SVS OG

I love the idea of the two critiques. Thanks for doing this, SVS Learn guys. Here's my idea for Together:

Here's another take using your critiques. After moving Mrs. Beaver to the far right, middle (winds up in the gutter) and having her do dishes (didn't solve the problem), I finally just moved her back a little bit and hid her in the shadows. I may do another lighter value take (it may feel too dark in mood right now to me), but I will "bleach out" the kettle. It's just there right now because the drawing is on top.

P.S. What I really liked about your take @marek-halko is the gradient bleed from behind the fireplace, but I'll have to go back and figure that out later. So much going on today!

@marek-halko Well, I really like what you've done there, especially with the overexposure! By translucent/matte/reflective surfaces, do you mean that the reflective surfaces have more contrast and so I should use them where I want some sharp highlights (say, the teacups), whereas matte surfaces could fade into the background? Thank you!

@Heather-Boyd Well, I certainly need to fix that! This is exactly why I ask for feedback--at this point I am just so deep into the details that I don't see the obvious. Thanks!

Hi everyone, and Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in the US!

I could really use your help. What I was hoping would be a tidy 4-week project illustrating the Beavers house in Narnia has gotten a bit out of hand and I would love to get it back on track. Here's the thread on the planning stages.

I just spent two weeks (I had only scheduled one) conquering the perspective and then doing the final drawing. I had every item nicely laid out on a separate layer with its own mask, so I could move them around easily and uncover what was behind each. And then yesterday I unknowingly flattened the whole thing in a irrevocable way and lost all the layers! Furthermore, I did it just after dropping in a value sketch underneath, so that was stuck in the mix as well. After a moment of utter disbelief, I decided to look on the bright side, treat it was a Marie Kondo moment and retrace the drawing over the now flattened file to improve the line quality.

So here's where I am now:

1. The drawing as it is at the moment. I still need to add some items such as tea cups, half of a pair of snowshoes, a sewing machine in the corner, and a bread crock, but those are relatively minor items. I also still need to refine the characters.

1. Value study composition 1. The reason I was adding value yesterday is that the drawing looked bottom-heavy to me, and I was trying to see if refining the values would help:

1. Value study composition 2. This one might be the better choice, but if I use it I'm going to have to reconstruct some of my lost drawing. Oh well!:

My questions are:

1. Do you see any major drawing problems as I try to finish? I still have to refine and add things, especially for the characters (and especially Susan). But is anything standing out as really weird so far?

2. How about the values? Keeping the values simple enough has been a real challenge in this piece! For example, I had to simplify them in the bottom left corner near the rocker because they were attracting too much attention. Does the piece read clearly? Where does your eye go 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.?

3. Do you like composition 1 or 2 better? Would you change anything else? It's the same drawing in both cases, with a mask shifted, but I'm trying to stick with a given format to practice working within requirements, so that dictates the proportions.

If you've read this far, thank you!!! I hope to move on to the refining and painting stage by the end of the week. It will seep into December, but I will be pleased to have a full-fledged interior scene done for my portfolio!

@NessIllustration thats adorable! So stinking cute. @Coley we should all start a club! Congrats on the work though. Yeah, once the last one is done I promised myself I’m not taking anymore this year. I hope I can stick to my guns. I have four to paint and four to start from scratch.
Coley- is yours just spreading by word of mouth?

@Matthew-Oberdier aren't we all?

@Jacy13 I see what you mean. I'll have to play around with the legs a bit more.

Haven't had much experience with drawing frogs, so doing some study sketches and exploring other artist's versions.

Also trying some character studies of the frog character we might look at going with. I do like this design, but im a little concerned that it's not super unique and that it's head shape is a little too similar to the ladybug, but there is still enough time to play around with ideas. I also plan on doing another study sheet with a frog of a more round a large design too as many of you suggested

I love drawing dogs, especially chihuahuas, I have a little red chibaby and she is so cute. This idea for the unicorn hair came from looking at lots of cool abstract artists.