July Contest Entry: Albert's Home
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Hello all,
I did not participate in last month's challenge but I wanted to give July's prompt a shot.
My version of Albert is a critter that loves the outdoors, revels in conspiracy theories and cryptozoology, gets lost in thought easily, and can sometimes come across as inconsiderate and overly enthusiastic. He now lives with a family of cats that have become accustomed to a life of domestication, comfort, and ease. Albert's inquisitive nature, thirst for adventure and the outdoors, and his eagerness to involve his family members in his greatest passions can sometimes be both a blessing and a curse.
In my indoor scene, Albert has just rushed in from an outdoor camping trip, trailing mud and rain water on the floor. He interrupts his adopted siblings in the middle of a crucial football game to tell them about a creature he encountered in the woods: a giant Easter Bunny! Needles to say, they are less than thrilled and do not believe that Albert has any evidence to back up his claims.
I think that if I developed the idea further, I would leave the question as to whether or not these Fantastical creatures exist open ended. I tried to visually represent the ambiguity of the cryptid (easter bunny) by depicting it in a different style.
Thanks for any feedback as always and good luck to everyone!!!
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Hi! I like the story you thought for Albert, sounds like a good starting point for the challenge and it looks like you are having good fun with it
From the illustration point of view though, I think the image does not tell the story very clearly. For one thing, you are using to tell the story a very small part of the whole image, I had difficulty making out what happens there. Remember there is not much zooming into the image at critique time, things should be clear from a distance, main subject should be large and focused. Most of the room does not seem to have any special meaning or bearing on the character, and the technical style with grey colors and transparent walls looks a bit distracting and not really suited to the idea (maybe you were planning later work on the colors,if so ignore the grey comment).Another difficulty might be that you are trying to get into one illustration too detailed a story, something that maybe would require several pages in a book. I would not get the story about the easter bunny encounter from the image, and it should not require a separate written explanation. Then, the subject in this challenge is actually the house, so the image should work even without the actual characters in it. For one image, the part where albert comes inside leaving dirty footprints would work, all other sides of his personality or stories you want to tell maybe could be told through Albert’s stuff scattered around the space - like drawings, toys? ….then, if there is a piano in the room - does he use it? Makes you wonder, it should not be just a prop to fill the perspective…
Hope this was useful!
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@Oana Those were very helpful suggestions and observations. You are totally right about the rest of the room. I actually got so carried way with working in 2 pt perspective that I did not emphasize the narrative. A part of me saw this as an exercise in concept art and I began to focus too heavily on portraying the interior space as a suburban home. I also did not include enough elements, keepsakes, objects that belong to Albert strewn around the interior. If I am able to give it another go, I would love to explore the tension between Albert's objects and the objects that were there prior to his arrival.
Thank you so much for taking the time to provide such helpful insights!
