April WIP brings May.... Robots?

natiwata

So cool to see this very analog process of creating art! I haven't done non-digital art for so long, but had an ambition to become a puppet maker when I was a kid. Very cool!

EliaMurrayArt

@Kat , @Aaron_T @Jeremy-Ross, @natiwata

🥰🥰 thank you all. I am so glad I can share this process with SVS. It is something I haven always wanted to do.

EliaMurrayArt

Prop Spotlight

Literally.

I built this little lamp this morning (I dont know where the cut off is and I can call this illustration done... I guess the deadline!)

I love the lamp so much I wanted to give it a little shout out because I know it is just a background element and won't be that noticeable.

It is made from little brass tubing, brass rivets, and a jam lid bottom!

The tiny lightbulb is from the hardware store.

All of this is secured with massive amounts of gorilla glue.

Surprisingly simple, but very satisfying.

Coley

@EliaMurrayArt

Eeeeeeeeeeek! Cutest lamp Evah!!!

EliaMurrayArt

@Coley 🥰🥰🥰 obsessed with it. I think it should be the star of my illustration.

EliaMurrayArt

Down to the wire!!

I am starting to wrap things up here in this tiny room with a tiny, failed, inventor and her exploded robot.

Right now I am essentially putting the icing on the cake and adjusting the things that I feel are not meshing together properly.

For example this Robot head.

At first, he was green, then red, then a different shade of red. And now finally a gray blue which I have settled on.

I made the mistake of assigning colors to important elements before I had the whole scene really nailed down (color thumbs should not be ignored, learn from my mistake!). Because I only had green paint for the walls the robot could not also be green and remain a focal point. So I tried red. That flopped. Twice. I knew the robot head had to have some red on it to draw the eye to it but an entire red head was way way too much.

So here I am. And I am quite happy with him because he looks like a clown. Lisa has been designing a "buddy bot" and so I think it is fitting that he looks like a robot clown that she would be building to cheer her up.

I hope for her sake, buddy bot 3.0 survives better than 1 & 2.

Coley

@EliaMurrayArt I like that grey blue, and the robot head is awesome it’s coming together!

teresaro

All of this is so amazing!!!

Jeremy Ross

Hi @EliaMurrayArt, looks great! Good choice on the colors!

EliaMurrayArt

Yummy Icing

Here are some little details that will be in the background of my illustration that I wanted to highlight.

I am still figuring out exactly where to put them but I thought it would be fun to just give them each their own personal little shout out because they will be playing second fiddle when all is said and done.

Lisa, as a little inventor, of course had to have schematics and instructions for her Robot. This is Robot 2.0 (we currently don't know what happened to the first robot but it is a safe bet that Lisa is hiding him under her bed... which happens to be the place she also hides her brussel sprouts. )

She has very few requirements for the Buddy Bot. Mostly she needs him to like flowers, give hugs, and have a brain. Though she admits the brain part isn't high on the priority list.

Dr. Fluffy is Lisa's co inventor. He usually tries to talk Lisa out of doing things, always the voice of reason, and yet Lisa tends never to listen to him. This time Dr. Fluffy really did try to tell her to read the instructions but Lisa had to follow her "creative instincts"... once again, Dr. Fluffy was right.

Lisa has a window! That's... about it for that...

🥰

EliaMurrayArt

Just getting crazy now

Had some extra time. Made a tiny drawing mannequin for Lisa. I imagine she'll become an artist after she throws out her robot attempt.

This is carved and glued. No fingers were harmed in the creating of this.

Coley

So awesome. Her goggles nearly kill me

EliaMurrayArt

@Coley hahaha too bad they don't fit over her hair

Coley

@EliaMurrayArt ha Ha. They're even super cute on the bench! The mannequin is uber cute too

demotlj

I don't care how great any other entries are this month; I'm voting for you all the way to the top. I have so enjoyed watching you make this.

EliaMurrayArt

@demotlj omgosh I am beyond flattered! (Though I am SURE there will incredible entries) It has been an absolute joy bringing you all on this journey with me. I have never done something like this and I am so glad I have a community to share it with.

I am already thinking of what to build next and I hope next months prompt will also be an inspiration for something dimensional.

Coley

@EliaMurrayArt it's been great watching it unfold and I look forward to next month if you do this again! I was thinking I wanted to do this but it might be too much work for me LoL. We'll see!

EliaMurrayArt

@Coley I won't lie... this bas been at least a 40 hour project. It's been a HUGE time commitment. I am hoping I will get faster at it as I learn more.

But it is SO rewarding.

EliaMurrayArt

Big Reveal!

Alright guys, I want to introduce you to Lisa!

I've taken..... so many photos. I've narrowed it down to a couple... And though I think I could keep taking photos for the next week, I think I need to pull the plug. I cannot pick and cannot even tell if this looks good anymore. It's like my eyes have been burned out. But at some point you just have to stop shooting right?

So I call upon you lot to heeeelllllpppppp please!

I am going to show some edited and some not (so you if there is one you like the color of, but prefer the composition of another let me know!) I have also edited the robots eyes in a couple, so the robots eyes are interchangeable as well.

A ) This is a raw photo - no editing. Just staged and photographed.

B ) This is edited - I darkened the background to make her and the robot stand out a bit more, played with the saturation, and adjusted the robots eyes so that they are looking back at her.

C ) Another Raw image - very slight differences I notice - the robot head is propped up a bit - and the composition is a little tighter..

D ) One more edited shot - Darker background - I put in a slightly stronger spotlight on Lisa, I was imagining as though a door were ajar. And with the robot looking back at her.

IF you're sitting here thinking "damn if she'd just done this" then LET ME KNOW while I still have time haha. I'm driving myself crazy. I feel like Lisa.

I want to thank you all for coming along this journey with me! It has been an absolute BLAST - haha if anyone is a stop motion animator/knows someone who needs a puppet - I think this is something I 100% want to get into.

TessaW

Ooooo. This is tough. I think any of them would work well, but I'll give you my quick takes-

I really like the overall feel of A. To me it's a good combo of B which shows off the gesture very well and C) which has a slightly more dynamic perspective. I think I also like the robot looking at the viewer. I don't know why, but it 's just so cute and funny to me. I'm not sure if it quite looks like she's looking at the robot's head though and I'd suggest tweaking where the eyes are looking. Maybe that's just me. I do feel like C) has the best crispness/sharpness and it would be nice if you could achieve that in the others. Actually, looking at them one more time, maybe C is pulling ahead of the others for me, but I'd like to see the gaze tweaked a bit.

You have nailed the character design/expression and I love seeing the edges of the cardboard and the little coiled shrapnel.

I wouldn't be surprised if you won this month!