In the previous post, I planned out the final presentation for this project, with all the images and sketches that needed to be there in order for the final project to make sense as a narrative and as a general concept. It’s important that the showing of my work is representative of the effort I put into the story.

I am happy to say that I’m mostly up to snuff plan-wise/time management wise. This is one of my ongoing goals at the moment. Staying on track with the plan and delivering on a deadline, even a self-imposed deadline. It’s something I struggle with, so I’m really making an effort to find a system that works with me and my brain.

This section was mostly about just figuring out a process for creating complete illustrations in a reasonable amount of time. It was taking what I’ve been working on so far, all the inspiration, the sketches, the text, and experiments with style, and making finished pieces out of them. It was also an exercise in time management and really honing my process. One can see in these four illustrations how I gradually improve the painting technique.

Painterly style exploration

Lined foreground, painted background style exploration

These images from part 2 are the precursor to the style I ended up using for these illustrations. I used an overall painterly style, but also made a liberal use of line whenever I found convenient. And whenever I was drawing the characters, I had my post with the character design sheets right in front of me in order to keep things consistent. I was obviously also referencing new images other than my own previous concept work (like buildings, or cave references), but most of the time I was referring back to my sketches throughout this process.

Lifted Curse

Sketch from the mock up

More elaborate sketch. I was unsure how to approach the background, but I knew I wanted to have semi-faceless figures behind the characters.

Base colors. I was trying to really focus on the emotion and atmosphere.

I realized that the image would really work better with an indication of architecture. The buildings also help with the overall presentation, because they indicate a time and place even better than the designs of the characters.

I contrasted the textured clothing and background with Verner’s very smooth skin. At first, I thought it would look out of place, but I think the difference in textures really helps sell the whole thing. I experiment more with texture in the next three images. The references for the buildings are from different towns in Denmark, I would show them here, but they seem to have disappeared from my references folder.

Banishment

Sketches. I initially planned to have a very simple image of swans in flight, for the sake of time. I took a risk and made a much more complex image of the stepmother cursing the brothers instead. It’s much better for the storytelling, especially since I don’t have real villains in the character lineup yet.

Black and white sketch. I’m not actually certain about the composition, even though its technically sound. It’s probably the perspective again. I don’t have the habit of using a grid, even with more elaborate compositions, and I think it really shows. Something to take note of for next week. I’m curious if the extra step will make things easier or harder.

A note on colors: For the overall project I’m using fairly naturalistic colors with an emphasis on a gold (light)/purple (shadow) palette. The characters themselves have fairly bold coloring, so in order for them to stand out everything else has to theoretically be more muted. For these illustrations I’m really trying to hone in on atmosphere. In this image, the colors become a bit awkward with the addition of the magic, which I’m still unsure how to render. I’ll be adjusting it next week.

This whole image needs another couple of hours of smoothing out. Could only tell after I put it away for a day. This is something that I’m already kind of used to. It’s easy to get bogged down by the details and not realize the overall piece still needs refining until one comes back to it with fresh eyes.

The Dangers Out There

First sketch. I kind of like it more than what I ended up with, in terms of concept. The eyes are really looming here and it makes the whole thing scarier, whereas in the sketch I ended up using he’s not even seen the eyes yet. It’s a more subtle sort of danger, which can be cool, but this particular project needs a more bombastic approach, I think. Like a movie trailer. So the overt danger of the glaring eyes would have been more appropriate.

The second sketch.

The glowing sword is a new addition to the story, and though it has aesthetic benefits, it’s actually kind of important for Verner’s character development. I have a whole idea about him trying to figure out why the utterly normal sword is suddenly glowing only to realize much later that it was his doing all along.

I couldn’t quite decide how I wanted the lighting to work here, and it makes the final image a little less convincing. At first, the stalactites and stalagmites cast long shadows, but then I decided I liked it better for the rocks to just frame the image instead with no shadows spreading out of said frame. I ended up somewhere in the middle instead.

