Sound color comp #2

   

The top image is my second try at the color comp, I brought in the old one for comparison. I like the over all composition better because I played with angles in this one. The change in colors was pretty successful, I think, but I did get a complaint or two on the orange. I agree, orange doesn't really characterize the sound of whistling. I think I'll change it too a cooler color, probably teal, and all of the colors will be a bit more saturated in the final. The girl was generally better-liked this time (I think it's the freckles and the slight smile), but a few people said something about her wasn't right. I think it's in the neck/jaw area. The bird and hand were much better this time too, the placement was a little awkward in the last comp.

When I go at this with water color, I plan on making a lot of expressive marks in the background and waves.

Cheesy final

Well, Snow White looks better than I thought she would. It took me probably around 10 hours from start to finish (spread out over 2 days). I learned a lot more about controlling the flow of the paint and being extremely careful. I also experimented a lot with holding a paper perpendicular to the board and spraying on the paper to get a kind of feathered but clean line, like with the indents in her sleeve, and her eyelids.. It took a whole lot of strategy to decide which areas to paint in what order. I also had to go over a couple of areas with gouache afterward, like a few hairlines where there was misalignment, the lines between her fingers, and the specks of white above the apple. I am happiest with her sleeve and bow, and I like the background better than the one in the picture I worked from. I would have liked for her nose to turn out a little better (it isn't turned up enough). Also, I'm not all that happy with the highlights in her hair.

Sound pencil and color comps

Looks like I'll be recomping. I wanted to make the sound "waves" look kind of psychedelic, but I think I might have gone too far with the colors. Next time, I'll be minimizing the number of colors I use, to create more unity between the girl and the bird sounds. I like the yellow, blue, orange and salmon the best. The bird needs to stand out more, and probably be either more outside of the sound waves or completely inside of them (probably the latter). It's official, nobody likes the black background (I think I'll try brown instead), and the waves need to be more saturated. I think I'll make the girl happier and more inside the frame while I'm at it... and I don't think her hand is in proportion with her face either. Shoot, I might as well try a different orientation while I'm doing everything else. But everyone seemed to like the concept.

This is my pencil comp, I decided to make the guy a girl, I don't know why, just seemed more appropriate. I like how the bottom left kind if mimics a bird tail. I think I'll incorporate that more in the next color comp.

Sound Illustration: pencil comps

Ok, so a lot of people liked the pencil, but it really doesn't have personality, so too bad. Somebody had the exact same idea for the cracking knuckles, so that's out. Rusty likes the crunching leaf. I am undecided among the crunching leaf, the gum chewer with a spit string, the guy sliding down a glass door, and the whistlers. I am kind of fond of the mood in the whistle comp. I think I could do a lot with color in the expressive shapes. The gum chewer might gross me out after a while (pet peeve), that's not one I'll want to hang up afterward, but I think the braces and spit string are funny... The glass door guy could be interesting, I wonder how I would really make it clear that he is sliding down, not just hitting it, without the directional lines. I like the perspective on the crunching leaf, and I could play with going in and out of focus on that one. To narrow it down, I think it's between the leaf crunch and the whistlers. Decisions, decisions.

MO post card color comp

This is me trying to be funny, I think it might have worked this time! Unfortunately I had a misunderstanding about text, and now I won't need to make any extra space on the right for "Welcome to Missouri." I think the cheesy text added, but it'll be okay. I think I will be using gouache for this one. For the painting, the colors will be more vivid, and there will be darker tones. I am happy with the sunset colors, though. I think I will also make the tractor just a tad bigger. 

Airbrush fruit, take 2

This is my mango with water droplets. I am glad I tried the water droplets, but I don't think they are the greatest. They are  not quite matched up with the surface where they should be, and the drop shadows are a bit much, so most of them look like they are floating.

My process: I cut out each color  area separately in my mask, including all of the water droplets. I started with the skin of the fruit, put the mask back on and worked with the droplets on the skin, moved up to the stem, then covered everything and worked on the inside of the fruit. The last thing I did was the droplet on the inside.

I am happiest with the overall tone and texture of the skin of the fruit. I am least satisfied with the droplets and the ink runs between the skin and the inside.

MO Post Card

Dear goodness, look what I've gotten myself into. So, I wanted to be humorous, because let's face it, Missouri is full of hicks (I am from Hicktown, so I'm allowed to make fun of it). I prefer the ones with a trailer and a flamingo, but it looks like I am developing the cars behind a tractor. The other ones were demonstrating the big city/small town contrast so evident in Missouri, but that's not very interesting, and funny always wins. So, for the tractor post card, I am going to reverse the view. Now we will have a front view of the tractor with a bunch of cars behind it. I like the idea of the sunset, because it is a stereotypical cheesy post card thing, and I think it will be a good contrast to the unexpected. I will also be using a cheesy script font for "Welcome to Missouri". I know how much you like those, Rusty. I am scared of this project now, because I am no good at drawing cars. I guess I'll have to learn something, dang it.