Diamonds and Toads
a cover for the fairy tale diamonds and toads. it has't been the pleasantest of experiences working on this.
thumbnails.
first comps. i liked these compositions but the professor totally did not. she just kept asking, "where are her arms?" and i said, NOT THERE. at first i was a tiny bit put off, but what i ended up with instead does look better, at least better than the one on the left. i have sort of a history of drawing girls with missing or disappearing arms and hands. when i doodle on notes or syllabi or anything, they are often what happens.
she told me to keep it simple, just the girl with flowers around. it did not make me very excited. so i sketched this, and she did not like the lack upper arms here either. she photoshopped an awkward looking body onto her and i definitely frowned upon opening the file. i then debated with myself for quite a while whether i should do what i want or what she wants. i asked my roommates, and i asked my boyfriend, and did not get much of a straight answer (their initial reactions, however, were for me to add a body, which made me frown again). i really liked the shape of the sleeves. if i were to have used the sketch i would have moved the one on the right in front of the one on the left, though, because there is still some awkwardness going on.
(also i am aware that the part of her right that does exist is entirely too long, and that her hands are too big, which is a problem i run into when i am using myself as a hand model.)
so i added the body. i think it's sort of boring and literal, but not completely awful, and if it's not working how i wanted it then it's not working. it doesn't look worse to me, just less interesting. i guess i should be treating this as if she were the art director and so i changed am changing it for the grade. i will come back to the sketch on my own and see if i can work it out the way i wanted it.
what i had finished for class today is not something i am sure i want to post. the drawing suffered when i scaled it down and started inking, and i always like my sketches better than my finishes. the feedback i got in class was mostly good except for some anatomy problems (which could have been easily prevented had i taken the time to shoot a body reference). i also want more flowers and less tiny things in the air. there is enough to make me want to start all over and make it portfolio-ready.
it has been an interesting lesson in learning how to compromise. i hope that i do not feel as iffy about the next project!
thumbnails.
first comps. i liked these compositions but the professor totally did not. she just kept asking, "where are her arms?" and i said, NOT THERE. at first i was a tiny bit put off, but what i ended up with instead does look better, at least better than the one on the left. i have sort of a history of drawing girls with missing or disappearing arms and hands. when i doodle on notes or syllabi or anything, they are often what happens.
she told me to keep it simple, just the girl with flowers around. it did not make me very excited. so i sketched this, and she did not like the lack upper arms here either. she photoshopped an awkward looking body onto her and i definitely frowned upon opening the file. i then debated with myself for quite a while whether i should do what i want or what she wants. i asked my roommates, and i asked my boyfriend, and did not get much of a straight answer (their initial reactions, however, were for me to add a body, which made me frown again). i really liked the shape of the sleeves. if i were to have used the sketch i would have moved the one on the right in front of the one on the left, though, because there is still some awkwardness going on.
(also i am aware that the part of her right that does exist is entirely too long, and that her hands are too big, which is a problem i run into when i am using myself as a hand model.)
so i added the body. i think it's sort of boring and literal, but not completely awful, and if it's not working how i wanted it then it's not working. it doesn't look worse to me, just less interesting. i guess i should be treating this as if she were the art director and so i changed am changing it for the grade. i will come back to the sketch on my own and see if i can work it out the way i wanted it.
what i had finished for class today is not something i am sure i want to post. the drawing suffered when i scaled it down and started inking, and i always like my sketches better than my finishes. the feedback i got in class was mostly good except for some anatomy problems (which could have been easily prevented had i taken the time to shoot a body reference). i also want more flowers and less tiny things in the air. there is enough to make me want to start all over and make it portfolio-ready.
it has been an interesting lesson in learning how to compromise. i hope that i do not feel as iffy about the next project!