Finished Art: "Felix Felicis"

[foxestacado]

"Felix Felicis" - Finished

Introduction

This is my entry for hp_art_project , where I was assigned Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 22 "After the Burial." In this chapter, Harry takes the felix felicis potion (aka "luck in a bottle") which will enable him to do things in a highly favorable way (such as compelling him to do something that will lead

Comments

[foxestacado]

There will always be works you are more satisfied with than others. I think that's only natural. Of course that leaves a feeling of dissatisfaction in perfectionist characters like us, but I guess we'll just have to accept that not everything can be as perfect as we want to. :p Be happy about what you've achieved here!

Oh I'll be happy for a little bit, and then I'll get frustrated when I can't duplicate the quality. And then I'll get dissatisfied with a painting I *was* satisfied with because my skill level will increase and make it look like crap maybe 2-3 years down the road. That's happened to a previous painting I thought was brilliant...and then now when I look at it...it just seems so stupid to have EVER thought it was brilliant.

Yeah.

That's kind of the story of my life.

I guess it motivates me to do better each and every time. The threshold keeps increasing. I'm happy that I still have stuff to improve on.

I think you've done the glasses extremely well. I remember talking to you about drawing glasses before, and how they looked wrong in one drawing...so you've definitely improved, because these look just perfect, and while they take away from Harry's emotions, they add a lot to his character. You know what I mean?

Oh I spent a LOT of time on the glasses. I probably spent 2 or 3 days just working on glasses and then figuring out how the shadows would work. It's still imperfect...the glasses are not perfectly round, I don't think the light that hits them are quite right, and I know for a fact that one of the shadows are wrong (but I kept it that way because the "right" way just looked wrong too). But overall, I'm very very satisfied with the glasses and especially the shadows. I don't usually do shadows very well, but the color and way the shadow is blended makes these shadows some of the best shadows I've painted.

But isn't that a paradox? Shouldn't be a more challenging piece be also more interesting? Especially for you? ;)

Hahahaa...you would think, wouldn't you? I'm usually a very competitive person, but I feel intimidated by the frustration I *will* feel when Gillian Anderson doesn't look like Gillian Anderson, based on the fact that I know Duchovny and Anderson are extremely hard to paint for me. Neither one of them are "easy" to draw for me...and will not be to paint. I don't know why...I feel drawn to paint/draw certain people, but Duchovny/Anderson just aren't those people. I AM itching, absolutely ITCHING to do a House painting, though. I have an idea and composition, and everything! :D But...I am just blank when it comes to an XF painting.

Maybe when I think of something, I'll be more enthusiastic about the idea :D

[so_vieh]

And then I'll get dissatisfied with a painting I *was* satisfied with because my skill level will increase and make it look like crap maybe 2-3 years down the road.

Oh, I know THAT all too well. It doesn't even take that long for me to feel absolutely dissatisfied with something I just thought was quite good. At least that's what it used to be like...since I don't really do art anymore. *sigh*

Well, just looking at them, without analysing, they look very much okay to me. :D

I also love Harry's hair..it's very much Harry.

Hmm, I almost ONLY feel compelled to draw Gillian Anderson...she's just so pretty...and I always want to draw pretty things/people. Idk. She's certainly not easy, but not impossible. :) I haven't seriously drawn David before, but I imagine him to be harder, because he's a man. At least for me, women are easier...

I have a painting in mind myself for about two weeks now, but I'm not sure how and where to start. It's so hard to get back into, when you haven't done something in so long.

[foxestacado]

I also love Harry's hair..it's very much Harry.

OH, another point: I think this is the best rendered hair I've ever done. EVER. I tried to replicate this kind of hair for Snape in my sshg_exchange painting...and god, his hair looks awful right now. I don't know HOW I did hair like this...I'm normally AWFUL at hair, but this hair just looks SO good compared to what I normally do. God. Everything just came together for this painting, whereas I really have to struggle at it for other paintings. I don't know why that happens.

She's certainly not easy, but not impossible. :) I haven't seriously drawn David before, but I imagine him to be harder, because he's a man. At least for me, women are easier...

GA is so hard for me to draw. I think David is just a LITTLE easier in some respects because his features are much more distinctive, BUT, he's very, very difficult (probably harder than GA) to get EXACTLY. I remember struggling to do a drawing for Khyber for his fic, "Sokol," and I just had to wade through difficulty after difficulty to get the drawing right...and even so, Mulder was lopsided :(

Maybe it'll be easier to paint them though. I don't know. Sometimes painting is easier than drawing, because I deal with the three-dimensional face more than the 2-d of the paper. But that's just me...I don't know why I see things in 3-D more in painting than drawing...

I have a painting in mind myself for about two weeks now, but I'm not sure how and where to start. It's so hard to get back into, when you haven't done something in so long.

Nah, don't second guess yourself like that. Just jump into it and do it! Painting is like riding a bicycle :D Just push paint around and it'll form something, and you'll find an edge that looks like something, and build upon it. Painting, for me at least, is like slowly erasing a filter over a face. I'm not really painting the face...I'm just extracting it :D

[so_vieh]

I know that...sometimes it just happens and you don't even know how...yeah, I know that. It's a good feeling.

See, I have little to no experience in painting...I mostly draw. And so I don't really know where to start, what paper to use, what colours..how to sketch it out, or if and ...bla. Everything. lol I also want to know exactly what it should look like before I start...I know the bigger concept, but not the details yet.

[foxestacado]

It sounds like to me, from our previous conversations about art and drawing, that you have a very good sense of proportions. I say just start with a sketch, and go from there. Don't worry too much with everything else :) And have fun! If sketching and drawing is too stressful for you, no wonder you're not getting any practice :) Just relax.

If you don't know all of the details, just start sketching. I and other artists almost never start a drawing/painting without working on a bunch of different sketches first.

And you can sketch on just about everything :D I make a lot of sketches lately on Starbucks napkins :D When you actually start drawing, you should think about where this drawing is going to go once you're finished drawing. Just a drawing? Then any kind of medium weight cotton paper will do. A watercolor? Use watercolor paper. A painting? Use a canvas or canvas board. Or wood, or whatever else.

But you don't need to think about those things when you are just getting your ideas out :)