Slowvember: Macbeth. Feedback on thumbnails

[bugeyefly]

@Rachel-Horne this was my thought too. I'd try pushing #2 around.

[Oriana Fernandez]

@robgale
Great stuff here!
A. I am really captivated and drawn towards #3, there's something raw yet definitive and real about it. The contrast in #3 is reading well, visually. I would look into #2 and #4; they have the same character play of Macbeth and the three witches and blood (and gore). I would love to see how this would play out with details of background and foreground in place. Both combined would have potential!
B. All the thumbnails and scenes read well. There is a clear focus and contrast at play. So no complaints there!
C. Can't wait to see the final piece! Kudos! And may the Force be with you!
D. I recall Macbeth figuring in the old Brit comedy, Blackadder (few lines from wikipedia follow): Blackadder torments the actors by having them repeatedly perform the painful Macbeth ritual (which comically consists of them playing pattycake and chanting "Hot potato, orchestra stalls, Puck will make amends!" before squeezing each other's nose).

[Kevin Longueil]

@robgale These are great! 3 is very striking - it evokes Goya's Los Disparates. Number 1 is nice too - for some reason i want see the dagger straight up and down and not pointing diagonally toward the corner...maybe to make it more of a graphic style?? ...not sure - 4 is a great concept too - evokes Kurosawa's Macbeth "Throne of Blood" ..... so i guess 3,1 and 4 ...but mostly 3

[KaraDaniel]

I like 2 and 3...I'm not familiar with the story of Macbeth but now I'm interested to learn more especially what those three witches are all about.

[Fossi Images]

I really like 2 & 5. I love the comp of 5, and I think they both portray the most information about the story, and I've always been a fan of the weird sisters. I'd like to see lady macbeth incorporated into one, or maybe more options with her, as she is pretty integral as well.

To me, lady macbeth and the three sisters were representations of manifestations of greed, envy, etc in Macbeth's head. Not in a sixth sense way, but a symbolism way.

[Chip Valecek]

Can't really add much more that hasnt already been said, but number 3 is my favorite.

[phoenix yip]

Great job! My favorite is 2 and 4, I like the contrast and emphasis you put in them.

[sigross]

@robgale I think the expression of Macbeth in 3 is great. Looks like he's having a tough time at the King game. But I also like the idea of Lady Macbeth (in 1) being in the picture as she is the key villainous manipulator of the whole downfall.

[xin li]

I love the thumbnail #5, love the storytelling in this image. The composition is very interesting as it is now. I would work it out more with a couple more thumbnail variations based on the same idea. For the witches in the background, I will push it to be less symetrical. I will also experiment with where the line dividing black background and white background should be - I will avoid letting the line to be too close to the center for this particular image.

[robgale]

@chrisaakins Fantastic! That's exactly the kind of feedback I was looking for! Thank you.

[robgale]

@Braden-Hallett Thanks for the feedback! I hear what you're saying about the action in the dead center, and I'm totally going to play with that idea of the crown stretching!

[robgale]

@bugeyefly @Rachel-Horne Thank you both for the feedback! I like that throne in the center thing too, maybe I'll play with that a bit more... slow is the name of the game right!

[robgale]

@Oriana-Fernandez Thanks for the feedback! I like the idea of playing with 2 and 4 some more and maybe combining them. I had to youtube the Blackadder bit! Hah! Love it.

[robgale]

@Kevin-Longueil Thanks for the feedback! Agree on the dagger straight up and down on #1. Throne of Blood is basically what led me to Macbeth in the first place, so I suppose the influence sneaks in. I'm working on another piece based on Ran, so I didn't want to do 2 Kurosawa takes on Shakespeare.

[robgale]

@KaraDaniel @Fossi-Images @Chip-Valecek @sigross @xin-li Thanks everyone for the feedback! I feel like everyone's feedback has really encouraged me to stay in this thumbnailing world even longer, even though #3 seems to be the clear winner (for now). I was half expecting I was going to move into the drawing stage, but I feel like there are still some fun things to play around with thumbnailing.

