image in the intensity of the event - which is what I wanted when I went into drawing it - what else would be powerful enough to drive animals into the unknown? I apologize for throwing this to you, and am also so glad that you took up the challenge.

I have officially finished my end of the bargain - at the end of this I went with the "finished not perfect" because there is still 15% that makes my body itch. I'm excited to put it away for a week or so and come back to it to reflect on the image - but I know it's been too long, so I wanted to get it up.
This piece challenged everything I know. Stylization, craft, light and shadow, values, storytelling - there are a whole bunch of firsts in this image and this final image is heavy with layers of paint.
I changed a few tiny bits of the image - mostly because I was so out of my comfort zone, and trying to figure out how to paint a door in a semi-lighted tree without drawing too much attention away from the main scene blew my mind. Lol - I also chose not to light any of the windows, because one light source was all I could muster.
But there were beautiful moments and fun moments, and I am so grateful that we did this collaboration because I don't think I would have taken on such an indepth and lively image like this (and finished it) without having this challenge on the table.
Thank you Lisa.

I really tried to focus on values, focus point, color relationships, how to even show light and carrying out a constant treatment/stylization throughout.

Whew! It is officially cocktail time.

[burvantill]

@kaitlinmakes WOW!! You did great! I LOVE the detail/textures everywhere. I like how the value changes are flat but you still managed to create depth with the texture, it reminds me of Eyvind Earle (I’m happy about that because he is one of my favorartists and I’ve been trying to figure out how to emulate him and still keep my general style. You have given me ideas, bwa ha ha) And the light is perfect. There are some color similarities to my raccoon piece but that’s where it stops. The changes you made were good, it was kind of dumb of me to put a door right behind the fire since it was a main focus point. I think you nailed it! I like how you handled the line work too. It’s all perfect. I’m gushing. Well done!
What medium did you use? I can’t tell. It almost looks digital but you said the paint is heavy. I can’t wait to trade back. I’m hanging this up for sure!

[burvantill]

@kaitlinmakes I can’t stop looking at this. Lol. I love it! ️

[kaitlinmakes]

@burvantill
Oh gosh - I’m so happy! - and thank you for the feedback - all I have is my boyfriend in the back saying “yes the color is good” or “add more detail to the nose” - so it’s nice to get a full look through from you, finally!!!
I used gouache - which was fun - but while I planned out values and color I did a lot of experimenting on the work itself, which was a long process and used up a lot of paint. Also recharging gouache with water to make it useful again is OMG not as easy as they’d make you believe in tutorials. Wow - gripe much Kaitlin?