Gryphon prompt: Lets share our inspiration and WIPs

[skeletortoise]

My thumbnails for the current prompt! The story I finally landed on is that a baby Griffin stows away in a pirate stash while they are treasure hunting near a griffin nest. In some of the illustrations I have the mom looming threateningly, while in others I have her just sleeping in the background. In number three she's not even present. I feel that the presence of her as a threat makes the story more interesting, but the idea of a baby Griffin stowing away in a pirate stash might be enough?

Please let me know which thumbnail you think works best. I'm leaning towards two or seven. Though I do enjoy the before moment when the baby is thinking about jumping into the chest shown in four and five.

[Reb Erlik]

@skeletortoise
Awesome concept! Your story ideas are super creative!
Silhouette and composition in #2 is really nice.
Lee says in Visual Storytelling class that "moment before" an action can be more interesting than the "moment during" so I would lean towards #4 and #5 in terms of good storytelling. Especially if the viewer knows something that the rest of the characters are oblivious to.
#7 has the most drama and also nice composition but the focus is definitely on the mom

I would choose #4 but make baby gryphon larger and in foreground, kind of like you started to do in #5.
See if you can apply the same kind of strong silhouettes as you created in #2.
I think it's enough to make one storyline the focus, and my preference is baby stowaway. That feels like a more unique story than creature attacking pirate ship.

#4 and #5 are a sneak peak into drama to come,
whereas #2 and #7 are the moment of discovery/moment of fear.

But the best choice is your favorite one!

[Larue]

@skeletortoise
I like 5 because it shows the moment he decides to take action without the mom knowing. You only need to show a part of her sleeping. The discovery of him can be in the next prompt. If he is a stow away it could be confusing if it looks like he was “gryphon-napped” and mama gryphon is pissed off.

[jenn]

@R-Fey-Realme If I drew the wrong animal, my mythology-obsessed progeny would call me out. Like kids who know the name of every dinosaur, you know?

Speaking of which, apparently gryphons were inspired by fossils of a real dinosaur, Protoceratops:

[Fey Realme]

@skeletortoise i think there is real magic in #2! Your people feel so authentic and there is just enough context to say pirates on their ship and the crop is great. What i’m not getting so clearly in #2 is the recentness of the plunder or that it came from a griffins nest. What if you had that sack being carried up the gangplank on some pirates back with the griffin baby partially covered in the gold (possibly playing with a piece) while the captain and first mate look on in horror and a small guy up in the rigging (very near the mast) points at the mama griffin with obvious terror?

I like how you tried a bunch of different moments, the guys would be so proud, but i think that moment of realization and impending doom is the most interesting!

@jenn haha thats totally fine! Yeah i found that out too! I never realized! It turns out griffin legends really came from the silk road in asia—i always thought it was a european thing

[skeletortoise]

@reberlik @R-Fey-Realme @Larue Thank you all for such great and in depth feedback! I think I will go with #4 or #5, and maybe try for #2 if I have time. No harm in doing two after all!

[Tash]

Hey folks!
I think I've landed on a concept for my submission. My Griffen has a snake tail that is vicious and unruly, so they are going to obedience classes together. There are some other characters there with behavior problems.

I've been playing with the layout but I'm struggling a bit with a layout that's dynamic but also displays all the other characters, is the Griffen getting lost?. I'd love to know your thoughts!

[Reb Erlik]

@skeletortoise Awesome! The guys definitely appreciate people who draw two, so if you think you can, go for it! Truthfully it is hard to choose because you have great silhouette in #2 and great story in #4/5

Also I went back and rewatched Lee's visual storytelling class, and realized that the mom approaching the pirates actually also counts as a "moment before." It's building tension because she hasn't attacked yet, like the jaws poster or the implied shadow of a shark approaching from under a ship.

[Reb Erlik]

@Tash What a fun story! That's great!
Yes, the gyphon needs to be the primary focal point and the other animals secondary. It's a bit of an issue to have the large dog and hoody boy in the front center unless you plan on de-emphasizing them somehow.

In Will's Creative Composition class, he talks about Emphasis.
This can be achieved with:

• having all the other characters looking towards the main character
• warm colours on the main character only
• size of character
• leading lines pointing towards character (including bodies of other characters that form a line)
• silhouette and value: main character is either lighter or darker than bkg
• focal point is the highest contrast point where light meets dark
• framing: darken border
  (other characters can be in the shadow)
• edges: crisp edges for main characters, others are softer/blurry edge or desaturated colors
• a human character (our eye goes first to boy in hoody, then to his dog because we identify with human character first)

[jenn]

@Tash What a fun concept! I guess I'm just repeating what @reberlik said: I am seeing the dog as the focal point of all 3 layouts, because of the gesture of its trainer and everyone looking at it. The griffin perhaps should be the one in the training hot seat or somehow attracting others' attention. Maybe like a middle school kid, it is clowning around during class so that the others aren't paying attention to the demonstration with the dog? Just an idea.

