Godzilla WIP

lmrush

so I have an idea, A boy has cut super hero costumes from his curtains for him and his cat to fight his toy Godzilla......but I am really struggling to move away from the straight on view composition I typically use. Can anyone share how they get their brains to see altered views thanks! I am really struggling- TIA

Heather Boyd

@lmrush

Hi -this is tough. I find it harder sometimes to get the space I have imagined onto the paper. I sit down and close my eyes and just envision the story, character and the space and then rotate it in my head (I tend to rotate my hand as I go lols). Then I scribble something down. A few times I also envision myself drawing on paper and scribble what I saw myself draw. In the end I just have to love my idea and I work at it until it's as close to retelling the story as I am able to right now.

Anyways, it's definitely not easy.

lmrush

@Heather-Boyd thank you I will give that a try

Johanna Kim

@lmrush I can totally empathize and love your idea. My initial drawings are usually straight on as well, but then I go through a "what if" exploration, both in my head and with really rough tiny thumbnails, and I imagine the viewer's eye being a movie camera. For example, what if I shot the scene from behind little toy Godzilla's head, and it's looking towards the boy and his cat? Or what if I shot the scene from the cat's point of view? The straight on view is a fine start in terms of getting all the information you want to show in the scene out of your head-- like the bedroom layout; the boy's, cat's and toy Godzilla's appearance; and the action you want to show. But then by going through an exploration of different camera angle views, you can bring more storytelling, emotion and playfulness to the scene. If you still have trouble imagining different angles, you might try buying some clay and creating a rough model of the scene, blocking out the different characters. It doesn't have to be perfect, but it will give you something physical to actually study from different angles. Lots of pro artists use this technique for tricky scenes.

lmrush

Love the model idea, and my son has tons of play doh! Thank you so much!

lmrush

So here is another angle.... I drew more toys, paper cut carnage on the floor since scanning, I really like the angel but how do I get the idea of the curtains in? Arggg

Jon Anderson

I try to imagine that I have a camera and a movie set and if I have a hard time with the drawing after moving the camera i try to block in the shapes as I imagine they would be first, then focusing on the line work after the shapes and perspective are blocked in and close. I can get off track fast if I get caught up with line work first. I hope I articulated that well enough. I hope you find what helps.

lmrush

@Jon-Anderson IT does help-thanks so much!

lmrush

IT always looks way better in my head, not too happy-I think I will try another view and try and improve my values

lmrush

I repainted with the idea he is in his yard, curtains blowing out-I hate this one too- Argg Maybe a new composition?????

Heather Boyd

@lmrush

I am looking back at your story -why did he choose his window curtains to make his super hero costume from? Is it really important where he's taken the fabric from? Because that's an additional element that needs to be in your scene (the window).

What part of the story do you want to tell? What emotions do you want to evoke? As he is making the costume and his toy Godzilla has taken over his room, or Godzilla has overcome the city toys he has laid out to play with -early on instead of a victory scene (near the end of the story). Or use the window curtain as a giant cape -reference to super hero and has the action of throwing it on top of Godzilla (even maybe play it up with shadows).

Continue to experiment with the story you want to tell and keep working on those perspectives (how you want to tell your story, and what you want to say)?

Work on a sketch till you really like it and then add the paint.

lmrush

@Heather-Boyd Thank you for this reminder, I am not sure anymore......I think I will go back and ponder my keywords more. thank you for your time

lmrush

@Heather-Boyd I thought long about what you said, I think it got me unstuck, I ended up going a different way-let go of the curtains and focused on what was happening instead-thank you for pulling me out of the weeds!

Heather Boyd

@lmrush

I hope to continue to see your WIP. You can do this!

lmrush

@Heather-Boyd thank you