Dec. 3rd thursday sketch
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Very nice Kris!
I think the original version is working much better than the newer one. Although it's fun to see the alternate style. Right now the most recent version feels like a sketch. I'm a big fan of loose painting, but it has to have a "finished" look to it as well. Check out Gregory Manchess to see what I'm talking about (shown here).
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The big thing I'd watch out for in both versions is overlighting the scene. It's easy to get carried away with all the individual elements receiving a highlight, lit side, core shadow, shadow, and reflected light, but it's best to think about overall local value and then slightly brighten the lit side and slightly darken the shadow side. Reflected light should be a value or two darker than the main light.
In order to see what I mean, squint at your image and notice the value structure. there are brights and dark spots popping out everywhere. Now squint at gregory manchess's images. See how all of that broken paint work just calms down and goes into either the light or dark?
Here's a way to test that idea. I grabbed Greg's image and yours and ran them through the "posterize" filter in photoshop (set to 4 values). It basically simplifies detail down to it's local value and color. Look at how well Greg's holds up. It looks like a simple version of the original painting while yours gets a bit too spotty (Meaning there is too much highlighting going on).
Hope that helps some. : )
SVS Faculty Instructor
www.leewhiteillustration.com -
I like the new layout much better. Then hamster reminds me of Rhino from Bolt! Haha!
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@Lee-White
Lee, I really appreciate you taking a look and giving me your feedback. I never did the posterize thing before so I will begin using that from now on.... I had been just desaturating everything to see if it was reading but now I see there is more to it. I'm a fan of the painterly style, for instance marco bucci and Zac Retz so I figured I would take a stab at it. Perhaps you would be kind enough to give me some direction about something. I'm worried that the "style" that I seem to be "okay" at is the more rendered type like in my first version but I have a big worry that it may not be a marketable style. I see everyone talking about attempting to make things look traditional.... so here is my question. What style should I be trying to achieve in children's book illustration? My goal (like others here) is to be an illustrator and writer/illustrator, so with that in mind I want to work towards a style that would be looked upon positively, so is the style in the first image I created marketable?.... or would it be better for me to really begin to work on finding a different style???? Thanks a bunch Lee
I hope you can send me in the right direction. -
Haha yes. After I thought about using the gerbil for my image Rhino became one of my references
@Sharon-Sordo -
@gimmehummus Definitely a good thought. I'll be honest, I'm not sure how I would do that haha. On this version I was mostly trying to get it where it appeared like they were all working together. I'll have to think about that one.
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Great questions! Style is a really tricky thing. The go to answer that all my teachers had was "don't worry about style, it will come naturally". What a bunch of crap that was and I hated hearing it. Now, what my teachers were probably alluding to is that you need to find a style that is natural to you. So that means looking at people who have that special something that goes where you want to and then trying it out. That means doing master copies and really analyzing what it is specifically that makes an image work. Is it the color? Brush strokes? shape design? etc. You need to really get in there and try a lot of stuff out.
One tip, start on EASY images. Your image here is very tricky with lots of detail and tough lighting. Not a good one to really veer too far from your comfort zone. Your first style is good, but it does seem very digital so you may want to incorporate some traditional texture overlays in it, etc. Try a lot of different techniques to get the look that works for you.
The only time that "style" is really a no-no is if you are chasing it because you think that is what other people want. It will always come across as gimmicky if you approach it in that way. The goal should be hitting an image that looks the way you want it to look. Traditional looking work will never go out of style, so figuring out how to get more of that look in your digital work can't be a bad thing. I do think gregory manchess or marco bucci would be a great starting point for you. Also taking some traditional painting classes will really make all of it mesh together in your brain.
Hope that helps some. Let me know if you need anything else. : )
-L
SVS Faculty Instructor
www.leewhiteillustration.com -
Thank you very much Lee! If I come up with anything else I will definitely let you know. I'm gonna let that info sink in as I try to tackle the Santa image again. Thanks a bunch
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Omg why do i like the expression of your Santa so much XD
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and yet another version.
