Navigation

    Society of Visual Storytelling

    SVSLearn Forums

    • Register
    • Login
    • Search
    • Recent
    • Tags
    • Popular
    • Users
    • Groups
    • Search
    1. Home
    2. Miriam
    • Profile
    • Following
    • Followers
    • Topics
    • Posts
    • Best
    • Groups

    Miriam Robarts

    @Miriam

    Hello! I've always enjoyed being creative and have experimented a little with several different art forms including photography, graphic design, clay sculpture, ceramic plates, jewelry design, drawing, soft toys, paper crafts, & wire sculpture.

    I feel like I have tried a little bit of a lot of things, and have some good art skills for an average person, but I'd like to develop my talents and work on "mastering my craft". It's been hard to decide where to focus learning.

    I have a chronic illness called Lupus (as well as a couple other auto-immune illnesses and complications), and my health has declined to the point where I had to quit my job in 2015. Since I'm unable to work at all right now, and am limited on what I can do, I decided to work on drawing and illustration. I might not ever have the physical capacity to be a professional illustrator, but I would still like to progress toward that level of quality in my artwork for my own enjoyment and to share with my family and others.

    307
    Reputation
    427
    Posts
    1036
    Profile views
    7
    Followers
    6
    Following
    Joined Last Online
    Location Sacramento, CA Age 41

    Miriam Follow

    Best posts made by Miriam

    • NASA Content - Copyright Free!

      NASA "has made their entire collection of images, sounds, and video available and publicly searchable online. It’s 140,000 photos and other resources available for you to see, or even download and use it any way you like"—copyright free.

      Here's an article about it: https://www.diyphotography.net/nasa-makes-entire-media-library-publicly-accessible-copyright-free/?fbclid=IwAR3-2ubYay7E_BkoNy7Kxdn0WIGJcoIBoCRrdl3cJb0yqQQaVp6ydL8TfRs

      Edit: Here is the page with details regarding using NASA content: https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/guidelines/index.html

      3a6f1baf-beaa-44b0-a5ab-484c58dac197-image.png

      posted in General Discussion
      Miriam
      Miriam
    • RE: Up for a “contest” still?

      Update I was able to finish inking it, so here's the final version.

      0_1527842677925_spots & stripes Final.jpg

      If anyone is interested, you can see my WIP here: http://forum.svslearn.com/topic/5913/may-fauxcontest-wip-critiques-welcome. I feel like I've grown a lot with this one!

      Thanks again to @jon-anderson & @gary-wilkinson for your helpful critiques!

      posted in Artwork
      Miriam
      Miriam
    • RE: OCTOBER CONTEST: The experiment worked! Penny was so relieved to have her dog back from the dead.

      ...or so she thought.

      Or so she thought.jpg

      posted in Announcements
      Miriam
      Miriam
    • RE: JANUARY CONTEST: The tracks in the snow were unlike anything Will had ever seen before.

      I didn't have time to finish, but I thought I'd share what I have, since I enjoy seeing what everyone else came up with.

      SVS_01-2020_Miriam_Robarts.jpg

      posted in Announcements
      Miriam
      Miriam
    • RE: May FauxContest WIP -- critiques welcome

      And here's my Final, completed with Copic Multiliner pens.

      0_1527844484455_spots & stripes Final.jpg

      Thanks for the help & support!

      posted in Artwork
      Miriam
      Miriam
    • RE: Behind the Scenes at svslearn.com

      Wow, that's a lot of stuff coming up! Thanks for taking the time to let everyone know what's going on and all the work & planning you've been up to lately. As with anything else, I think people are usually understanding once they know more about the challenges of a situation.

      Well, I'm excited for the remake, since I haven't finished that class yet! I'll have to watch it from the beginning again when the update comes out. And I'm super excited for the "Live art crit with Will"! I feel like I learn so much from watching critiques!

      I think you all are doing a great job and it's awesome to see your dedication to SVS and your students, and your commitment to providing high quality classes.

      It sounds like a huge undertaking to continue developing SVS, in addition to juggling the other aspects of your careers. I agree--I feel like I am getting real, applicable information in these classes, since you all work in illustration.

      I didn't know there were going to be "Videos for individual purchase only" classes. Can you tell us more about this type of class, and the reason for that format?

      I have a suggestion for the list of classes--it would be nice if it could be sorted by newest to oldest (and perhaps vice-versa). That way it'd be easy for people to find the new classes.

      posted in General Discussion
      Miriam
      Miriam
    • Nope. (Travel WIP)

      When I saw that the theme for the Contest this month is Travel, I thought of my brother, who hates to travel! So I thought I'd try a contra-concept.

