May WIP “Isolation”

Jeremy Ross

Hi everyone, I’m sharing my May WIP with my fellow SVS peeps to see what you guys think before I start detailing.

I couldn’t resist drawing a kid playing pirates by herself in the yard for this month’s Isolation theme.

Tagging @carlianne as kindly requested.

Thanks everyone!

carlianne

Fun! I think it's a cute concept, I like the idea that she has enlisted animals onto her pirate crew and is attacking little ants! I think your composition this time is much improved and I see you're controlling your color and even chose a time of day which is awesome!!

I think it might be fun to think if there was a way to push the idea of isolation, maybe she has "days at sea" written on the cardboard box with a bunch of hashmarks? I think this could work as is, but might be nice to explore.

For feedback, I would recommend you watch out for tangents. That's where two items are just barely touching instead of overlapping or staying a part. I've circled a bunch It can lead to some confusion visually as to which item is in front and which is in the back, as well as muddy your silhouette.

Speaking of shillouette, I think it would also help to add a little space between the sword arm and the box , if her arm was higher or farther out of the box it would read more clearly. It also might be more humorous if the ant was reacting to her in some way. See below:

Also watch out for the octopus being pink. You have a lot of pink and reds going around right now, but the pink on green is pretty high contrast so it might be too distracting.

okay and if you wanted to push this idea eeeven farther I would play would the girls pose. You might need to extend the canvas so there is room of play around, but it could be really fun to have her leaning out of the box more, really extending to reach the ant. I would explore that idea in rough sketches before boxing onto a clean though, as it might mess up your composition. But something to explore if you're interested

Oh and one last thing to check, it might just be that this is a rough, but I'm wondering if the brush you're using is too small and is blurring out a little while you're painting, making overly soft/blurry edges. If you're using photoshop try searching for kyle's brushes, he has some great ones and they're free with adobe CC! :):)

I'm excited to see you work on it! The girl and cat are both super cute!

Jeremy Ross

Hi @carlianne, thank you so much for your amazing feedback and sketch!

My wife and daughter said the same thing about the ant’s expression and the pink jellyfish, so thank you for pointing them out! Good stuff!

I knew I needed to address the girl’s posture, maybe I just needed a push. I’m on it.

Oh and the tangents, that never even crossed my mind!

I couldn’t have asked for a more detailed review, so thank you! You’re definitely a pro!

It was Sunday night, I’m sure you had a million things going on, but you chose to help me. Very grateful!

Can’t wait to find some time in the evenings to rework and submit my May piece. Also looking forward to your submission. I loved your April piece!

@Jeremy-Ross this is so fun and cute

I do like the way you shaped the sword really thick like that, it's just so useless and great but I it may create a nice line to have the ant close to the tip of the sword.

carlianne

@Jeremy-Ross You're so welcome!! I'm happy to help. I particularly really relate to the feeling of feeling frustrated because you feel like you're not doing well but don't know why and aren't getting the feedback you need Excited to see your edits!

Braxton

Love the overall idea and where you're going with this. One thought: I love the cat and the octopus characters, especially how the cat is wearing an eye-patch; maybe each of the animals could have their own pirate-themed prop or article of clothing? Right nowAs far as the story goes, I'm wondering if it's a little unbalanced to have the girl and her animal friends ganging up on the tiny ant? What if the ant was part of the crew, and was perched on the tip of the sword to lead the charge?

Johanna Kim

@Jeremy-Ross Such a fun idea. Love how there are eyepatches on the flag, kid and cat. The octopus is cute but throws a curb ball in this world of make believe and dress up. It also weighs down your composition on the left more than it has to. I wonder, what if you moved the octopus to the right side, where the ant is. And somehow have the ant dressing up as an octopus, or some other creature (a dog?, a hedgehog?, hamster?) costumed as an octopus, or shark?

Jeremy Ross

Thanks @Johanna-Kim, great ideas and input!

Jeremy Ross

Hi @Braxton, thank you for the feedback! Will certainly take your comments into consideration with my edits. I’m definitely learning a lot with all the great feedback!