So if you guys can't tell I've been using this month's 3rd thursday to attempt to take some chances in order to get out of my comfort zone and try other styles of painting. This is a WIP of a watercolor version along with some opaque texture brushes. As you guys can see in my first painting I really love rendering so this is a challenge for me to just do a little bit of shading and highlighting and not doing so much where it becomes "highly rendered". This is my first go at this style. Definitely was a challenge to do this.
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I like the reins tighter like this, really liked the other painting style though! I thought you had it goin' on!
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@bharris Thanks a bunch :). Yeah, the rendering style feels more natural to me... I just worry about if it is as marketable as some of the people here with the more traditional look????? I don't know lol. I will probably redo the piece in that style before turning it in lol.
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@Kris-Knight I think it's very marketable! There are a lot of people here with more traditional approaches, but that shouldn't hold you back from a style you like working in. Gotta balance out the forum with different types of art and just improve what we do. I admire a lot of people's work here, and maybe wish I could render this or that way, but I'm still developing what I like, and want to just do me.
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I like these animals in your latest change! This may not work but is there anyway to combine these animals with the background of your 1st rendition? Just a thought because I love the background of your 1st one and these animals have a lot of character!
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@bharris I appreciate that, thank you :). I'm the same way... I see so much here that I like and want to learn from.
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@Kris-Knight I'm definitely more drawn to this last style you've tried out, but like you're saying, it's for sure a personal preference thing. I do think if you were to go this route though that it needs to be developed further, it looks a little unfinished to me. The textured paint background is a bit too dark as well. Your characters are even drawn differently - they have that "cute" look to them that's perfect for kids.
However - when I say I'm more drawn to your last style I'm thinking in terms of children's books. Your highly rendered style is gorgeous (and I do like it!) but I envision it to belong more in the editorial illustration realm. Unless you played with blending a bit of the two - make your characters more "cute" and soften some things about your highly rendered style and it could work great for children's books (is that what you want to do BTW? Maybe I shouldn't assume!). That's what I think it's a bit off about your highly rendered style at the moment (for kids books) - it's pretty harsh and intense. So that's my advice - if you enjoy the highly rendered look the most, go with that but work at "cute-ify-ing" and "softening" here and there.
https://danettebyatt.com
Twitter @DanetteDraws
Instagram @DanetteDraws -
@DanetteDraws Thanks for your comments :). Yes, children's books are one of my goals. It's funny that Pixar does such highly rendered things and they are so popular... but when it comes to kids books the styles are so different. I wonder why that is. lol. but yes. I will definitely work on making things cuter :). Thank you.
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@Kris-Knight Hmmmm...I wonder if it's the "electronic vs. print" notion. When we view things on screen we expect them to have a highly rendered digital look, whereas in children's books, the trend is more a traditionally rendered feel since its in the tactile world.
https://danettebyatt.com
Twitter @DanetteDraws
Instagram @DanetteDraws -
@DanetteDraws
could be.
I wonder if parents usually pick books for their kids more so than kids picking books, but when it comes to movies the kids usually make that choice because they watch tv all the time. lol. I have no idea, I know that kids seem to be in front of tv a lot more than inside of bookstores. lol... unfortunately. -
It's weird, when I grew up in the 70s, I did not pick books to read based on the art emulating Disney. And yet yesterday in a bookstore, I bought my wife a beautifully painted version of the 12 Days of Xmas, and a plasticine (sp) clay version of The Night Before Xmas. I picked them based on the art being good, and as she's an adult and an artist as well, a child like book would be boring to her.
I think kids enjoy whatever hits them, and the industry pushes the style of traditional medium. I heard Will Terry say in another course that most editors in Children's Book publishing are female. So perhaps their choices are made based on what they think kids would like, where as men might tend to pick what's the coolest looking thing out there, in this case something more Pixar like. Not that women don't pick cool things, but we are different in tastes some times, especially decorative, this is just an extension of those choices no?
I would make a sexist comment that boys like comic books, and girls like " pretty things ", but that's not so anymore, there are A LOT of female readers in the comic book industry, the lines are blurring thankfully. There is also an influx of female writers and artists in the previously male dominated comic book industry, award winning women who are making a change for the better!
Personally I love that amazing look of traditional art that Children's Books still endorse. If it was done digitally, it wouldn't bother me as long as the final look had the same kind of quality. I'm not looking for realism, I'm looking for joy technically speaking.
