Jan WIP - Let's draw a dragon on the snow (Critiques welcome :-)

ArtofAleksey · 28 Jan 2020, 13:54

@xin-li my suggestion for contrast is to make the snow a warmer color and make the dragon a cooler color. Because all the warms of the balloon and character in the balloon are drawing our eye away from the blues, and also that round balloon/mountain range is keeping my eye up there. So another suggestion might be to have pine trees on the “foreground” of the ground “pointing” at the dragon rather than leafless trees and align them in a similar curve as you did the mountain range. Does that make sense?
Warm and cool suggestion: Something like this?

braden H · 28 Jan 2020, 14:33

@xin-li said in Jan WIP - Let's draw a dragon on the snow (Critiques welcome :

@nadyart thank you so much for the feedback. I will fiddle a bit more with the value for the dragon :-).
@eriberart I went back and forth with the color of the sky. I will paint a bit more on other parts of the image, and get back to it tomorrow.

I keep waffling between the two!

Take the following as very light suggestions since I think the options you have already are awesome and work great

A way to make the warmer (sunset?) option more interesting could be to throw it into half light. That way you get to play with warm snow AND cool snow much like @Aleksey said

Also, snow can REALLY take on the colour of the sky.

I had, like, 10 more reference photos of my backyard that were better than these but my phone is stuck in some wierd backup loop. Blurgh.

Anyhoo, this is awesome. Great work

xin li · 28 Jan 2020, 19:07

@Aleksey @Braden-Hallett Thank you so much for the feedback. I played a bit with the warm snow and cool dragon idea (see no.3). I think I really likes it. I struggled to find one overall color and one contrast color for the main subject. I think now it is finally going in the right direction.

@Aleksey I am also going to redesign the tree in the foreground. I just feel the shapes I use are too complicated. I try to simplify them.

I try to keek the value of Will and balloon close to each other, so they are more or less grouped as one shape. But I do not know if Will and the hot balloon is still to prominent compared to the dragon.

My lighting is not realistic at all, but I hope it is kind of work in its own logic. I will add a bit more shadow for the kids on the ground to really sell the idea that they are 3d dimensional, and the dragon is flat.

Thank you for all the feedback so far, everyone. This is a lot of fun.

ArtofAleksey · 28 Jan 2020, 17:25

@xin-li best of luck this is a tough problem but in sure you will solve it

@Braden-Hallett this is your backyard??

braden H · 28 Jan 2020, 17:46

@Aleksey said in Jan WIP - Let's draw a dragon on the snow (Critiques welcome :

this is your backyard??

lol, no, though the same area. In the second one you can probably see my house way up on the hill in the background.

ArtofAleksey · 28 Jan 2020, 17:57

@Braden-Hallett my “backyard” is full of trash because my neighbors never use it.

braden H · 28 Jan 2020, 18:19

@Aleksey said in Jan WIP - Let's draw a dragon on the snow (Critiques welcome :

@Braden-Hallett my “backyard” is full of trash because my neighbors never use it.

That... sounds... delightful.

ArtofAleksey · 28 Jan 2020, 18:26

@Braden-Hallett need references?

braden H · 28 Jan 2020, 18:30

@Aleksey not on this thread, lol

xin li · 28 Jan 2020, 18:56

@Braden-Hallett wow. you live in such a beautiful place. Now I know where your comic inspiration comes from. The first picture also reminded me of your slowvember piece.

@Aleksey I think trash is a good subject to study for artists, as they tell a lot about the people who throw away them. :smiling_face_with_open_mouth_closed_eyes:

xin li · 29 Jan 2020, 14:13

Progress so far. I included my earlier version of this piece to see how it progressed (no.1,2,3). No. 4 is the current state I am at. Any thoughts? especially:

Does the value work well?
I love the splashing snow effect, but does it work in this image, both in terms of visual and in terms of the story?

Coley · 29 Jan 2020, 15:02

I like what you have done with the trees, tones in the character and the warmth in the snow looks great! One thing maybe is that even tho the dragon is mostly flat, it is pushed into the snow a little bit, and given that the direction of light is from upper left, you might get a slight cast shadow on the edges of the snow that rim the dragon. if that makes sense. it might not be clear, sorry! I think the upper ridges of the dragon might have a little bit of shadow but not the lower parts?

Coley · 29 Jan 2020, 15:07

kinda like this (quick example) but it looks good without it too

xin li · 29 Jan 2020, 15:11

@Coley thank you so much. I see what you mean. I will try it :-).

xin li · 29 Jan 2020, 21:24

I showed my painting to my partner (for the first time). He said the dragon drawing looks too professional to be a kid drawing. So it does not look like the kind of thing kids make in the snow.

Now I am stuck :face_with_stuck-out_tongue:. I am not sure if I am able to make a drawing that looks like a kid drawing. I do not remember who said it, but remember an artist once said: "it takes a lifetime to learn how to draw like a kid again."

29 Jan 2020, 21:50

@xin-li but he has no problem believing that a kid would be flying his own hot-air balloon with his teddy bear?

ArtofAleksey · 30 Jan 2020, 08:12

Nothing about this drawing needs to imply the kids made it to me it looks like they’re just having fun on it and that the only person that can see what it looks like is the kid in the hot air balloon

eriberart · 30 Jan 2020, 09:34

@xin-li I think it was Picasso who said that!
I wouldn't worry too much about the dragon looking too professional. There's a lot of fun and playfulness to your image and it doesn't need to be a completely realistic scenario... Realistically a kid wouldn't be flying a hot air balloon by themselves either Lots of things that happen in children's books probably aren't realistic!
If it bothers you maybe think of it this way - the dragon is drawn more crudely by the children, but it looks professional and realistic to the child because this is from his point of view, it is almost coming to life for him

xin li · 30 Jan 2020, 09:45

@carolinedrawing, @eriberart, @Aleksey thank you for the feedback. I know it is very fascinating that he does not react about the hot balloon or even the moon picture I did for last month. I found it very interesting how people read my illustrations, both adults and kids. People's reaction often surprises me.

I think the story did turn out to be a bit different from what I imagined originally. If I am working on someone else manuscript, I will have to work hard to get the image fits the story. But since it is my own piece, and it still fits the prompt, so I am ok to keep the way it is for now. Visually, I still like this piece so far.

I have got a couple of hours more to fiddle with the piece today, then I will call it done by the end of the day :-).

Rachel Horne · 30 Jan 2020, 10:21

Wow, it's looking really lovely so far, such a brilliant idea! Can't wait to see it finished...