Drawing Practice: Birds

Hummingbird

Toucan

Bluebird

Flamingo

Just a bit of drawing practice to keep me busy...I decided to draw some birds because I wanted to mess about with some colour and practice drawing something that is probably a bit more appealing to mass audience! These were done in mixed media; collage, chalks and oil pastels.

      

THE ABOVE DESIGNS ARE AVAILABLE TO BUY AS GREETING CARDS AT:

http://www.createtoday.com/t/bluebird/4873

Charon: Final Illustration

This is the final illustration for this project. It's hardly been changed since the last post; I just needed to clarify certain parts of the image, such as the hand exchanging the money, to make it clearer. 

I also added more texture to the river by using crumpled bank notes layered into it digitally. I think this works really well especially as I kept the browny colour of the money - making the rive look more polluted. This image is in A3 format so I think it will look really nice when it's printed and mounted etc.

Charon: Illustration

Here's my first attempt at producing the main illustration for my Time Tales entry. 

I'm quite happy with the results for a first try..I think the colours work well together..

I think there are a few things I might need to change for the final image..

Hopefully I'll be able to get some feedback from this and decide whether to add more panels to create more of a storyboard type illustration.

(Click on the image above to enlarge but if there is any copying I will smack you down)

Playing with Puppets

Just been playing around with my puppets...using different lighting and photographing from different angles etc. I've found it's quite hard to make 3D objects blend well with 2D backgrounds. I've been trying to blend the two together by using a layer which is the same as the background over the entire image and reducing the opacity to try and unify the layers into one image. 

Charon: Finished Puppets

Here are my finished puppets for my current project. These are my first full body puppets that I have completely designed and created myself, so I am quite proud of them!

This is the Banker. I think this one is perhaps the better one, because there is a lot of character in his expression and I think his features will look really good when the model is lit up and photographed from different angles.

The long wrinkles running from the nose to the sides of the mouth elongate his expression so that when the puppet is photographed from his "feet", looking up at his face it will hopefully help give the photograph a drastic sense of angle.

This will add a lot of atmosphere not only to the illustration as a whole, but to the character itself.

I quite like how the puppet photographs from a three quarter

angle. The features of the face are not very predominant - they don't stick out very far from the face - so a profile photograph of it looks very flat and makes it look nothing like a figure, but a three quarter view seems to work ok should I need to use this angle in my final images.

The other puppet, which is to be used multiple times in the illustration to represent the souls of the dead, doesn't look as good in these photographs although I think they will both look entirely different when lit up and photographed in different ways.

This puppet also turned out quite large and fat for some reason - hopefully I'll be able to alter this using photoshop to make it slightly smaller than the Banker, as he is meant to be the dominant figure in the narrative and the illustration.

Making Puppets: The Banker

Over the past few days I have started to produce the puppets for my illustration. This is quite a time consuming thing to do, but it is so enjoyable and I think the results are really going to be worth it!

The first puppet is Charon/The Banker. The body is like a plush toy made from pinstriped fabric but weighted down with a sand bag inside...

I used DAS clay to sculpt the face and the hand. I found this clay really strange to work with; I've never used it before and it seems to dry out really quickly..

I've just painted the face and hand and added a sort of stained effect to the collar of the body, so just need to wait for that to dry and then I can assemble him together!

I don't think the body is strong enough to be able to hold the weight of the hand, so I will probably have to superimpose it onto the final image. I'm quite worried about this as I'll have to really try and get the lighting and the angle the same in both photographs..

Finally I bought an iddy biddy dolls hat to put on his head!

Will update when he's fully built!

Charon: Composition Development

Ok, since last post on this project I've done a bit of development work...

These photographs aren't very good but here is the development of the composition of the illustration. I created quite an abstracted background - or base - for the main image, using traditional collage. I then scanned this into Photoshop and started trying to alter the colours slightly. I also added light filters to try and get nearer to the effect I'm looking for. 

The black outline on these images are rough drawings done on acetate. This allowed me to create different compositions and lay them over the main base of the image.

So this is the first composition. The image features Charon taking a banker across the river Thames and loads of other "important" people waiting to cross...

After taking a step back and looking at the composition, I decided it wasn't quite working and a bit too crowded in certain areas.

AND-THEN-EUREKA! :O I have decided to remove Charon as this traditional character - and actually REPLACE him with the banker...so can you guess what my modern twist on this old greek myth is...? Inheritance tax and shit! Bastards! *shakes fist*

 

Here is a more "final rough" composition.

There is a slightly dark humour about this piece that seems to be developing throughout this project... The original myth tells how the souls that were left unburied or couldn't pay Charon  had to wander the bank of the river Styx for 100 years. I ended up turning the idea of the river bank into an actual bank..as you can see over on the far side of the river.

I also played with the London tube logo, changing it from "Underground" to "Underworld" as shown on a previous post. Quite hard to see, but I've also drawn the London Eye and renamed it "Evil Eye" - not sure whether to keep that last one?

I think this is really coming together now. I'm loving the snobby expression of the banker - I'm thinking I could create a panelled illustration and have a close up of him - camera angle pointing up at his face with heavy shadows to capture the evilness of his character...

 We'll see!

Underworld: Photo Manipulation

Idea to be used in my current project. It feels like the underworld on the tube too - why isn't anyone allowed to smile on there?

Back soon!