Saturday, January 3, 2009

Christy Croll/Tiddly Inks First Blog Post

Hi everyone. I am in the middle of getting my portfolio site completed, but hopefully it will be done soon. :) I am so thrilled to be part of this group. I have been blown away by the talent I have seen so far--really amazing stuff! :)

This is one of the watercolor and ink paintings that I planned to post to my pending site, so I would love some feedback in case I should reconsider or redo.

This is ink, watercolor, and colored pencil on 140-lb Canon cold-press paper.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

I really like the color and how the characters stand out from the background. The heart flowers are, not only a good idea, but well accomplished.

The only thing I can see that stands out is how the tail on the right side of the picture tangents with both flowers on that side, as well as the whisker. A slight adjustment would fix that pretty quick!

kris fulk said...

Those heart flowers really make the composition pop! I think you made a great decision to intersperse red into an otherwise grayish tonality. I would say, though, that the left side seems to weigh heavier than the right side. There is more going on there: longer tail, more flowers than on the right side. But that's the only feeling I get about the balance since your colors, like I said before, make a good contrast between red and gray. Great work!

Anonymous said...

oooooo. Love. What could be sweeter?

The only thing that bothered me about the whole image is the little mouse is blending in somewhat to the bigger mouse.

If you made Mama Mouse a tad darker, maybe a bit bluer and Baby Mouse a tad lighter and a bit pinker, there would be more contrast between the characters.

And like Isaac said watch those tangents. There are more than a few that deleting would strengthen and already strong piece.

Great work!

sara.b said...

Christy, I adore your style. So whimsical and light hearted. I agree with what has been said about the tangents and the mice kind of mixing visually. I'm afraid if you add too much blue, or make one any darker they'll begin to blend into the background. Maybe bring a more vibrant purple into the shadows between mama and baby. Or some rosy cheeks on the baby. You can also lighten one of them, but don't use any more white. White dulls or grey's out a color. Especially white colored pencils. :)

OOoooooo I can't wait to see your new site!!! :D

Carmen Medlin said...

A very sweet image, I like your spontaneous and fluid lines! The heart flowers are perfect whimsy.
What struck me about this that could be tinkered with is the contrast of mouse vs. sky and mouse vs. mouse. Even though the outlines separate the two they are a bit too close in value range towards the bottom. I would probably flip the gradient wash so that the light part is on the bottom and the dark is on top so that the darker values aren't all concentrated in the middle & bottom. To separate the baby mouse's form from the mama, you could deepen the shadows in the little areas such as the mama's chest, neck, and lower belly, and I like Sara's idea of giving the baby a blush on the cheek.
You have a great style, so full of movement and freshness!

Christy/Tiddly Inks Digitals said...

Wow, thanks everyone! All are extremely helpful suggestions that will definitely strengthen the piece. I never noticed the tangents..funny how that works, huh?
I agree that they do blend together too much, so I will be going back and either redoing or photoshopping some of the above suggestions.
Thanks so much.