100 Kids Challenge

Gary Wilkinson · 8 Nov 2018, 07:39

Inspired by @smceccarelli amazing "100 kids" project I thought I would give it a go myself to explore and experiment with a variety of styles and character designs. I'm mostly using reference images found on pinterest which I then do a 3 minute timed sketch of and spend another 5 minutes refining the design before doing color studies (again I want to give my thanks to @smceccarelli for her great youtube video on her own color scheme explorations).

Both of these took a bit over 2 hours each and although I could refine them more it would be against the point of the exercise If you are interested in the brushes used, I used Kyle Webster's Gouche Round Opaque with a few custom adjustments for the block in and my own pencil brush which is a mix of the splatter with a texture on top (Will Terry has a great video on making your own pencil brush)

smceccarelli · 8 Nov 2018, 07:56

@gary-wilkinson These are perfect - so great! And they don’t need more time, they´re perfect the way they are. This is another thing the 100kids project thought me - less laboring leads often to a better result...

LauraA · 8 Nov 2018, 08:06

These are so lovely! I'm informally doing much the same thing, though I wouldn't call it 100 kids yet (maybe 5 kids!) because experimentation is slowing me down a lot and my style is changing up so much.I do love the idea of this project, because illustrators draw so many kids! I'm glad that you've got things worked out to the point where you can work this quickly and come up with such a good result. And I agree with Simona--the quickness makes them very fresh! Keep up the good work!

P.S. Thanks for the brush info too! I'm messing around a lot with Kyle gouache (and oil) brushes as well, but in a different way.

Jon Anderson · 8 Nov 2018, 13:27

Awesome work! I really like this style and thanks for peeling back the curtain on your tools and process recently! Do you set these at a standard size or just start drawing then adjust the size from there?

Nyrryl Cadiz · 8 Nov 2018, 13:48

They look amazing! I like the hatching you did on them. They help bring the piece to another level.

braden H · 8 Nov 2018, 14:44

Oh wow these are awesome!

I've been looking for another project and I may have to follow your lead. Though I may do 50...

I can imagine these all laid out on a single large canvas for a portfolio piece!

Laurel Aylesworth · 8 Nov 2018, 14:58

@gary-wilkinson These are soooo good.

Johanna Kim · 8 Nov 2018, 19:22

@gary-wilkinson These are so fun. I, too, love this idea from @smceccarelli. It's a really great idea.

robgale · 8 Nov 2018, 20:05

These are awesome! Can't wait to see how you explore

holleywilliamson · 8 Nov 2018, 21:58

Love your style and gestures!

Kristin Wauson · 9 Nov 2018, 01:25

These are so fantastic and inspiring. I love the idea of putting a time limit on it because I spend way too long on things like this. I might have to give it a try. Thanks for posting!

Gary Wilkinson · 9 Nov 2018, 05:39

Thank you for everyone's replies, it really keeps me motivated and I have a long way to go

I just posted up a blog tutorial on how I did the superhero piece if you wish to see a slightly more in depth look at creating these kids:

http://www.garywilkinsonart.com/illustration-blog/2018/11/9/100-kids-painting-tutorial

@LauraA Have you posted them to the forums yet? I',m sure everyone would like to see them.

@Jon-Anderson I don't choose a specific size, just whatever fits onto the canvas. The ones I have done so far have been on the same canvas, but I'm sure I will need to adjust it for other ones in the future.

Here is the latest one. I want to try and have some of the characters in groups that will use a similar color and story theme (another nod to Simona for that great idea).

LauraA · 9 Nov 2018, 11:02

@Gary-Wilkinson Just the "Nina and sausages" sketches and color studies I posted under WIPs a week or two ago. And a couple of things on Instagram. I'm working on the rendering now, but got distracted with another character yesterday. Eventually things will smooth out a bit and I'll get on a roll!

Gary Wilkinson · 12 Nov 2018, 12:49

No. 4 (#3 in the superkid set though). Next 2 will be the rest of the dinokids.

Gary Wilkinson · 13 Nov 2018, 08:12

No. 5 (#2 in the dinokid set). 1 more dinokid and then I will be trying out a different style

lenwen · 13 Nov 2018, 08:56

they all soooo great! I love the textures and the colors, they fit so well with your style.

xin li · 13 Nov 2018, 10:03

These are so cute. Great shapes and color. Both yours and Smceccarelli’s kids are so inspiring. I am joining in to make 100 kids project also. Wanting to practice drawing boys expecially. A bit low on free time at this moment, so I will Start in December.

Gary Wilkinson · 13 Nov 2018, 13:37

@lenwen thank you trying to balance achieving an almost traditional feel for my work whilst remaining digital, I'm glad you like them.

@xin-li Great to hear there will be another 100 kids challenger. Let me know when you start and I will add your website or however you display your work as a link on my blog if you'd like.

Feleri · 14 Nov 2018, 16:18

These are sooo lovely!
Really inspiring!
Keep up the great work!

Gary Wilkinson · 15 Nov 2018, 05:49

No. 6 (#3 in the dinokid set) I added in pink to the palette as I wanted to have the character squashing fruit and red looked too much like blood. I think the pinks gives it a more playful feel and may look at adding it to the previous dino pieces in the future.