@KaraDaniel I'm no Shakespeare expert, but I've been trying to read more classics and so I thought, why not paint what I'm reading. It's been a lot of fun and because I'm trying to interpret it into a painting, I definitely pay more attention.

@Fossi-Images @sigross Definitely get what you both are saying about trying to get Lady Macbeth in there. In a way, they're almost like two parts of the same character and equally important. I'll have to play with that.

@xin-li I see what you mean. I kind of did #5 and thought it was an interesting idea and then I didn't really work it as much as some of the other ones. Definitely worth a revisit.

[Rachel Horne]

@robgale exactly! I'd be really interested to see how it turns out.

[Meta]

I was also going to write I was drawn mostly to number three. Seems most poeple do. I think it's more attractive to look at some character in emotion then at a bloody scene. I'd increase the sice of the crown a bit to have another size of light area then the face. I'd do the same with the light areas left and right of him: make one slightly bigger, the other smaller for different size of area. Or change the size for bein the same. Either of it.
I'd also say they all read really well and your contrasts and compositions are great. Nevertheless, here some ritiques:
Number one looks a bit debalanced to me. The figures stick together and the king is neither in the center, nor in golden ratio. You could also try how it comes out if you push the section between black and white up to golden ratio. Maybe even putting the point of view rather below the throne. This would end in a fairly different composition, as the lines of blood which are parallel now would run toward a vanishing point.
So, my vote for number three and I look forward seeing more of it!

[Coreyartus]

I have to say my favorite is number 6. I think, graphically, it would be the most striking in real life. It is very simple, yet very bold.

A bloody hand with a dripping silhouette figure and crown also epitomizes the story of Macbeth quite a bit--it is literally a reference to Macbeth's dreams, his wife's "out out damned spot" line, and to the horrifying levels of blood in this show.... It could be fun to play with the drips of blood forming the visage of Macbeth, or perhaps render it as reflected light on the shiny wet surface of the blood.

To me, #3 reminds me, personally, a bit much of King Lear, a play that sorta hinges upon the madness of the ruler. Lear has three daughters, so the figures in foreground could allude to them unless something overtly indicates they're the witches.

There are a lot of illustrators that are hired to do entire seasons of shows in their style so there is a cohesive identity to the season. I found one person on Behance that is actually making Opera posters but they're animated--so they can be viewed both as still posters and online as moving animatics. Sorta cool... if you imagine your posters with some level of movement, the dripping blood could add a whole 'nother level of creepiness...

All of these thumbnails are gorgeous!! They would all make wonderfully suggestive and narrative posters! I can't wait to see what you end up with regardless of which one you choose!

[robgale]

Happy New Year everyone!

Well, Slowvember has bled into December and into the New Year, but I've finally made some progress on this piece. Here's where I'm at currently. I went forward with #3 (see above) and took some of all'y'all's advice. It's evolved a bunch since then as you'll see, but I hope the basic idea is still there. Anyway, I would love to know what jumps out to people. I've been looking at this for too long and I see a bunch of stuff I could still fix, but I think it's time for some other eyes to see what really pops as wanting.

Thanks for all the feedback so far!

[Coreyartus]

Oh. Man. That's gorgeous. Lovely love love!!! The lurking Lady M in the background, the blood, the witches in the crown (holding tree branches, no less!!), the creepy backlighting, the visage of pure greed with tiny glints in the eyes... The symbolism in this piece is deep. As a theatre person who has done this show in 2000 (Jim Parsons played King Malcolm in it when he was a student in the grad program I design costumes for), I think you absolutely NAILED it!! Are you contemplating augmenting it with any form of text or show info, or leaving it without?

You seriously need to think about doing an illustrated version of the play... I, for one, would buy it!!