The profile’s proportions need correcting, and I think the rocks in the foreground could use just a little more detail. Either something to get to in the next few days or something to leave for the final assignment, where I’ll be putting together the whole thing and making adjustments.

Unlikely Companions

It’s really important to get a group shot, because as nice as the characters are individually, the story is about them interacting with each other. Which is why I forwent the original idea of them just standing around and instead sketched something a little more dynamic.

There’s actually some dialog here, and I could theoretically put some speech bubbles in the drawing, but it really wouldn’t fit with the style of the other images. This is a pen sketch. It’s effective at getting the point across, but I’ve been thinking a lot about the way I sketch and really want to try to improve my lines and cleanliness.

Same sketch, now digital

I flipped it because he is supposed to have a left wing, not a right one. I keep making this mistake for some reason. Also, I kept cropping and bringing the characters closer together because I wanted their expressions to be the focus.

Black and white.

Colors. I was oscillating between “this is too colorful” and “this is too drab” throughout this so much.

The rendering technique was really different in this drawing, because there were so many faces and absolutely no rough surfaces like stalagmites or cave walls. I tried out to make the whole thing a bit smoother than the rest just as a stylistic experiment as well. It works well for the golden hued quirky portrait thing this has going on, but I think it doesn’t fit in as well with the others.

Just some experiments with magic 🙂

I don’t have much practice with effects, but they’re an important finishing touch, especially in this genre. These are simple so I want to try some more elaborate stuff later, especially in combination with more characters.

Mock Up Presentation

Conclusion

This is what the updated mockup looks like. It’s nice to see my progress in a tangible way. In the next assignment I will draw the four remaining images and see if I can do the color versions of the character designs. Ideally, I would also do some studies for the weapons and one or two monster ideas. I already designed one for the comic, so I might as well put it in. I really enjoy fantastical creatures and the story would be full of them, so not including some seems like an awful waste.

“Rule of Cool”

This is something that I was thinking about all throughout this week. It’s a concept that I saw mentioned in a film analysis article (I think?) some years ago, and again more recently in an artist’s YouTube video. I would link it, but I have no clue who it was anymore. In any case, it means that one sometimes ignores logic, physics and established convention in general to make a more dramatic and “cool” looking end product. This is strange to me, because all of my instincts say the opposite when I’m drawing. I have a tendency to make things less cool looking if I think the anatomy, the lighting, the historical accuracy, etc. doesn’t track. I correct things, and then I end up disappointed with the final image because it’s correct, but it’s also… more boring.

I didn’t realize how much this thinking was influencing my work until I actively decided to go with the cooler option with the first image. I thought about not using the very direct, theoretically inferior central composition. I was taught that compositions with and off-center focal point are always more dynamic and therefore better. This obviously doesn’t apply for every image and is highly dependent on the objective of the illustration or painting, but it’s still the thought that was rattling in my brain as I was drawing. “Wouldn’t it be better if I changed it?” Perhaps it would have been a decent enough image, but the direct composition, with the character looking the viewer in the eye is exactly what I wanted when I sketched the initial scenes.

I think I would have ended up diluting the original emotional impact that I intended for the first couple of illustrations of the presentation if I went with a different composition. And “emotional impact” are the key words here. That’s what the “Rule of Cool” is about: evoking strong emotions. This seems like an obvious thing to think about when making images. “What will the viewer feel when they look at this?” But it’s not something I usually consider. I didn’t even consider “Do I think this is cool?” to be a reasonable evaluation question for my own work. But I think it’s vital.

In previous assignments, I observed several times that the sketch was always better before I “corrected” the final drawing. This is normal, in a way. Sketches very frequently look looser and more confident. But I think I found the real root of the problem here, and how to solve it. When I want to correct something to make it more believable, I have to ask myself if I’m also sacrificing the “cool” for the “correct”. If I am, then it’s not a necessary correction. If I’m not, then I should go ahead.

Though I did make a note above that I should start using perspective grids more. This is definitely something that will aid the “cool” rather than hinder it.

In any case, I will make this a part of my process in the next few weeks, see how I like it and if it’s helpful. Will update on how that’s going for me in the next one.