July challenge WIP, feedback Welcome :-)

xin li

Here is my progress for july challenge so far (starting a bit late this month). I ended up making images about 2 kids spending time alone without their parents, and all the images are a bit surreal, potraying the 2 kids being lonely, small, somewhat out of place, somewhat in danger (maybe). These images probably raise a lot of questions rather than presnet a clear story. What do you guys think?
Untitled_Artwork 4.jpg

An unexpected fishing trip. (2 kids on a fishing trip, big fishes lurk in the forrest)
keywords: looming danger, threatening, scared
A bad omen (storming day, raining big fishes, 2 kids trapped inside)
Keywords: looming danger, threatening
Attacted by the giant dragon fly.
Keyword: danger, feeling small, helpless

4/5. What are you doing here?
Keyword: out of place, awkward, quiet moment before the storm, threatening.

Gary Wilkinson

I think I like 1 and 2 the best and would probably favor 2 slightly more due to the composition. Love the surrealness of them all and id love to see how they develop

Elizabeth Rose

Wow! these are some great ideas! I think I would agree with Gary. I like the composition in #2. The silhouettes are really working in that one.

I really like number 2. The big fish (possibly sharks too? :smiling_face_with_open_mouth_closed_eyes: ) look very menacing and would be fun to see as a finished piece! Very Alice in wonderland weird but wonderful vibe!

xin li

@Gary-Wilkinson @Squirrel-Size thanks for the feedback. I like the comp in #2, but I also like the idea fish lurking in the forest in #1. Maybe I need another around of thumbnails to combine, remix some of the ideas.

@lou yeah. I will definitely consider the badass sharks.

lenwen

I should say I really love all of them. They all are whimsical! My favorites are 1 and 2. The 1st might turns out a little bit spooky (which is my fav things to draw) and I really like two characters being in the center of attention. The 2nd might turns out more magical and surreal. Really looking forward to see more!

LauraA

Just to be contrary, I like number 4, mostly as a concept. There's something very appealing about those birds in tuxes and I like the cage option because it corresponds so well with the birds. True, I'm not exactly sure what the story is, but I want to know!

Maybe you could give the composition elements of 1 and 2?

I LOVE your composition in number 3 Maybe think about flipping it so the characters are running to the right as we move from left to right when we look at books etc!

xin li

@lenwen thank you for the feedback. I am excited to work on these. Hope I will still have the time to take one of these to finish before the end of the month
@LauraA thank you. I considered doing No.4. but I am not sure if it fits the contest title very well. It lack a clear storytelling device to say "vacation". I struggle to come up with something to make the concept complete. :-). For now, it feels like a half baked idea, but I am very much in love with it to let it go.
@hannahmccaffery good point. Most of us are aiming to do books, or doing books. I guess it is really more natural to have the character running from left to right.

I guess the theme for these set of images are inspired by Shaun Tan's book "Rule of Summer". Recently, I started reading another of his book The Bird King - an artist's notebook. One thing he wrote in this book that really stays with me "A drawing feels successful to me when it is both clear and ambiguous..." I am hoping to take one of these ideas to that place: both clear and ambiguous.

Heather Boyd

@xin-li

I like the composition of 3 but the story in 1. Maybe play with a different point in time with the first -but I do like it.

xin li

svs_july contest_progress01.jpg

Thanks for all the feedback. It was very helpful. Finally got around to make some progress. I went for no. 1 idea, felt it was most completed idea to proceed.

Any thoughts?

braden H

@xin-li Niiiiiiiice

I kinda wanna see a freshly-caught fish hangin' off the fishing pole to really give those other fish a reason to pose a threat and give that feeling of 'looming danger'. (That was a LOT of fish for one sentence...)

I'm really likin' it so far!

Erin.Cortese

@xin-li Very cool take on the prompt. I really love the dreamlike quality you captured!

xin li

Some progress so far. I could spend another day to fiddle with the fishes. But I got like 1 hour more to call it done for now. Now I wish I started it earlier, so I could sit on this piece for a couple days and come back later. svs_july contest_02.jpg

@Braden-Hallett thanks for the feedback. I know what you mean about having a fresh caught fish. I went without, partly because I wanted to stay a bit more ambiguous, and partly because I ran out of time to test it out :-).

@Erin-Cortese Thanks for the encouragement.

Nyrryl Cadiz

@xin-li this looks beautiful

braden H

@xin-li This is awesome . I love the wall-eyed stare of the fish in the upper left corner

xin li

@Nyrryl-Cadiz @Braden-Hallett thank you. I posted the final in the July contest thread. The color got a bit muddy. Might need to sit in this piece for some time before I can tweak the color to get it right.

This was fun. Now I think I need some SVS videos about how to use sophisticated color without getting muddy. :smiling_face_with_open_mouth_closed_eyes: