Best posts made by Carmanda

Tried to fill the "spot illustration" hole in my portfolio.

Also my first entry to this challenge. Everyone's work looks gorgeous!

Originally had a whole different thing going for this and got about 3/4 of the way through when at some mysterious point the top three layers merged (a problem for my overpaint-and-clean-it-later approach). I took it as a sign to pivot to the new concept my brain tossed out mid-shading on the old piece and ended up here.

Hi there! Trying break my anxious ghost-lurker habits and actually participate in the forums and contests instead of just silently admiring everyone's work.

As a folklore podcaster, I figured I'd dive into folklore about nightfall for this. There are a bunch of tales about animals fighting for day all the time vs night all the time, using either chants or magic or both to battle for supremacy. As with a lot of folklore, there are many variants of this tale, but rabbit shows up in a fair few of them. I decided to focus on Rabbit vs Owl because of the predator/prey relationship.

This is a veeerry rough color thumbnail of the concept. The stripes in the sky are just to remind me to do a transition from night>dusk colors>dawn colors> day, and I'll have those colors more emphasized on the space between the combatants.
Open to any critiques, particularly those related to composition and how much of a detailed background should exist here.

@George-Broussard My impression from watching the mob is that a lot of the angriest/most vocal are unfamiliar with Jake's work beyond the "guy who tried to take Inktober from us by trademarking it" impression from last year. If they had been following his work and contributions, I think there'd be a little more willingness to wait and see what the official word is, and a little more benefit of the doubt. As such, they've decided Jake Bad >: ( without even having the full story behind last year's Inktober incident, much less any information on his overall character and contributions, or more concrete proof of these specific accusations.

Couple more progress shots, still a long way to go.

Doing more work with my character Coffee now that summer camp season is finally done.

@carolinebautista Exactly exactly exactly; the general public doesn't have enough information or evidence or full understanding of copyright either way to decide this. Even a lot of the small-time artists who just sell on Etsy typically go the route of privately contacting violators of their copyright to give them a chance to respond or make right before smearing them across platforms. To go straight to riling up the internet mobs does permanent damage, even if it is proven that the similarities are not close enough to violate copyright. I mean, there are still people who resent him for the DMCA mess of last year, even after the explanations and apologies were made.

To do this to an artist with as much community influence as Jake also does damage beyond his own reputation. Inktober has had a big impact on small creators for years, not only by creating an opportunity for learning and habit building but also by creating the opportunity for visibility on social media. If this had been handled more professionally, even if Jake did actually plagiarize there could have been a settlement made, an agreement come to, something to make it right without tearing down everything else he's built on his own.

@Braden-Hallett These are giving me life. The last one in particular has so much good energy and tension in the posing of the mouse, reinforced with the thicks-to-thins on the ink work. Elegant and fun all at the same time!

For me thumbnails are the sketching without knowing where I'm going stage of things, so I find them pretty relaxing. I've found them super helpful for developing a vague idea or finding story elements I didn't expect or initially plan. I also use them a lot for days when I don't have enough brain to focus on a piece but still want to draw. Their short-form nature lets my slippery-focused mind stay calm and feel productive and then I save them (in a sketchbook if physical, in a specific sketch folder if digital) to discover later when looking for a project to work on.

I don't thumbnail for every piece I do; sometimes I am in casual drawing mode and just Do A Thing, but my pieces and stories I thumbnail for usually come out a lot stronger.

I really like the story in your second idea, and the thumbnail on your first one has a lot of action and fun to it! There's still a lot of August left to keep poking at these ideas. Mastering perspective is by no means a barrier to entry!

Maybe adjusting the shapes/proportions of the young one to make it look a lot younger could help push the story too. Right now they look the same age/same size, with the younger one farther off. If you give youngster a bigger head proportional to the body and generally rounder/youthful shapes, it'll help a viewer understand that that one is little and learning.

@Coreyartus I just saw that and it's so frustrating. They're not even going to wait for a response from Chronicle? Just "oop people are mad so let's destroy this thing that's related to it before we find out for sure if the accusations are true."

Oh man, I love all of these. Why are all the best art challenges loaded in the end of the year when all this other stuff is going on?

I will have to participate in this one next year; as someone who hosts a comedy Folklore podcast it's deeply frustrating not to have the time to give this my all this year.

For the whole layout, maybe have the yellow brick road continue onto the back and end in an illustration of something like the house with the feet sticking out of it? Otherwise, I'd agree with @fpichel that the illustration as a vignette alone is very strong and not to worry about the whole layout for portfolio.

Welcome from a fellow Southerner! I'm also working on online shyness here. Looking forward to seeing your drawings here! Being surrounded by creative people working hard has always helped me get out of creative slumps, so I hope your funk cannot withstand the power of this community!

@Coley Thank you so much! It's been a minute since I've shaken off the writing dust, but since joining an online roleplay guild it's been drawing me back into its weirding ways.

Number 3 stands out to me the most. I like 1, but I think the text placement weighs it down toward the bottom a little bit too much.

The shapes on that frog are * chef's kiss *