WIP for February Love?

[fertyn]

Hello!
Somehow i liked more the first sketch that you uploaded, but reading your worries about composition and how to deal whit perspective make me think that maybe you should give another aproach to give deepness to the picture. What you did rigth in the sketch was giving focus making contrast in size, so i think it's better to you to focus on diferents planes more than an strict perspertive. Like in first plane is the two (mother and child), in second the rest of them and in third the moon and the sky (giving them them hierarchy respectively)...also think of the sentence as an element too, so you could complement the comp whit it.
Greetings.

[demotlj]

I went back to the original sketch and tweaked it some as I inked it. I haven’t started painting yet — the color is a watercolor wash that I did traditionally and laid over the top as a multiply layer for texture but I’ll need to put in values, color, moonlight etc. Right now, I’m just wondering what you think of the drawing before I go on.

(I may also still do the mother and baby in front of the moon as a different painting to compare. All of it is good practice!)

[TwiggyT]

I love it! It's so adorable and it has OTTERS

I really like otters. Can you tell?

I think the birds are distracting and I'm not convinced they're necessary. That's the only issue I see with your current composition.

Once again,

[lisanganart]

This is so beautiful! I like the latest one you posted the best. While the one with just the two of them is beautiful too, I feel like I cannot see the vastness of the ocean, so it does not communicate the mood of your text as well as this latest one. Can't wait to see where you take this!

[demotlj]

@lisanganart You expressed what I was feeling. I too, like the mother and baby alone against the moon but it doesn't fit the caption as well as the other one. Now my debate is traditional watercolor or digital. I'll be trying both to see where they go. (Good thing I'm an amateur and have no deadlines!)

[demotlj]

@TwiggyT Otters are adorable. I've only seen river otters myself and I didn't know very much about sea otters until I researched this. They are incredibly sweet.

[Laurel Aylesworth]

@demotlj Beautiful. I think when you bring back in the values and focus/light on the mother/child faces it's going to really convey the theme.

[demotlj]

I’ve been working on this when I’ve had time (which hasn’t been much.) I still have a long way to go but I did some more tweaks: I painted a watercolor sky to try to match the texture of the watercolor ocean (both are laid over the whole thing in a multiply layer) and I ended up taking out the birds as @TwiggyT suggested because you couldn’t see them against the darker sky anyway. Instead I added more distant otters.

Next I’m going to try to add the ripples and reflections in the ocean. I might not make it by the contest deadline but it’s really for my niece anyway. (I did try doing the whole thing in watercolor but let’s just say it was a learning experience and nothing anyone would want to see! Someday, I’ll get the hang of watercolor.)

I’m also wondering if I should get rid of the line altogether. It will take longer to get the definitions but is it an unnecessary crutch? I haven’t really figure out the best relationship between line and paint.

[Whitney Simms]

@demotlj I think this is turning out so lovely! The idea the composition and even the watercolor elements. I totally understand that doing it entirely out of watercolor would be so hard! You know that’s what I do, but I have a horrible time with oceans and lakes. So so so hard! Maybe try it a few more times as repaints to try and master it. But like, months in between. It is such a lovely piece I think it would be worth it. It’s one that is totally a frame. How many repaints of the Mona Lisa, etc... that being said. This one is very lovely. I still get the freshness of the watercolor texture even though it’s mixed media.

Talk about someone who uses lines as a crutch. I totally do that. But I also like the result of lines. Pushing yourself to not “have” to use it every time is a worthy goal. I try that too. In this piece, I love the lines. It has such a storybook feel to it with the lines.

I love this piece and want to know the story of the little otters. Great job!

[demotlj]

@Whitney-Simms Thanks. Your comments are very helpful and I’m happy to hear that you think the lines are ok. Most of what I was struggling with in the watercolor was not only the water but getting the values dark enough to make it look like night without it just becoming an opaque blob. I’m definitely going to have to work on that.

[demotlj]

I’m not sure what to ask because I’ve been staring at this so long. Is it working? Or maybe a better question, where do you think it’s not working? Any suggestions for where to go from here?

[djly]

@demotlj - I've loved seeing this piece come together! You've created such a serene scene.

Could the foreground water be a bit more defined compared to the water further in the back? I notice this mostly where the moonlight is hitting.

Thanks for sharing!

[demotlj]

@djly I think you have a good point and it would certainly help the perspective. I struggled to get the water to look like water so I don’t know how well I can define it more but I’ll give it a shot.

[Erin.Cortese]

@demotlj This is adorable, and yes definitely serene! I really love the feeling it evokes, I feel calm just looking at it.

[demotlj]

One more. (It's my day off today and I have a busy week coming up so I'm trying to get this done.)

I added ripples, tweaked a few things, brightened the stars, and added text. Questions:

1. Did I overdo the stars?

2. Instead of having the text on the picture itself, I could add a white frame (as if it were on a larger page) and put the caption underneath. The text is important for the story but might detract from the overall feel. Thoughts?

[Chip Valecek]

@demotlj I think the stars are good. For the text, what if you made it white? It might pop more off the page. I think it works nicely in the place you have it.

[Sarah LuAnn]

I think your general shapes and values and composition are working well. Really, all I think that needs doing from here is nailing your details. I'm seeing a lot of soft airbrushed texture going on, I'd love to see you get a bit braver with a harder edged brush.

[demotlj]

@Sarah-LuAnn Edges have been a struggle for me in all of my painting. I'm not really even sure how to get harder edges or frankly, where they should be. For example, when you say, "nailing your details," what details are missing? Fur, ripples? I feel tone deaf here!

[yeungtina]

@demotlj This is gorgeous! Love the expressions on their faces. As for details, I think maybe the fur colors (not lines) could be less fuzzy, but it does match the water the way you have it. Thanks for sharing your process!

[demotlj]

@yeungtina @Sarah-LuAnn I'll go back and watch the SVS video on painting fur and hair again. I feel often as if my problem lies not in painting but in being able to see the details in the first place. Sometimes it hurts my brain!