Jan WIP - Let's draw a dragon on the snow (Critiques welcome :-)

xin li

I keep adjusting the composition here and there, and color as well.

I am close to finish the study and start painting soon. Let me know if there is anything that sticks out.

nadyart

I love the concept and composition!
I would be mindful not to up the contrast of the dragon too much, I think it dissipates the relationship between the fore- and background, causing it to look like the dragon is very close to the balloon. I definitely think the 1st one does not have this effect, so I would personally go with that one. Plus it gives the viewer a chance to investigate the image more, and see the dragon after the children. I hope this makes any sense
*Plus the shadows of the children in the first image show very well that they are standing on their creation and the dragon is a relatively flat surface they stand on.

eriberart

I agree with what @nadyart has said, but I do like the yellow sky in the second one and the sunshine hitting the ground! I think it suits the atmosphere of the piece better. I can't wait to see the finished illustration

xin li

@nadyart thank you so much for the feedback. I will fiddle a bit more with the value for the dragon :-).
@eriberart I went back and forth with the color of the sky. I will paint a bit more on other parts of the image, and get back to it tomorrow.

ArtofAleksey

@xin-li my suggestion for contrast is to make the snow a warmer color and make the dragon a cooler color. Because all the warms of the balloon and character in the balloon are drawing our eye away from the blues, and also that round balloon/mountain range is keeping my eye up there. So another suggestion might be to have pine trees on the “foreground” of the ground “pointing” at the dragon rather than leafless trees and align them in a similar curve as you did the mountain range. Does that make sense?
Warm and cool suggestion: Something like this?

braden H

@xin-li said in Jan WIP - Let's draw a dragon on the snow (Critiques welcome :

@nadyart thank you so much for the feedback. I will fiddle a bit more with the value for the dragon :-).
@eriberart I went back and forth with the color of the sky. I will paint a bit more on other parts of the image, and get back to it tomorrow.

I keep waffling between the two!

Take the following as very light suggestions since I think the options you have already are awesome and work great

A way to make the warmer (sunset?) option more interesting could be to throw it into half light. That way you get to play with warm snow AND cool snow much like @Aleksey said

Also, snow can REALLY take on the colour of the sky.

I had, like, 10 more reference photos of my backyard that were better than these but my phone is stuck in some wierd backup loop. Blurgh.

Anyhoo, this is awesome. Great work

xin li

@Aleksey @Braden-Hallett Thank you so much for the feedback. I played a bit with the warm snow and cool dragon idea (see no.3). I think I really likes it. I struggled to find one overall color and one contrast color for the main subject. I think now it is finally going in the right direction.

@Aleksey I am also going to redesign the tree in the foreground. I just feel the shapes I use are too complicated. I try to simplify them.

I try to keek the value of Will and balloon close to each other, so they are more or less grouped as one shape. But I do not know if Will and the hot balloon is still to prominent compared to the dragon.

My lighting is not realistic at all, but I hope it is kind of work in its own logic. I will add a bit more shadow for the kids on the ground to really sell the idea that they are 3d dimensional, and the dragon is flat.

Thank you for all the feedback so far, everyone. This is a lot of fun.

ArtofAleksey

@xin-li best of luck this is a tough problem but in sure you will solve it

@Braden-Hallett this is your backyard??

braden H

@Aleksey said in Jan WIP - Let's draw a dragon on the snow (Critiques welcome :

this is your backyard??

lol, no, though the same area. In the second one you can probably see my house way up on the hill in the background.

ArtofAleksey

@Braden-Hallett my “backyard” is full of trash because my neighbors never use it.

braden H

@Aleksey said in Jan WIP - Let's draw a dragon on the snow (Critiques welcome :

@Braden-Hallett my “backyard” is full of trash because my neighbors never use it.

That... sounds... delightful.

ArtofAleksey

@Braden-Hallett need references?

braden H

@Aleksey not on this thread, lol

xin li

@Braden-Hallett wow. you live in such a beautiful place. Now I know where your comic inspiration comes from. The first picture also reminded me of your slowvember piece.

@Aleksey I think trash is a good subject to study for artists, as they tell a lot about the people who throw away them. :smiling_face_with_open_mouth_closed_eyes:

xin li

Progress so far. I included my earlier version of this piece to see how it progressed (no.1,2,3). No. 4 is the current state I am at. Any thoughts? especially:

Does the value work well?
I love the splashing snow effect, but does it work in this image, both in terms of visual and in terms of the story?

Coley

I like what you have done with the trees, tones in the character and the warmth in the snow looks great! One thing maybe is that even tho the dragon is mostly flat, it is pushed into the snow a little bit, and given that the direction of light is from upper left, you might get a slight cast shadow on the edges of the snow that rim the dragon. if that makes sense. it might not be clear, sorry! I think the upper ridges of the dragon might have a little bit of shadow but not the lower parts?

Coley

kinda like this (quick example) but it looks good without it too

xin li

@Coley thank you so much. I see what you mean. I will try it :-).

xin li

I showed my painting to my partner (for the first time). He said the dragon drawing looks too professional to be a kid drawing. So it does not look like the kind of thing kids make in the snow.

Now I am stuck :face_with_stuck-out_tongue:. I am not sure if I am able to make a drawing that looks like a kid drawing. I do not remember who said it, but remember an artist once said: "it takes a lifetime to learn how to draw like a kid again."

@xin-li but he has no problem believing that a kid would be flying his own hot-air balloon with his teddy bear?