Monday, January 6, 2014

First Sketch-to-Finish piece

If you've read my first post, on Dec. 30th, you'll know what this blog is going to be about.  Characters:  both ones I create, and ones in children's literature.

A quick re-cap first.  I'm going to post a pencil sketch of a new character on Mondays, listen to any comments/suggestions folks might have on the character, and do a finished painting of the piece.  On Fridays, I'll show how it turned out, and the final artwork will go up on eBay.

I'm looking forward to experimenting with color and techniques in a way I can't while I'm working under deadline pressure!

So here's the first victim character I'll take to finish:
Unable to summon up any of the facts about Guatemala Mrs. Bennington taught them,
Richard turned his mind to more pleasant thoughts of his Legos.

Looking at this sketch, I think I'll want to turn it into a square or horizontal piece—move Richard to the left, and show his tail raised behind him in a joyful way.  I think his right arm—pardon, paw— needs to be longer, and the way he's holding the pencil defined better.  But I like the look of mental drift in his eyes.  I remember certain times in school when I felt that way. . . though Legos weren't my thing.

Any thoughts?  By Friday, he'll be back on this blog in full, academically-challenged color.  Since this is my first full-fledged entry for the blog, I might also post some process photos, to show how I approach an illustration.

Have a great week!

6 comments:

  1. Great idea! You are a brave man to consider letting the world-at-large to art direct you. If you're looking for input/suggestions, I'd consider making the head a little larger, as this is a young pup who dreams of Legos.

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  2. His pencil makes it look as if his thought might be, "Oh, I have a pencil embedded in my paw, but if I howl, I'll be in detention again. Must.Look.Attentive." But you said you're going to clarify the pencil holding so basically I was just being a smart aleck. I do like the left arm/paw rather a lot. Though there's something about the ears I'm not completely certain about, but that's probably just me.

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  3. This facial expression is perfectly dreamy! Other details don't seem to matter to me--I go for the eyes & facial expression.

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  4. I can see the dream-look in his eyes... Legos... how are you going to show that he is thinking of Legos!? I can't wait to see the finished product!

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  5. I agree with you that the pencil grip needs to be better defined--it looks to me like his paw has been stabbed by the pencil. A tripod grip would do it. And the capital R in Richard is incorrect. LOL It is too stylized for something a teacher would do--teachers are the ones who make the "nameplates" for desks, usually. Thanks for sharing and can't wait to see the "final" product!

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