Ink Fairy WIP
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I haven't done a few black and white paintings for a while so I thought i'd do something for a bit of practice this month. These are a couple of concepts i'm thinking of, perhaps more focused on setting up bait for the ink fairy to go to.
I think dressing up as some kind of pen or ink bottle might be a funny scene, or having the character behind the lens might make for an interesting composition. Any thoughts?
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I like the second idea best, there's a bit more interest and I love the idea of dressing up as a pen, as in the first image. Looking forward to seeing where you go with this.
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I like the second one more mainly because I can tell what's happening. But maybe bring the composition out of the center, I remember your last dragon work was right in the middle also. Maybe have the camera in the back take up most but not all of the background and maybe have something/someone doing something related to your story, like trying to warn her for example.
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@Heather-Boyd Good point, but i was hoping not to put her in the mid center point of the canvas rather the lower center, using the camera lens to frame her, but i'll try out a bunch of comps to see what might work.
Thumbnailed a few designs for the ink fairy for whichever story I go with. I think 3 is the most obvious shape, but is it too boring? Maybe 2 is more other worldly?
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Tried to adjust the composition and add some foreground ink fairies warning the one entranced by the ink pot. I think it gives it a bit more life and more of a story (thanks @Heather-Boyd). Added another concept of the ink fairy flying towards pens that have been hung up by Ellie in an effort to take a picture while the fairy is focused on the pens.
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@Gary-Wilkinson you are right 3 is most clearly recognizable and it's adorable. 2nd one is harder to pin point, I like 1 but it comes across more like a gas creature (that pokemon lols). There is more recognizable elements in the 3rd one. Perhaps re-work 3rd and see how far you can push it without entirely loosing it.
Also I understood the ink fairy was going to be in the lower middle of the page. It still comes across to me as very center like a vertical reflecting, what's on one side is roughly the same on the other side.
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@Gary-Wilkinson both are great improvements. The 1st one has nice diagonal line adjustments (camera and I assume the photographer girl). It also gives the feeling of underwater (but that may be because you did it in blue and the ink fairy going towards it looks like a fish swimming towards the bottle) lols. Did you know there was such a thing as an ink-fish haha.
I think both have an increase of excitement, energy and movement -pushing us towards a more engaging feeling.
I can't clearly identify the hanging pens in the 2nd work thumbnail, I see rafters but that's easily fixable.
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@Gary-Wilkinson I like number 3 she is so cute.
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@Gary-Wilkinson I don't think #3 is too boring and I think it reads really well. #1 read way too much like a ghost, and #2 I don't think the wings translated to "fairy" off a first read.
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Love the second thumbnail! But after the last critique arena they talked a lot about not centering the composition.
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I like the 3rd blue one just because you varied the 2nd one from being so perpendicular to the edge. I would just watch out for size variation in the dark shapes. I like the concept though.
The pens in the air idea is a little hard for me to imagine. Maybe you could pull it off but itโs not as clear of an idea as the other one. I love your style. -
@Gary-Wilkinson i like the composition in 2 but I love the concept in 1.
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Had a little time to jump back into it. Now I need to find out how to best ink it.... If there are any big issues or areas that can be improved feel free to point them out
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Did a mini paint of the idea i'm thinking of and a value study. when I "ink" it up ill try to add some pen textures to give it less of a digital feel and add some more lighter values. I stopped doing gradually value studies a while ago so it feels a little tough getting back into the fundamentals
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@Gary-Wilkinson wow this is a really nice piece I love you character design on the fairy! Canโt wait to see it finished
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@Gary-Wilkinson This is so sweet!
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I like it! Maybe the background behind the character can be a little lighter for better readability of the character?
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@Gary-Wilkinson said in Ink Fairy WIP:
Did a mini paint of the idea i'm thinking of and a value study. when I "ink" it up ill try to add some pen textures to give it less of a digital feel and add some more lighter values. I stopped doing gradually value studies a while ago so it feels a little tough getting back into the fundamentals
little suggestion in term of values to let your main "target" pop out more.
left the original, right side the "paintover"
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@Molambo Thank you for taking the time to do a paintover. That should really help it pop!
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@Gary-Wilkinson Aw man, we had similar concepts and compositions but you beat me to it and did a FAR better job than I would have I LOVE it!
What are you thinking of for finish? Straight black and white with hatchy gradients, or a nice ink wash effect?
edit holy crap it's September 26th. I thought I had more time this month