Storm sketches

jenn

I promised to be more active on the forum this month. So my ideas for May so far are a rabbit in a rainstorm and brainstorm. I know I have to build some more story into the images, so that is what I will work on next. The rabbit one is based on a real life observation. When I was looking for my lost cat in a rainstorm, I kept seeing rabbits under the trees and thinking I had found her. So I might try to put that into the scene somehow. Thanks for looking!

jenn

Here are a couple of drafts. I'm experimenting with a more shape-oriented style rather than line-oriented, if that makes sense.

I ditched the rabbit and did another cat in the rain (like one of my 'Lucky' sketches). It would probably benefit from additional secondary story. Any suggestions for that are welcome.

The brainstorm idea is something I've been looking for, for a while. I teach the design process to middle schoolers and can't find anything besides pictures of lightbulbs to put in my slides about brainstorming. So it will be a useful exercise for that alone.

Thanks for looking!

Kristen Lango

@jenn Love the brainstorm concept!

kirsten-mcg

I love the brainstorm idea!!! I actually like your rough sketch better than the more refined one though. Maybe try to get more of the craziness of that brainstorm into the cleaner sketch?

jenn

@Kristen-Lango thanks! I feel like I had done the research in advance so that helped with generating a concept.

jenn

@kirsten-mcg Great idea, thank you. I agree, it lost some of the dynamic movement of the original sketch.

jenn

OK I started a color version of the brainstorm idea. I incorporated bits of the original sketch but I think it still needs to be more dynamic. Also it's still too line-oriented, so I'll be working on that next.

skeletortoise

@jenn I like the idea of "brainstorm" as the theme. I wonder if you could turn what they're brainstorming about into a scene. For example, if they're brainstorming something about animals, we could see a scene of a bunch of animals fighting or playing etc. in those thought bubbles. Does that make sense? I'm just thinking of ways to push it further. Really great concepts though!

Valerie Light

@jenn I agree with what @skeletortoise is saying above. We need more story on what they're brainstorming about. And like Jake said, what just happened, or what's just about to happen.

Also, I love the idea that you might use this drawing in a slideshow about the brainstorming process for your middleschoolers. Do these kids remind you of your students, and how they act during a good brainstorming session?

jenn

@skeletortoise Yes, that makes sense. Thank you for your suggestion, it will help push the concept further, to put some things into the thought bubbles, related to the problem they are trying to solve.

@Valerie-Light that's a good question. Sometimes the students can be like the kids in the drawing. Now that you mention it, I should probably incorporate some more perturbed expressions. Ideas, as we all know, don't come so easily.

jenn

Work in progress... I added more expression, some actual ideas in the bubbles, and narrative (a problem the kids are trying to solve). Thanks again in advance for any thoughts.

skeletortoise

@jenn I definitely like where this is going! I think as it is, it's a little hard to tell what they're brainstorming about, but I know this is still early sketch stage, so I'd love to see where it goes from here!

Kristen Lango

@jenn I'd second what @skeletortoise said, still a little unclear what they are thinking up, but maybe you can clarify things by having the problem that they have be really clearly illustrated in the composition or the environment that they're in? Looking forward to see where you take this!

Valerie Light

@jenn I can see they're brainstorming ways to get across the river to the carnival.

I hope it's ok to offer another take on this. I think I can see you doing something I often get stuck on, which is to build out the shapes and details in a composition, and then squeeze story details in between what I've already drawn. Then I end up with no clear focal point. I think if you wanted to take this piece to the next level, using these elements in a new composition and character poses that say "we are brainstorming to get across the river to the awesome thing" and then deciding if the kids are focused on the carnival, the brainstorm cloud, or each other, or tools, etc.

jenn

@Valerie-Light thank you so much. You have described my problem exactly. The problem is now which concept to make into the focus. It's a good problem to have, though. I am glad that the characters' goal has been made clear, but now I have to choose how to tell the story.

jenn

I'm SO BAD AT COLOR but here's a progress shot of the new composition, with more focus on the brainstorm itself. I am having trouble with colors and values. I want the storm to be colorful, but still read as a storm. Frustration... I'm gonna take a break and go shopping.

Valerie Light

@jenn I actually really like the way you use color. I remember your roughs for the Riley prompt. the box kite was luminous.
In this one, you might just want to sub out that lime color with a darker value, and keep getting lighter as you go into the background, to lean into that atmospheric perspective drawing your eye back.

jenn

@Valerie-Light Thanks, I will try that.

PenAndrew

@jenn I think you could play with colour to be more comfortable with it, as well as make colour charts if that's appealing.
I found by looking at colour I could see what I liked If a colour was too cold and dull I would try adding another to see how it brought it to life, I found single colours with pencils often were more boring compared to a mix of two, that always brought the colours to life. Sometimes three colours created amazing colour. But I had to mix the right three tones, usually a light, medium and dark colour.

jenn

OK I'm still hacking away at this. Thanks for the feedback and encouragement on color @Valerie-Light and @PenAndrew.