Mermay: "For you are worthy." (Need your feedback)

[Darian]

Hi everyone!

Here are some color comps for the mermay contest. Which palette should I go ahead with?

The focus of the illustration is the young mermaid being crowned by elderly, blind, shaman dinosaurs..

Is that coming across? Is there a better way of showing the dino holding the magical crown skull?

Testing some magical lighting:

I like how the skull crown stands out in option F, but not sure if it works with the dinosaurs being of the same color as the background.

Need to know what you all think

[MichaelaH]

I like E the best, becaus ethe rocks(land) is in this greybrown and the bigger underwater animals are almost alawys in some greyblue... so I find it more natural.

[Darian]

@MichaelaH Ah I see..thanks ! do you find the skull crown readable in option E

[Erin.Cortese]

@Darian I prefer E or F. Great composition!

[MichaelaH]

@Darian No I didn't know it was skull, but after You told me, I prefer grey/white color for the skull, mostly like in A

[Darian]

Thank you @Erin-Cortese So the blue dinosaurs and the blue background work?

[MichaelaH]

@Darian For me yes, the blue works on blue, different values.

[Darian]

@MichaelaH Ah..thanks for that! I guess the skull crown is going to need more work to make it readable. It is a dinosaur skull though..

[KathrynAdebayo]

I'm going to throw in a vote for A. To me, the white dinosaurs give a certain emotion to the piece and make the creatures seem old and wise. Have you considered various colors for the mermaid? Or considered making different parts of her different colors?

[Heather Boyd]

@Darian

I like E in the first colour section - I think it tells your story best. But in terms of lighting I really like how C works so a combo would be perfect.

[Darian]

I know what you mean @KathrynAdebayo ! They seem like those ancient beings or something..

I did try some color variations for the mermaid

..and ended up only altering her hair/fin with the purpose of retaining the fish silhouette for a faster read.

May tweak the values of the reds so they aren't the same all the way..

Also playing around with some glow effects for the magical crown.

[Darian]

@Heather-Boyd Yes! The lighting sure makes option C stand out. Thank you for your feedback! Tied between C & E ( and even B of the third image )

[Whitney Simms]

@Darian I really like this piece. Love how the monsters are surrounding her. Love this tiny little mermaid who looks like the kindest thing ever. I like her fins in e the best. The only thing that I would like to see is the red changed. It seems like such a heavy color. In value and it’s is super muddy color. I like the color, but for this little creature I want a lighter color. I think that may even help with the lighting that you’re worried about. And the crown too. I almost want them to glow. She doesn’t seem to radiate light. I want her to eat sunshine. Like a glow worm toy. If your under 35 you will need to google for the reference!

But that’s it. I love the piece! Very very strong!

[Darian]

@Whitney-Simms thank you for the awesome feedback! Yes, the red has got darker than I would have liked..thanks to a the idea of making it dark on the a light background. Could definitely use a lighter color for the mermaid..the red makes her too serious or mature while I was going for the opposite!

May try pinks & see how it goes

[MichaelaH]

@Darian I have to say, I like the red as color for the mermaid, it makes it new thing, but the value is to dark, maybe take the lightest color from the belly, like the one in the B for the darkest color and than make it lighter.

[shinjifujioka]

The curves and movement in this piece is so good! Don't have an opinion right now on a letter option. I think they could all turn out really great.

[Chip Valecek]

Hope I am not to late to the party here but i like B and E the best.

[Darian]

@MichaelaH I love the red too. Unfortunately it got too dark..making it lighter would be a challenge with the background being light as well with the glowing light..love the opinions & feedback

@shinjifujioka welcome back! thank you for the positive support ..wish I could do them all..haha..can't wait to see your piece !

@Chip-Valecek you are never late to the party Chip! B & E do look pretty interesting..thanks!

However guys,

As I was working on it, I had a different idea. What if instead of being crowned, she is being bought back to life?

A work in progress..

Is the idea coming across? I wanted to avoid showing the cracking of the statue to reveal the mermaid (i.e keeping the statue intact) to add more drama, but wasn't not sure if it would convey the concept..

[MichaelaH]

@Darian I love the new idea, what I would change, eyes in this grey color like the face or the white of the eyes, letting only the stroke stay, so that she looks like stone statue. Now the darker eyes is giving bit feeling of looking.
After that I would make the "alive" part till one eye (half of it) so that you see the color of the eye.

[Whitney Simms]

How fun is that! Super cute idea. Love it.