October Third Thursday - let´s go!
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So, even in the absence of a critiqued session, there was a suggestion to continue to do third thursday deadlines by ourselves - this month about a companion piece to one of the old Third Thursdays (and my portfolio could definitively need a couple more series of related pieces...).
I plan to do some illustrations featuring the "Pirates of Oz" characters. At least one, at best two or three.
Here is some thumbnails for Dorothy and her companions approaching the Emerald City (which I am imagining as a kind of temple in the jungle kind of setup - or maybe a city in the trees of a primeval jungle. I have circled my personal favorites..
And here are some thumbnails for Dorothy landing in Munchkin land. Now, being Dorothy a pirate she lands with a boat rather than a house. I like this more than I anticipated, and I will try to do both, though not both this month. As usual, feedback to help choosing is highly appreciated!
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Oh, wow. I want to see ALL of these compositions as finished paintings....but since that's probably not possible in the time frame! - my favourites from the first set are 3, 6, 8 (but I also like 1 and 9..) They all look like very grand, sweeping landscapes, looking forward to seeing more of these.
From the second set, my eye is drawn to 5, I like the pattern of values in it, it looks interesting and the figures have good contrast....though in terms of storytelling and showing the concept of arrival, I think #2 seems clearest...I think you could make any of them work, though.
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@smceccarelli These are all incredible - in the first set i think if i am keeping your story in mind that i like the composition of 1 but with the entrance of 4 - another though is that number 8 fits your story very well and part of me did not choose it because of the difficulty you might face in making that scene read as the emerald city...which might make it the perfect choice
I have to say again how really excellent your work is though all of these compositions could work.(i've decided on continuing the oz theme for this months self imposed deadline too - want to have another group of four portraits
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Nice work!!! Inspiring!
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Love these! My favorite in the first set are 6 and 8. I like how dramatic 6 would be. Like Kevin said if you get the city to read as the emerald city, it would be a great choice. 8 looks like you could do some really fun things with the lighting.
In the second set I like 2 and 5. I really like the angle of the boat in 2. It really draws me in. The only things to be careful of with that composition is the placement of the mast. It could become a distraction, drawing the viewers eye off the page. I really like 5 as well.
I think you have done a great job with these. I hope to see more of them!
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#6 from the top group and #3 from the bottom group. Looking forward to seeing any of them actually.
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@smceccarelli Fantastic thumbnail concepts - wow I hope I can get to this level of concept design someday.
I looked at these when you posted them yesterday and wanted to think it over before I voted. I came back and looked at them again today and I just am really drawn into #9 in the first set. Something about that one intrigues me the most.
From the second set - I am really torn between #2 and #5.
Can Not Wait to see which ever ones you choose to finish - I love watching your process!
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I like #2 & #3 for the Emerald city but I think #2 might be just slightly TOO skewed. Maybe dial the angle back a bit.
I really like what you've got going on for the arrival. Number #2 has the strongest boat comp (and it is really great!) but I think the other elements (particularly the crowd) are not as strong as the elements in #5.
I would merge the two.
EDIT: If you do that, I would recommend re-designing the tree in #5.
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Thank you so much everyone for the great input!! I am on my phone and really can't type on this thing- I will definitely look carefully into your recommendations and suggestions as soon as I have a proper internet access!
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A difficult birth later....I will probably end up doing more than one of these set, but for the moment I chose to go on with 9 of the first set. I like number 8 a lot, as pointed out by @Dulcie and @Kevin-Longueil and @ShereeNorthrup it could be a very interesting lighting concept but probably too far-fetched to read in the story as Emerald city (unless I rewrite the story to suit that concept) - but it may be a good wicked witch fortress concept....maybe with winged monkeys sitting on the branches...anyhow, I will keep it for a next piece.
I chose 9 in the end because I wanted the Emerald city to look imposing and impressive but disquieting and threatening at the same time - the low angle and the road sunk between walls of rock and vegetation seemed uncomfortable enough to suggest these feelings. Here is the near-final line.
Thoughts, suggestion, criticism are all welcome! It will take a few days before I move to the next steps...
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This is amazing. Love all the details. Great work.
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@smceccarelli This is so great! I think everything you are trying to get across is coming across. The only feedback i can come up with is that i do keep ending up on the Tin Man when i look at the drawing - i think there are a bunch of really small things that gets me stuck on him - ...they are so minor but i'll just list them here and you can ignore for sure
..... i think his right leg may be lilting too far to the left past his center axis so it looks a bit like he may topple over to the right - the parallel left arm and left leg seems unnatural - i think one or the other might be forward if he were walking - the object swinging in his left hand is cropped out in such a way as to make it mysterious - there is something tangential about the character in the background forming a parasol shape that rests on the Tin Man's head(this will be fixes with color and atmospheric perspective i'm sure) anyways i hope this is not annoying - they are such little things to mention and i'm possibly wrong really incredible piece !! -
@Kevin-Longueil You have nailed nearly all the issues I saw in the drawing! ;-)) I have corrected all of the items you mention by re-drawing the tin-man completely, changing all limbs as well as the position of the head. It is really great that you saw the same issues, it gives me a lot of confidence, so thank you very much for your input!
There were also some issues with the lion, and with the perspective of the city. I am sure there are some more, but now the flatting process has started, so I will continue correcting while painting.
Next steps are color and value studies! -
@smceccarelli I really get the feeling that you wanted to portray with this piece. Its looking great. Im excited to see it finished!
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@ShereeNorthrup Thank you! I have been swamped by work the past three days and I am worried I can´t make the deadline for our own "Third Thursday". I have reserved the whole day tomorrow, lets see how far I come!
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Ok - clear by now that I am going to make it by tomorrow...that is the problem with deadlines that are not "hard" - i..e. accountable to somebody else than yourself.
But, I am definitely going to finish this by end of the week, so I am not too disappointed with myself...
Here are color schemes - let me know which one you like best!
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I like 6 the best. It really makes the Emerald City look...well...emerald. But really, all of them are amazing.
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I like #2 the best...I like that it is a fairly simple colour scheme, unlike the others there are just spots of red/orange on the characters which helps focus attention on them and pick them out in all the green...on many of the other schemes the bright red flowers/plants draw attention away from the city and the characters....I like the overall greenness on #2, you feel enveloped in the greenery...but if you go with it you could also make sure that the emerald city has the highest saturation and contrast, to ensure it is the focal point.
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@smceccarelli this look great Simona! - i will not quite hit my goal for tomorrow either - i am scrapping my Good Witch of the North so i should have only 3 of the 4 portraits done by tomorrow - i'll post what i have done Thursday and give my self till next Thursday to get my missing Witch in order - back to your piece though.... they all look promising - i have an overall feeling that the foreground might work better if it were darker and less saturated with the background becoming lighter and only having the mid ground be saturated because of the intense light in the back ground - anyways i tried my hand at it ... made a mask for the different depths and changed saturation and light level for each layer and the played with the gamma - not sure it is getting my idea across though (but i'll post it anyways) - i did have another though possibly worth sharing - page 164 of james gurney's Imaginative Realism book talks about counterchange - "counterchange is the reversal of tonal relationships between a form and its background that occurs from one end of the form to another. It's a useful way to generate a feeling of tonal movement" - i think this would look so awesome if you had the top of the Emerald City in shadow as though the sun were low or had the top lit and the bottom in shadow - i always love the look of counterchange in a painting though - anyways... very long winded this morning - the short answer is if i had to vote i would vote for number 2 or 5
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Great job on all your studies! Can't wait to see the final piece!
