Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Illustration


1 comment:

  1. Robert,

    Good work!

    So I typically critique work based on three main areaas: Concept, composition, and craft.

    Concept: Your concept is strong. Definitely tells the story of the paranoid obsessive compulsive patron, worried about contact with germs. The germs look intimidating. Maybe one thing to consider... do the germs look like an actual enlarged flu virus, salmonella, or the common cold virus? This is where natural curiosity and research comes into play. I always ask myself a lot of what if questions with every assignment.

    Composition: I think your composition is good. It shows the audience exactly what you want them to see, and it effectively tells the story without any words. Nice expression on the waiter, person in Hazmatt suit, and germs. Stuff to think about in the future: How far do you push the posing? I like to push the poses and expressions to the extreme. For example, is the waiter looking at the person in the suit with a surprised look, or a "what's wrong with THAT guy" look? The expressions are different. Take a look at the PRESTON BLAIR books for various examples of cartoon expression. As far as the posing of the paranoid character... is he plastered against the seat with arms outstretched? Did he jump up into the waiters arms because he is so freaked out? Is it more subtle? (Sometimes that can be just as funny.) Sometimes I push it too far and have to pull back. Not saying what you did was wrong by any means. But it's beneficial to explore several different takes to compare for yourself and to give the art director a variety of choices. In terms of background, consider the entire background. Do you show a hint of the kitchen, or maybe the menu up on the wall that you might see in a diner?

    Craft: Pay attention to the details, like where the color of the table meets the color of the wall, and above the blue monster, there is a bit of white is showing. The shading on the paranoid character is fine. Maybe carry the shading over to the waiter so the illustration is consistent. In terms of anatomy: that's the most difficult part. You did a really good job. However, to nitpick: I might show a bit more of the waiter's hand under the tray so it doesn't look cut off. Your pose of the boy works well! Some tiny nitpicking: the legs look a bit long (waist to knee) and you want the boy's right arm to feel like it's wrapping around the leg by adding more volume where the elbow meets the leg. In other words, thicker there. It's always good practice to set up a pose and take a picture in order to work from life. Even artists who have done a million drawings still use reference.

    Anyway, overall, good job! These are just things to think about to go from good to great or from great to super stardom!

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