[zoejonesillustration]

@Tash Hi there Tash! I love the story here so fun!
Love the designs of the characters also!

I agree with the others, somehow the attention needs to be more so on the griffin. Perhaps you can have the griffin be bigger the rest of the characters and the instructor is taking down the names on a clip board and is shocked at how big the griffin is. Perhaps the older ladies dog is barking at it? Everyone is just a little on edge/scared of the griffin.

Just an idea looking forward to seeing the finished illustration!

[Katt]

Hi fellow illustrators

Okay, this is my first time committing to a HTFYA challenge (it was one of my goals this year). Doing the research and backstory was probably my favorite part as a writer and history nerd, but I would say the story is more geared towards something like a middle school or young adult novel, but in terms of doing the art challenge and hopefully getting some feedback it fits the bill. I would love feedback.

I will be honest- i felt pretty intimidated when I looked on this thread this morning, but I really would like some feedback. I used graphite and watercolor, and I did a little editing in Procreate for the light.

story
The story takes place during the Williamite War in Ireland, at an Earl’s castle that lays on the edge of the rocky coastline of the North Atlantic. Our protagonist, Ian, lives a miserable existence as a servant in the kitchen. Just off the coast, a griffon dwells in a cave. Attracted by a sparkling gemstone that Ian hides in his cloak, he begins to visit the castle to get a glimpse of it.

One day, the rocky coast gives way, and the kitchen falls off the cliff taking everybody with it. The griffon, who has been watching Ian for some time, swoops in to save Ian (this will be the picture for April’s prompt). The griffon takes Ian to the seaside cave dwelling, where a horrified Ian assumes that the creature plans to eat him. He soon learns that the griffon is interested in the gem he has.

The griffon has no name (but Ian will later refer to him as Fergus). He is the size of a medium dog (I based him off my Boston Terrier, and included features and animals that have strong Celic and Irish ties such as the Northern Lapwing and celtic knots).

I haven’t quite figured out the backend of the griffon… probably something more cute looking.
Anyways, I might upload more thumbnails etc, but I was having a difficult time with sizing etc... so I just put up what I was able to. I hope I can make some improvements by the deadline.

[Tash]

@reberlik @jenn @zoejonesillustration

Thank you all so much for your feedback and ideas, I'm understanding that the consensus is the emphasis needs to be shifted away from the trainer in the hoodie to the Griffen to make it a stronger focal point, I will play with some new layouts!

Thank you all so much for your thoughtful feedback

[Tash]

@Katt really cool concept! When I look at your image of the Griffen on the roof, from his vantage point I don't think he'd be able to see into the window, maybe play with some layouts that move him lower into the window sneaking glances at the boy

[Katt]

@Tash Thank you oh, yes you are totally right- i think that when I made that particular illustration, it wasn't necessarily when the griffon was watching him, more just perched on the roof just to have him visible, but I can see how my description would have made it sound like that. I think in order for him to see the boy Ian, he would need to be on an adjacent wall, or I even did some thumbnails of the griffon from a cliff. I honestly have a very difficult time with perspective, and I can come up with ideas and thumbnails, but executing them in illustration frustrates me. I've taken the perspective classes on Svs, read Perspective for Dummies...lol but I am not fluent in it like I would like to be.

[MarcRobinson]

REFERENCE IMAGES

Hi everyone, I hope you all had a great weekend. I thought I'd share some photo's I took recently while out and about in case anyone needs some reference. I noticed quite a few people have knights and castles in their illustrations so maybe these can be useful. Might be handy for next months prompt too.

For those that may be interested, the armour is from the Royal Armoury in Leeds, and the church, bridge and tower (actually an old windmill) are from Newcastle Upon Tyne.

[MarcRobinson]

GRYPHON SKETCHBOOK

I realised I never posted my sketches for this months prompt. I like to make notes and scribble all over the place before jumping into doing a final sketch in Photoshop. I then use that sketch to do a tight traditional drawing in pencil. I then scan that in and paint over it in Photoshop again. Convoluted? Definitely!

[Joshua Chennault]

Lots of cool stuff in here, figured I would post a quick sketch on what I am thinking for mine. Also check out my sketchbook thread if you want to see some character stuff that I have been working on for this.

[zoejonesillustration]

Love seeing everyone’s progress! Thought I’d add the sketches for my piece. Finished on is on the submission thread. Based off a house sparrow and a house cat!

Got the idea from my cat leaving me little unwanted gifts at the door haha!

[MarcRobinson]

@zoejonesillustration love seeing the process sketches. Great stuff.