      Here are my thumbnails so far. It's looking like it could be a sticker, or on a mug (or travel mug?---ha, ha).

      Please let me know if you think this design works in the first place, and whether you like the first idea with words about travel & adventure, or if you like the landmark silhouettes idea, or if you think I should try something else. I was also thinking of possibly having a light background of a global map inside the circle.

      I would appreciate any comments / critiques (both positive & negative)! Thanks!

      0_1524289150310_SVS April 2018 Contest-Travel Thumbnails.jpg

      posted in Artwork
      Miriam
      Miriam
    • RE: Robot/Mech scene help

      @kaylahh
      Making art for people you love is awesome! I know I get inspired by making something a family member would like. ❤

      Using diagonal lines in your composition will help give a more active, exciting feel to the image. Did you see Ashely Moore's entry in the Travel Contest? http://forum.svslearn.com/topic/5748/april-contest-travel/55 ( @artwithashley )

      I also saw a YouTube video on this exact topic by Mark Crilley, so that could be helpful for you! (Oh, when I went to look it up, I see that it was a Godzilla drawing--close enough!) 3-Point Perspective: Worm's Eye View [Narrated Tutorial], by markcrilley https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsfK2ZkrEmc

      Looking at both of the above examples, you'll see that none of the horizontal or vertical lines are parallel to the edges of the page. Try printing them out and drawing over them to find the perspective lines in a few places to get ideas on different perspectives you could use to create motion in your piece. I really like how both of them chose a lower perspective to emphasize the height of the city buildings.

      If your monster robot is in the foreground, maybe you could add some destruction around it, such as overturned vehicles, or a car being crushed under its feet.

      posted in Artwork
      Miriam
      Miriam
    • RE: Animal Violence in Children's Books?

      @Carey-Bowden
      Wow, that is pretty sad & heavy material!

      If you are careful with it, it can be good for kids to see that life is rough sometimes, but you can overcome it. I agree that telling a story with animals can soften difficult subjects, and sadly, there are children who deal with this issue.

      To answer the question, I agree with @Boris-Bayo. At the same time, I also think a head-butt wouldn't be too bad, since goats and sheep use head-butting in their play, and a gentle version of the same gesture would be loving. So the picture wouldn't necessarily be violent on it's own (without the context of the story). I would definitely not show the mother ewe kicking her own lamb, though. (Or any of the other sheep harming it, either.) That would be too harsh.

      I think it also depends on how much of the story is spent dwelling on the herd rejecting the lamb. The more time spent on that section of the story, the less inclined I'd be to use an image that might be more disturbing.

      Poor little lamb! I'm glad the story ends well for him! Good luck figuring this out!

      posted in Questions & Comments
      Miriam
      Miriam
    • RE: APRIL CONTEST: TRAVEL

      When I saw that the theme for the Contest this month is Travel, I thought of my brother, who hates to travel!
      So I thought I'd try a contra-concept. Travel? Nope.

      0_1525164755498_SVS April 2018 Contest-Travel Nope.jpg

      posted in Announcements
      Miriam
      Miriam

    Latest posts made by Miriam

    • RE: September Submission Corrections.

      I agree with @VeronicaMui -- you are doing great work by participating & working through your feelings until you get to the point where you can keep learning and growing. It's an admirable quality to appreciate constructive critiques.

      The second image does have a lot more contrast. Something you might want to ask yourself is "What do I want the viewer to see first?" The stark contrast of the white page against the black background & the white thumb against the black phone make me look to those areas first. But it's not a picture of a thumb or a note.

      You might consider changing the black phone and background to a lighter shade and focus on the contrast between the fairy and the things around her. The edges of the fairy are touching the table, ink well, and the spurting ink. This is where you could increase the contrast to put the focus of the image on her. Also, I couldn't tell what the finger on the pen was at first, so you might want to take it out (as if they are holding the pen further from the point) or rework it. The one holding the phone is well done & easy to "read" as a finger.

      posted in General Discussion
      Miriam
      Miriam
    • RE: Ink Fairy Piece Re-Work

      I agree with the other commenters. "Too much white" was not the problem / critique. The issue they were pointing out is that the whole image has the same value /weight to it.

      By "values", they mean shades of gray (which can also be accomplished visually with cross hatching), or if it's a color piece, the equivalent of different shades of gray in the colors (red is a "dark" color, while yellow is a "light" color, etc.). I don't know much about color theory, though!

