Love WIP

[xin li]

Hi,
Here is a selection of my thumbnails for LOVE.

1. Magical, intimate, wonder
2. happy. family love, content.
3. Hard to say goodbye.
4. Magical, playful.
   

Which one makes you feel more "LOVE"? Which one is your pick?

I am taking @Lee-White 's painting class right now, using LOVE contest as an opportunity to practice my speed painting from my own design (rather than copying a photo or an artwork.). So I will probably trying to paint all of these thumbnails, and send in one for this month's contest. Would be really lovely to hear from you guys which one is your pick.

Here is my first painting:
.
I feel like maybe it is 85% done. But I am not sure what I should be working on on the last 15%. Any suggestions?

[Jonas Zavacky]

@xin-li I love all of them, but the best impression gave me number 3 something very moody on that one.

With your painting just one question: Is the boy pointing at the clouds or he wants the cloudy butterfly to sit on his finger (i am not sure if it is butterfly that you painted in the frist place) If so.. maybe nice touch would be that the butterfly is actually touching with him? Just an idea tho Anyways beautifull image

[xin li]

Good point with a butterfly. It was intended to be a butterfly. (cloud changes its shape quickly after all :-). I will try a version with butterfly interacting with the kid.

[Coreyartus]

This is lovely!! I love the transparent softness of the clouds and the lovely subtle texture in the sky!! Really nice!! But the thing that draws my attention, personally, is the expression in their eyes. To me, there is a "surprised urgency" look that seems to contradict the relaxing discovery the rest of the painting communicates. That's just me, though. I wonder if perhaps a larger pupil, or placement of the pupil toward an edge of the sclera might soften the intensity of their countenance? That's just a nitpicky thing, though. You've got a way with suggesting highlight and shadow that is really great!! Well done!

[Heather Boyd]

@xin-li This one is really nice - I love the soft colour palette! It's quiet but cheerful if that makes any sense if not I apologise - painted #4.

I really also like #2 the best! It's like opening up a surprise with the tunnel that's shaped like a heart - I realise now that it is a picnic set up. I also thought at first glance, not sure how, I saw the bunnies looking into what I thought to be a heart shaped tunnel -either way I like it.

[djly]

Really nice ideas in your thumbnails!

In the butterfly thumbnail it looks like you really defined the shape of the hearts into butterflies but in the rendering seemed to stray from that. I did like that concept and so perhaps incorporating that a bit more would be interesting. It really provided a lot of nice whimsy into your piece.

You do beautiful work, and love your ideas.

[xin li]

@Coreyartus I agree the facial expression needs to be softer and more relaxed. Thanks for the suggestion. I will experiment more on that.

[xin li]

@djly I looked my thumbnail again. You are so right. I need to work on the cloud/butterfly shape a bit more.

[xin li]

@Heather-Boyd haha. Thanks. The heart shaped was suppose to be formed by tree leaves. I am trying to do a bird-view image. Hope I manage to pull off when painting it.

[xin li]

Here is the second painting, still work-in-progress, the same as the first one, I feel like 85% percent done, and then I lost my focus, could not figure out what I should work on to complete it. I always struggle with the last 10-15% of the painting.

[Erin.Cortese]

@xin-li I like this one the best, it is very magical! Sometimes it’s hard to know when an illustration is finished, but I’m not sure that it needs anything else.

[Joslyn Schmitt]

These are absolutely stunning! You could totally turn all these into prints and postcards when you are done!

So far my favorite is the night scene. I love the dreamy romantic mood and the color scheme especially. If there is nothing else you can find to do, usually that means the piece is done. We can get into the bad habit of overworking a piece. However, if you take a day or two to not look at it, you usually can see what was bothering you.

I did a slight paint over to the things I saw and what I may have done differently.

The focal point is the couple sitting there. Usually when we overlap objects, it adds depth. However, the one firefly I think makes the girl less readable so I moved him off slightly. It helps if the space around them is clear.

I squinted my eyes and this helps me figure out what reads clear or what needs to be defined a bit more.

I hope this helps! Keep up the beautiful work!!

[xin li]

@Joslyn-Schmitt
Thanks for the paint over. very interesting. I made one firefly overlapping with the girl, precisely for adding some depth. But I agree that it made the girl less readable. The way you use the size of fireflies definitely added depth. I will definitely try a bit more of the placement of the fireflies.

[xin li]

An updated version of the "Love under starts" painting. Thanks for @Joslyn-Schmitt 's great suggestion.
I also messed around with texture overlay for the background and vivid layer blending mode for the star glow. What do you guys think? Is the photoshop effect overdone?

Anyway, have a lovely sunday.

[jennyeickbush]

I don't think the spattery star effect is needed. I liked the more simplified version better. I think the extra spatter pulls focus from your characters. I also liked the previous version because it had a softness and warmth to it, and now my eye's focus is pulled up to the blue, so the piece feels a little colder. This thumbnail sketch was my favorite! I really like the design!

[mzmolly]

I love this! Great idea

[Jason Bowen]

Hey I hope you dont mind I did a quick paint over for you which might help you make your characters stand out. Its just a thought as I like what you have already done.

[xin li]

@Jason-Bowen thank you so much for the suggestion. You paint-over does make the characters pops a lot more. But I do want to keep a little bit more fireflies though, because I want this piece to be a bit surreal and magical. I think I might need tone down a bit the fireflies and lights around the character. Thanks

[Sas]

@xin-li Yeah fireflies are good! The first thing I look at now are the stars (in the paint-over) because they are so bright and then I scan the rest of the pic. Giving your characters some more firefly-glow-magic is an excellent idea and will make them stick out more.

[Heather Boyd]

@xin-li I love your fireflies! I like that you went all out on it.