Feb contest WIP: Rene the mouse - feedback requested :-)
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@xin-li this is so cute!
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@Coley thank you. I really enjoyed doing this piece. I always have a strange relation to that joke about the moon is made of cheese.
Finally, it made into my illustration. -
I like how it's improving. On character design - The narrow shoulders are correct for a not-too-human , anthropomorphized character. Because they lack a collar bone, most 4 legged animals are pear shaped. Your mouse has the narrow top/wide bottom shape. If he starts leaning too human, you might increase the pear shape of his torso.
I think the hair and glasses ads to his character. Other accessories like a pencil behind his ear would also ad to character. Two other things that might ad are his state of mind and his choice of media. How long has he been sitting here? Is he tired? Is his back getting stiff? Could replacing what looks like a computer with a canvas and colorful paints, that may or may not be dribbled or spilled on the desk or floor, ad to his character as a mouse so hard at work that he doesn't notice the mess building up around him? Or a mouse that doesn't care about some paint drips?
With the picture scrolled up, I now see the outline of paint tubes on the floor. I think paint would give you a nice way to ad specs of color to the work. I really like your other work and look forward to seeing the finished piece. Cheers!
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@xin-li hahaha! I just noticed your moon looks like cheese. So clever!!! I think it looks great. So maybe DON'T finish this one in time and give us a chance! (Totally kidding!)
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@Kim-Hunter thank you so much for the feedback. It is so interesting to hear the comments on the story side of the illustration. Your questions get me thinking :-).
With SVS monthly challenge, most of the time, I do not have a very clear story in mind. I started with a single aspect of the story which intrigues me, then I draw things out to explore the rest of the story. In this case, it was "the moon made of cheese". Then I thought maybe there is an illustrator mouse imagining the moon is the cheese. For some reason, Rene's paintings just got mixed in.
I first thought I would do Cintiq for the mouse (as many of the illustrators today will do). Then I thought maybe drawing board is more fun to draw because art supplies are fun to draw. -
@chrisaakins hehe. Thank you for the compliment. I am flatted.
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I am almost there. My brain hurts. Taking a break before finishing it up. I did not expect that painting background to be so challenging. I struggled so much with getting the value just right. I want the paintings to be readable, but not distracting. The balance was so hard.