      If you study design principles, one of the things you learn about is "hierarchy" -- meaning, "What is the focus of the image?", or "Where am I supposed to look first?" You can recognize this easily in text. If you see a sign that has some words in big, bold letters and other text in smaller letters, you will probably read the big bold words first--even if the bold words aren't at the top of the sign. Bigger, smaller, brighter, darker -- whatever is significantly "more" catches your attention.

      Hierarchy can be achieved through different techniques. Basically, you want something to be different -- and often you'll have more than one aspect or quality that's different than the things around it. Big/Small, Light/Dark, Warm/Cool (colors), Detailed/Vague, etc.

      Your eye should be immediately drawn to the main part of your drawing. I've often heard our SVS teachers talk about 1st read, 2nd read, & 3rd read. What is the first thing you see when you look at the picture? What is the second thing you notice? It should only take a split second to notice the 1st thing. You should see it immediately -- without thinking or effort. By the time you get to the 3rd thing, it's ok if it takes some time & paying attention to see it.

      It looks like you may have considered having different sizes -- the fairy is bigger than the turtles. Although, the turtle on the rock does make a shape similar in size, so you want to be aware of things like that. Maybe you can practice by circling the general shapes in other people's work, and your own, to help notice the size differences of different shapes.

      Another design principle you can use is "Contrast". High contrast is when you have something white next to something black. Low contrast is when you have colors of similar value. For example, a black horse on a white background is a high contrast image. Line work is usually not thick enough to count as "black" or "white". You need to consider how dark or light the character or item is overall -- compared to the background, or whatever is adjacent to that object. You want to be able to zoom out & squint your eyes, and still be able to see a distinct silhouette. Your original image is low contrast, because all the objects in the image have about the same amount of shading, and all of the marks on the page are pretty evenly dispersed.

      When they post the critique arena video (https://courses.svslearn.com/courses/take/critique-arena), go back to the part where they compare the group that made it into the top 16 -- next to the group that didn't. All of the ones that didn't make the cut had very little contrast. It's ok to have a low contrast image, but it will have a hard time standing out next to an image with higher contrast, and it will need to use other techniques or "design principles" to make the image "readable" and interesting.

      I hope that helps explain it!

      It's great that you're putting in the effort to learn & use the advice / critique of others to improve your skills. You have a great attitude!

      posted in Artwork
      Miriam
      Miriam
    • RE: Ink Fairy Piece Re-Work

      @Molambo - The cross hatching sample you found is great! Thanks for sharing. 🙂

      posted in Artwork
      Miriam
      Miriam
    • RE: SEPTEMBER CONTEST: Ink Fairy

      @miranda-hoover, Your squid fairy & all the ink drops are so adorable!

      posted in Announcements
      Miriam
      Miriam
    • RE: SEPTEMBER CONTEST: Ink Fairy

      @carolinebautista, This one is a lot of fun.

      posted in Announcements
      Miriam
      Miriam
    • RE: SEPTEMBER CONTEST: Ink Fairy

      @Mairin-Kareli , I like your drawing.

      I think the ink fairy is going into the camera lens, but I don't understand the math homework. Is it a photo of the homework, and the fairy is altering the photo? Why would you take a photo of homework?

      Just a tip for the future: You wouldn't see four sides of the camera (you have the front, top, & both "sides"). If you think of it as a cube, you'd only see 1. the front or back, 2. the top or bottom, & 3. one of the sides.

      But other than that, I think the camera is great & the details really add to it. I like the style & the "world" on/around the camera makes a fun & whimsical image. The plants are beautiful & the little bunny-like creature is so cute!

      posted in Announcements
      Miriam
      Miriam
    • RE: SEPTEMBER CONTEST: Ink Fairy

      @Chris-Philpot , I almost missed that we are looking through the camera. It would have been nice to have some more icons from the screen/viewfinder to help out with that. But I love the drawing and concept!

      posted in Announcements
      Miriam
      Miriam
    • RE: SEPTEMBER CONTEST: Ink Fairy

      @Krista-Blue , I like how the wings are folded paper.

      posted in Announcements
      Miriam
      Miriam
    • RE: SEPTEMBER CONTEST: Ink Fairy

      @Chris-Perry-0
      The contest recordings are posted in the SVS classes as "Critique Arena": https://courses.svslearn.com/courses/take/critique-arena

      September 10th's video (with the August "dragonfly" prompt) is here: https://courses.svslearn.com/courses/take/critique-arena/lessons/16859182-august-contest-dragonfly.

      posted in Announcements
      Miriam
      Miriam
    • RE: Where Are You From?

      @MOO, Unfortunately, not yet. The fires have been bad in CA. (I'm in Sacramento.) Looking out the window earlier today--everything had a sepia tint. 😞

      posted in General Discussion
      Miriam
      Miriam