Seeking last minute thoughts on my Oz piece and maybe a hug
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@Coley Ah I really love your cover - both work well for me. To be honest, I didn't really notice the hand thing - they both look fine to me, I think sometimes we can spend too long looking and it's hard to tell. The composition's lovely though. I suppose working on the lettering could be an option but this looks ok to me.
Sorry about your new situation. I know how you feel, I've had to to do this a few times over the past couple of years and it was difficult in lots of ways and although I couldn't do as much art, when I did have time I was probably much more productive. Don't give up, your work is really lovely and you're so far on the road! In view of your current situation this image seems even more poignant. Sending you lots of virtual hugs xxx -
Wow, that's a great silhouette you've created with the witch and the characters! The hand didn't bother me, either. In fact, I rather liked it up! If I were you, I'd spend what time I had left on this working on either the title or perhaps a soft background.
I think there's a little bit too much spacing between the words, and I agree that they are a little sharp. I discovered a little trick with PS type layers. You can select them, create a mask, and color it in with some brushy texture! That might make for a softer font. (You may have to rasterize it first--I don't remember.)
By soft background, I don't mean a landscape or anything complicated, just a little wash.
I'm very sorry for the job that will take you away from your art. I can very much understand why that is discouraging. We artists rightly hold tightly to our creativity and having to put it on the back burner must feel like a big defeat. I'm hoping you'll have some compensation or clarity in the long run that will have made it worth it, and most of all that you eventually will find a different job that allows you to draw, or some energy to draw anyway!
I big virtual hug from me!
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Virtual hug!! Have you considered removing the curly end from the hat? I would keep the piece pointing toward the title, but remove the curly U shape below, which is pointing away from the title and kind of competing with it.
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@Coley This looks great! I really like your style and as others have mentioned, the silhouette is really striking. Re: the lettering, it works compositionally, but I personally tend to gravitate to titles with lettering that's more hand drawn, or fonts that feel hand drawn. If you have time and the interest, it might be interesting to explore options with the lettering. re: having to get a day job, I totally empathize. That's a whole separate thread (sigh). Sending big hugs to you and know you're not alone.
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Thanks so much for the hugs everyone . They were extra-necessary this morning as I found out an art grant I had applied for was turned down,...... when it rains, it pours as they say! lol. Oh my. Will try to shift focus to what I am truly grateful for . This thread has helped a lot! It made me feel that there were people that understand. Truly grateful for this community!
I have taken a lot of advice and employed it, great thought on turning the witch’s hat curl @deborah-Haagenson , I think it looks more tornado like too....it might be a wee bit close to the title but I’ll think on it.
@Johanna-Kim , I like more handwritten titles too, I redid it with a font from procreate but will see what’s in photoshop. And @LauraA I tried a light texture on the font, and a light wash on the bg. I haven’t added any variation or texture to the bg so will think on that. It might detract too much if I did that but I think the white background might have been too stark.
Thanks also @Rachel-Horne , @xin-li , @amiklo , @Nyrryl-Cadiz , your comments were very helpful ! And all hugs duly noted and accepted
Any other thoughts and critique appreciated.
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@Coley I love the changes you made! I think it looks great!!
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@Coley I'm just here for the hug. I'm new to the SVS world, but I love your artwork and am giving you a hug with my mind.
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@Coley This feels odd to say, but I'm so sorry about the job! Your Oz piece is absolutely wonderful and proves one thing: you are a true artist, and will always remain one even if you have less time to put in the craft. And I know your time will come when you can invest more time into it again, sometime in the future! Do what you gotta do fro you and your family - as long as art is in you, it will never truly go away.
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@Coley - just wanted to say congrats on the job and sorry. We got some bad news recently too. it has me reeling. the time to make art is so limited everything feels like a threat. Hugs to you. I'm sorry about the grant too. Sometimes we have to take time to live life to the fullest (even if that means focusing on a struggle) and wait for the time we can put all that into our art.
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@Coley Love this! Dorothy looks great! I think either arm position works and she has the right amount of detail for her size relative to the cover. This font and spacing looks better to me too. The first version seemed to have too much leading.
Sorry to hear about your job situation. That sounds like a frustrating setback
Be kind to yourself and just do what you are able to without getting burned out! -
@Coley Beautiful cover illustration! Sending you a virtual hug
Times are tough right now! -
@Coley that font looks much better! It goes with the illustration much more and looks like less of an afterthought. The concept is really clever too.
A lot of artists have a non art related day job. Some find it zaps their creativity if the day job is creative and its better to do something completely different. Think of it like a writer, your experiences outside of art contribute to your idea generation
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Thanks for the inspiring and heartfelt posts peeps
I’m feeling better this evening .... I was thinking about the job ( I feel like a bit of an idiot for complaining in some ways because so many people are unemployed!)....
But I can eventually work a little less than full time at this, once training is done, and I loved the book cover project a LOT, and I was about to send out postcards but now thinking about it, I might steer towards book cover work for a bit as it’s a shorter term project......so this thread and this month project may lead to something, or at least an attempt lol, thanks everyone
I think I’m done but won’t post till I stare at it more lol. I added a wee bit of harness and also some more light to the eyeball to focus attention there as well as hopefully on Dorothy.
Thanks again, sooo appreciative of the comments, they were really helpful on many levels.
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@Coley The cyclone on the end of the hat did not go unnoticed. Good work. Toto could use a bit more squared-off muzzle. Nice design.
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I think this image is just fantastic. I meant to give feedback earlier to your thumbnails as I thought they were awesome but we were away on a caravan trip and I didn’t have WiFi! As a novice at all this digital art I wasn’t going to add a cutting edge insightful critique so much as just to say I loved the image as it was really striking and original. The fact you subconsciously made the hat like a tornado was also extremely cool!
Anyway, I just wanted to say that I totally related to the other stuff in your post about work/life/art balance. My husband is in the military so we move around a lot and I end up doing solo parenting a lot and my jobs fluctuate so time for art always gets squeezed. But I liked what you said about making the most of time with the little ones before they leave home. I’ve had to let lots of opportunities pass by for the sake of the kids but I do hope that in time we’ll be able to grasp opportunities again, it might just take a bit longer. As @gavpartridge said, you did the right thing for your family at the moment and that’s a good thing. I’ve admired your art since I joined SVS a few months ago, it’s beautiful, so I’m sure you’ll get the work your aiming for sooner or later as you’re super talented! Best wishes and hang in there! I feel your frustrations!
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@Lorna-H sweet! Thank you! I somehow missed this message and I just wanted to let you know it made my evening
. I really appreciate it, thank you 
