Indoor scenes, critiques welcome.
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@xin-li I think you’ve managed to keep a lot of the energy in the original sketch, but it always seems like a little is lost, doesn’t it? For some reason, maybe because there are a lot of angles in papers, boxes, etc, I like the curved legs on the chair in the sketch—it’s such a minor detail that I wouldn’t bother if it’s a pain to change. I also like the boy’s wider mouth in the sketch—he looks more engaged with it. I find environments very challenging and yours is fun to look at!
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@BichonBistro thank you for the feedback. It is always very helpful to have other people take a look of the piece I am working on. I definitely will give another try on the facial expression on the boy. It is just going to be where people first.
I will see if I have time to work on a bit more of the sofa leg. I agree that the curved line look for interesting.
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@StudioLooong It's sort of a tricky scene to figure out vanishing points and things like that. Its a somewhat stylized approach, so realism rules don't fit perfectly here. But there are some clues on how to solve it within the image. If you look at the floor plane, it's perfectly horizontal to the viewer. That means that you would use a 1 point perspective for the room itself. Since the shelves are also part of that box, it would also fall within the 1 point perspective. Anything within the room that is rotated would turn into a 2 point perspective like you have drawn on the box. Hope that makes sense. : )
That said, I like the finish that she chose better than using the vanishing points. Nice work @xin-li!
SVS Faculty Instructor
www.leewhiteillustration.com -
@Lee-White thank you so much for explaining the rule of perspective in this context. I looked up some video tutorials, I think I understood the principles of 1 point and 2 points perspective, I just did not know how to apply them here. :smiling_face_with_open_mouth_closed_eyes: I think I will have a better idea next time.
It is interesting how much I can get away from realism rules by focus on the emotion of the image. That said, maybe I should familiarise myself more with perspectives - a good tool to have in my artist toolbox.
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Call this one done for now. As a tradition, I am sure I will go back and fiddle with it later :-). Thank you so much for the help along the way. -
Hi Xin Li,
I wanted to comment that I absolutely LOVE the sketch you did of "Tim liked the red cape very, very much!" It has such a great energy and flow across the page. That is the illustration that I am longing to read the story about. If you had the inclination to finish that one I think you'd have a fantastic piece for your portfolio.
While I like your pirate illo, the cape illo sings to me and touches my heart. 🥰
Best,
Su -
Love where you took it! Turned out great! Well done!
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@xin-li This turned out really good! And the box with the bear and doll looks much more interesting now. I also like your other sketch with the cape, it really feels like Tim is dancing
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@xin-li it turned out great!
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@Su Thank you for the encouragement. I am moving on the the Tim superkid piece next
@karolifo Thank you. Your previous coment was super helpful to push this piece further.
@Amanda-Jean and @BichonBistro Thank you so much for the kind words.
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@Lee-White Ahh yeah that makes sense! I knew it didn't look quite right how I had done it.
This turned out lovely @xin-li ! I love the colors you chose and all the playful linework.
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Hi @xin-li! I just read through this thread, a little late. I really like the second piece better overall, the one with the cape. Looking quickly, I did tend to read it as a living room, but the overall sense of space and movement work really well and fits with what you're trying to convey. And it's not entirely unheard of to have a plant in a bedroom! I had a potato plant experiment as a child, and it grew all the way down to the floor without me doing much to care for it. So if that could fit into your story-scape, maybe it could work!
As for the pirate piece, I like the idea and the details of the room, and Lee's perspective comments helped, but I still think the space in the other piece is more dynamic. In this one it feels like all the furniture is in a line in a shoebox diorama. Sometimes that works, but since I saw the second drawing immediately and liked it so much, I can't help but compare them. It might be something as easy as changing the angle or position of the big chair or the box/boat. Of course, then you have to re-evaluate the site lines, but if you decide this is something you want to do, it doesn't require redrawing the whole piece.
Overall, I think it's psychologically realistic and specific enough to be interesting! What @Su said!
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@LauraA Thank you so much for your feedback. I might fiddle a bit more with the pirate piece later this week.
I think I try to give viewers very different feelings of the space with these 2 images:
- With the pirate image, I want to make the viewers feel they are also in the middle of the game, they are close with the characters.
- with Tim and the cape image, I want to viewers feel that they are standing by the door wathcing a kid dancing accross the room.
The second image is part of the dummy picture book I am working on. It is so encouraging to get positive feedback on it, making me very motivated to continue the dummy book.
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Overall, I think it's psychologically realistic and specific enough to be interesting! What @Su said!
Cannot say better neither! Lovely work!
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An quick update on Tim, the super-kid. Many of you commented the scene does not look like a boy's bedroom. This made me realize this scene actually works better in the living room. Because in the next page, readers will meet Tim's mother, who has been watching him dancing.
Do I have interesting enough shapes in the background? is the scene to crowed now? Any thoughts?
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I like the flow of the original better. The boy moves from one page to the other more diagonally in the first one and more horizontally on the second. The second one doesn't read as smoothly. I don't think lowering his position to make room for showing more of the background couch, shelves, or foreground tables adds anything to the narrative. I like the smaller doll too — he looks like he's going to trip over the bigger one.
Try to keep the gestural quality of the linework. It's oozing motion in the first one and is much stiffer in the 2nd. I know, that's easier said than done (my perpetual struggle) but that's part of what's so beautiful about your sketch.
Everything about the first sketch to me is nearly perfect! I don't care what room he's in, just that he's got that feeling of joy! Which is exactly what I feel when I look at that picture.
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@Su Thank you so much. I see what you mean. Now I know what to do tomorrow :-). I always struggle with how to avoid getting stiff the more I work on a piece. I think this one is especially difficult, because of the movement. I might need to study how other artists slove this: keeping a sense of movement with in an image. I am looking up some comic books on my shelf.
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another round of rough sketch, and some color studies. Any thoughts?
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@xin-li I've loved watching you work on this. I like the color in #5 because the red tones on the boy and the rug immediately beneath him keep him as the focal point, but I also like #3. I have to admit color is something I'm bad at so take my opinion with a grain of salt. It's a great picture whatever you do.
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@xin-li This is like a squinting test I think. I took my glasses off (legally blind without them) and the color studies where the little boy is most visible are #4 and #6.
P.S. I love your characters!
