Little traveler - personal piece, need feedback :-)

Kim Hunter

It would deepen the bond and show us another side of the traveler if we saw her caring for her snail, perhaps the way one would care for a horse she loved. Grooming, feeding, scratching that itchy spot behind the tentacle. FYI - when you scratch that "itchy spot" on a a horse, it extends its neck, tilts its head and its upper lip will twist and elongate. That's horse heaven.

xin li

@LauraA thank you so much for the feedback. I think I will focus on proceed with no.2 and 3 at this moment, and work on the idea no.1 a bit more later

@lmrush Thanks. I see what you mean now.

@theprairiefox really good point with silhouettes. I will keep in mind when I am working on no.1 and no.3. I agree no.2 seems to have the most clear silhouettes.

@Kim-Hunter I really love that you see the snail as her hourse. It was exactly what I had in mind. I wanted to draw one image where they curl up and sleeping togehter. But U like your idea of grooming, feeding and scratching. I will play with this idea.

Rachel Horne

I really like them all to be honest and I see you've already decided to go with two and three. Can't wait to see the finished results. I understand what you mean, I feel like I'm in a bit of a creative slump but it seems that despite the difficult times, you're still making lovely art.

xin li

@Rachel-Horne thank you so much. I try to keep going with art as much as I can to maintain some kind of normal life. Of course, it is impossile to work fulltime on art right now, as I also spend lots of family time which is really nice (if it was not for this crazy surreal time).

I love your recent instagram updates. They are bueatiful :-).
Stay safe and keep going

Rachel Horne

@xin-li thank you I've been loving your instagram pencil sketches. It's important to get some art in, even if it's just a small amount. It's definitely a strange time and even though it's great to spend some time with family, it's a little bittersweet too but art will see us through, I'm sure. xx

MelissaJacie

@xin-li Look forward to seeing where you take this idea! Love the sweetness in it. Please do keep us updated on your progress!

xin li

@MelissaJacie I can not decide which media to use.
I made a quick ink wash test on my sketch book. I like the texture and the feel of the environment, but I never know what to do with the character when painting with inkwash. If I go with ink, I have to figure out how to paint the main characters somehow

eriberart

I love the energy that your ink washes have! You should check out Becky Cameron's work. She combines ink, watercolour, pencil texture and photoshop I think. I've always loved how she does her characters. She has more great stuff on her instagram

xin li

@eriberart I love becky Cameron's work. thanks for the tip.

burvantill

@xin-li i think that you could get away with really simplifying the shape of the characters. I just did a search and found Jon Klassen on Pinterest. I found a couple of ink wash illustrations that were simple but still conveyed the story.
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xin li

@burvantill yeah. Jon Klassen and Benji davis are good reference. I think I need to work a lot with getting good silhouttes. I love Becky Cameron's work. But I do not have a very graceful lines. My art look better without visible line work currently. I also like to work without much lines around the main characters at this moment. So I will be working more with shapes, silhouttes, and patterns. This came out this afternoon. I wonder if I can draw the little traveller in this style. ----

burvantill

@xin-li Nice. Loose but still has detail.

MelissaJacie

@xin-li Thanks so much for sharing this!! Nice work on the environment! On the character--maybe use inspiration from your digital work--create a character for the scene digitally and then use it as a sort of reference photo for your inkwash?

xin li

@MelissaJacie thank you for the feedback. Yes. I plan to trace the character I did digitally into a piece of watercolor paper and paint traditionally.