WIP- Nightfall (Previously: Is the perspective convincing enough?)

[A Former User]

@TessaW these all look great together! I think #1 really works because it makes the room feel so big that a tree is part of the clutter, yet really cozy and lived in. #3 is fun because of the way it shows the tree against the ceiling, but I agree with @Zachary-Drenski in that it has a completely different feeling. #1 has a wonderfully cozy, cluttered look that keeps the expansive space of the original (the reason i like that it's bigger is because it feels like more of a playground) and contrasts really well with the other context sketches of an empty haunted house. Depending on which feeling you're going for i'm sure you can make either one work.

[Nyrryl Cadiz]

@TessaW i’d still go with the original

[K. W.]

@TessaW In ORIGINAL the stack of books on the floor is going to a super high horizon compared to the rest of the picture. In #1, there is the same issue. They’re working a bit better in #2, as it looks like you aimed for a lower horizon line.

If you’re going for a warped perspective look, you could push that further probably. Right now, you’ve got realistic, solid drawings of individual objects, but they aren’t going to the same horizon line, so I think it might look more intentional if you warped the objects themselves more maybe? Considering how spooky the story is (love your compositions for the rest of the illustrations, btw ), you could emphasize that with spooky perspective.

Exercise idea: Analyze a few Brett Hellquist illustrations (or whatever spookier style inspires you—does anyone have suggestions? I’d like to try this myself) by doing a perspective draw over (find the Vanishing Points for the objects, and see where the Horizon Line is, look for what visual cues or angle repeats). It might give you some inspiration as far as how to approach it.

Take or leave it perspective tip: If you don’t use a perspective grid under your sketch, I would suggest trying it and seeing how it goes, because it saves a lot of time—you don’t have to plot each object’s vanishing points individually necessarily, and you can warp stuff while still having that visual guide to refer to (I’m still a student, but this is what my instructors at college encourage us to do when drawing backgrounds).

Even if you didn’t change anything, your illustration would still turn out great. I really like it! The girl reading cozily, and the little dinosaurs by the tea set—it’s got a great mood and so many interesting details.

Love the cozy vibe of your first concept, and that your main character is in the foreground. Lots of depth to the scene. My fav is #2, because you’ve added more overlap to the objects (you pushed the books behind the blanket a bit), and my eye goes to the characters in the tree (in the others I tend to look at the fireplace first).

[TessaW]

Thank you guys for your thoughtful feed back! It gave me a lot to think about. It was hard deciding, but I ended up going with #2. I used a perspective grid, but tilted the angles of different elements slightly afterwards to get it to feel right to me. I liked how closer vanishing points felt for the foreground, but wasn't liking what the closer vanishing points were doing to the background, so I made it a little flatter back there.

@K.W. Thanks for the recommendations! I had never heard of Brett Helquist. Love his work!

I'm still tweaking things with the sketch (I need to tweak the teaset and figure out a pose for the ghost in the background) and am just beginning to build up the values (this is not the final value and lighting).

I was just wondering if anyone had an opinion on if I should keep the tea tray or leave it out? On one hand I like how it closes in the foreground, on the other hand I like how taking it out helps lead the eye up toward the tree.

Thoughts?

[K. W.]

@TessaW STUNNING. And the lamps are gorgeous. I like it both with the tea set and without it.

[Jeremy Ross]

@TessaW looks great!

[demotlj]

I like it with the tea set. For me, the empty space draws my eye away from the girl. Overall, it's a beautiful drawing.

[Laurel Aylesworth]

I agree with @demotlj - the tea set is beautiful but it takes my eye away from the girl.

[KaraDaniel]

Wow! looks great! I would choose no tea set unless it is pertinent to the story to be in the image. I love the pattern on the blanket and how the light hits her face and the interesting way you've sketched in the background using a white line. Can't wait to see more.

[TessaW]

Thanks for the feedback everyone! It's helping with motivation. I've always been more of a painter than a draw-er and the drawing part has been difficult!

Right now I'm trying to decide between showing more of the ghostly atmosphere with just a tad bit of decay (tree and floorboards around it). Or pushing more of the ghostly element by making things feel more transparent and show even more decay. Not sure which to choose. These are kinda rough and not completely worked out, but hopefully you can sort of see what I'm going for. Thoughts?