My First Entry - "BIG" WIP

[Nathan]

Quick Updated.

Played with poses I liked.

A lot of these sketches were from screenshots from youtube videos of kids. The final sketches were inspired by the Fearless Girl Statue. I just loved the power in the pose, and also the gesture lines in the pose and her dress. I think I'm going to use a very similar pose in my peice.

Tomorrow I'm going to play with the composition a bit more, and start looking at values arrangement.

[Heather Boyd]

@nathan

I like #4 with the variety of eyes and teeth. The shape is interesting as well because the one tooth could come down on your kid and scoop her into its mouth while bulldozing the ground. If you watch Doctor Who reminds me of the giant slug that was suctioned cupped to the roof of a space station and the place was freezing to help keep the massive creature cool (season 1 of the new ones -Rose Tyler and (The Doctor) Christopher Ec. He wasn't just slimy he was a heat magnet lols.

[Nathan]

Ok so I had a bit of fun over the weekend

The style I want to try with this peice relies a lot on shadows and perspective. I have no problem understanding how shadows and perspective works with many objects and the human figure, however, I was struggling to get my head around the shape of the monster and how it would look.

To overcome that I ended up using a technique I read in James Gurneys 'Imaginative Realism' Book. I spent a couple of hours making a model of the monster, the girl and some bodies writhing and clawing in slime. With help from my wife I ended up taking a bunch of photos of the scene from different angles and different lighting. It helped a bunch.

I ended up liking the angle and lighting in the top two on the left (the bigger ones).

I used these as references and played with value compositions.

Some notes from these compositions that I will include in the piece.

• The 'black' shadows on the body of the monster, with a slither of light on the opposite site - very similar to redlines style. Looks great. (like in #4, #5, #6)
• All eyes of the monster will be significantly lighter (white?) that any surrounding values
• I like the spotlight effect, and the shadows of tentacles creeping in. (like in #6 & #7)
• I also like the idea of a silhouette of a giant claw/arm in the shadows. It won't be detailed but it will be hinted at. (like in #7)

My only question is should I do the 'portrait' styled peice of the monster standing over the girl and her brother, or the side-on 'landscape' peice of the monster facing off the girl? I'd love to hear your opinions.

I'll get a start on this over the next couple of days. The plan is to to do the inkwork on paper, then scan it and do the colours in digital. Should be fun

[Heather Boyd]

@nathan

The portrait approach is definitely intimidating and you are standing there hesitant but firm with your girl character. (Like the second portrait bottom half, the third monster with all those variants but the shadow contrast and the eye looks more bulging forward in the fourth one).

However I really love the depth created in the landscape ones. First one monster has a real nice accumulation of form but I find your girl character a bit big and like the second landscape (has a lot more white space). I like landscape 7 with the possible tree root (edited sorry you said tentacle, my bad) as a hand/ arm but it could be added distraction.

You have pulled together a lot of cool elements and the light and shadows you have created are really effective and adds great drama!

[Nathan]

@heather-boyd Thanks Heather. I'm glad the 'feelings' of the piece and the girls hesitant by firm posture have come across the way they have. I agree with some of the scaling with the girl. I'm glad you have enjoyed the play with light and shadows. It's been a fun process.

[Nathan]

Quick update. Started inking I got myself some new watercolour brushes (squirrel fur) and they are amazing to use with ink. So much fun. Can't wait to see the finished result

[Nathan]

Another quick update. Inking done. Thoughts so far below.

It was great to get this part of things done. I plan to scan it into the computer and do the colours in photoshop. Do some touch ups as well.

All in all, I'm not sure on this peice. Sometimes I hate it, sometimes I just interested to see what it looks like when its done. A couple of reasons for this:

• it is in style this is very different to my own
• It is a medium that I am not familiar with
• It is a subject matter that I'm also unfamiliar with.

I think taking on one of those differences would make the peice enjoyable yet challenging, however taking on all three has meant that I haven't been able to just lose myself in the piece. It's been a slog.

I'm going to finish it. But the lesson I've learned, is not to bite off too much that I can chew.

I would love to hear your feedback. Anything you like, or things that can be improved? Cheers

[Heather Boyd]

@Nathan I use to pen like this -mine having more line texture (sometimes wild lols). My first thought was epic! with the bold contrast. Must have been a lot of ink for sure.

[Nathan]

@Heather-Boyd Thank you, I'm glad you liked it. Ya, ended up using a paint brush with bottled ink Lots of ink

[Nathan]

Finally done and submitted. "BIG sister"

This was a toughy. Am I 100% happy with it? Nope. But finished not perfect is the ways things go.

I learned alot. But I'm glad to move onto something new