Trapeze Ideas

I like the idea of this illustration. A hippo, care free and soaring through the air. This wimpy little turtle thinking "Oh God, what did I get myself into." It's a great concept and idea, and I think the coloring was really nice with great texture to the piece. Just some things I think might add to your piece and give more strength.
1. I see that the big top tent is at it's highest point here. There would be a main support beam to prop that tent up, but it cuts through your illustration and it might look like these two are going to crash into it. So I really don't know if you add it to the illustration or not. It's just a nit picky thing I noticed.

2. A hippo is a huge mass. Very large, very weighty. It needs some better construction to really convey that and make us (the viewer) believe that this large oaf can sail through the air with the greatest of ease. I like to see where the spinal column is in all the characters I draw.

3. This arm just seems out of place. She needs to have both arms extended if that turtle is going to stand a chance to catch her.

4. Know where the shoulder blades are in your character. draw through your shapes and really understand where all those forms connect.
Just to show you more about what I'm talking about I drew over your original drawing in Sketchbook Pro.
1. I use your same basic shapes, but I have to know where that spine is.
2. To understand the mass of a character or the volume I will draw circles as if it was a 3d model. This keeps the character from looking flat later.
3. Need to know the distance of the hips to one another. The circles give me an idea of this and if I draw lines from one hip joint to the next it will keep it honest as to where it need to be placed. These are all important for readability and selling this far out idea as believable.

Just another example of needing those hips and shoulder to line up....always draw through your shapes.

1. Understand your sense of motion...everything should follow that one fluid motion. See how the ruffles in the outfit all flow back as she flies through the air. The wind pushes it back.
2. Now with that said the tail would more than likely be flowing backwards, but to add excitement and break the fluid motion I drew it forward. After all illustration can and should stretch the truth somewhat.
Lastly I think the trapeze needs to have some motion as all of her weight releases the trapeze shoots or springs away from her.
I hope this helps somewhat. I love drawing cartoon animals so I really felt like this was one are where I might really be able to help someone out with.

Trapeze Artists Completed!

Well, here's the finished piece. It's acrylic on watercolor paper.

This painting too me a very long time to complete...an area where I feel I have a need to improve.

There are parts I like and part's that I don't, so I'm eager to hear the group thoughts! :) Lighting continues to be a weak area for me...but I'll keep pluggin' away at it.

IF: Poise - Adelia

It's been forever since I've posted a new image - I've been so busy with a couple of projects. It's been horrible. But I wanted to create something for today's illustration friday...and when i thought of poise, I immediately thought of a tight rope walker...and there's no better daredevil than my Adelia character. That's not true, but I still wanted to do something with this character...

Now this was a really rough drawing that I quickly cleaned up - I like it, but wanted to know what you all thought. And I'm not so concerned with color right now, but composition...does it work?

Changes to the Bunny

Thanks for all the input on this one. I went ahead and spent the afternoon making the changes as suggested and I think it turned out way better than before. I need to spend more time planning out my BKGDs so that I don't run into issues as I did previously. This piece took over two days to complete, so no this is not one of my quicky illustrations...I spent some serious time on this puppy, I mean bunny.

IF - sketch

Heya folks! Awesome work coming, lovin' it! Gonna set some time aside tomorrow to comment and catch up.

But right now I'm trying to figure out what to do with these three lovely ladies. They're on separate layers, so they can be moved around. I'm debating whether to have them each individually be a piece so they're a "set" or to have them all together. :/ Thoughts? Ideas? I'm open! :D

Bunny

Work is a bit slow right now so I've been working on illustrations as much as I can. Just trying to improve my skills and maybe get a portfolio piece out of this too.

Illustration Friday: Subtract

Just One

Oooo, look at me posting twice in a row! The great suggestions from my previous post had me thinking about my need to learn to use stronger light sources -- something the vast majority of my work in general lacks. So I've taken a whack at it here... also I think my perspective is a little off, what do you think?

Garden Dance

Would love a critique on my latest.... it feels a bit "off" to me. I think Isaac is going to find a lot of tangents too :P, maybe that's what it is!

My new site and blog

Hi all,
I just wanted to drop a quick note and say I have consolidated my site and blog here. :)
Drop by and say hi. :) I would love to know what you think. I will make a list of any suggested changes and when my budget allows try to incorporate them. :)

EDIT: So, just wondering: Keep the slideshow or drop it? Are there any specific pictures you suggest I pull out of the gallery? Thanks! :)

Painting Grace

Finally something not related to any projects I have going on. I found myself loosing interest in them and thought it'd be best to do something else (other sketching) to break. I find that sometimes that helps me inspired to keep working on the other projects. It's been a while since I've finished a painting that wasn't related to anything. :)

I'm pretty happy with it, except for the fact I should have placed more going on in the background. :P

Lion and Baboon

Another quick animal illustration. I'm trying to get faster at creating illustrations and not work on little areas for too long. Also trying to keep the final illustration as dynamic as the original pencil rough. Getting the feedback from this site helps me to improve as I move on to the next illustration. Thanks.

Elephant in a slightly new style

trying to develop a faster painting process in photoshop. I did this one in a morning...not sure number of hours, but I tired to move quickly....some proportion issued and antaomy, but I think it shows the weight and looks pretty solid. Crits welcome.

Day Jobs

Hiya folks,
I'm still alive believe it or not, but have nothing new aside from my book project illos which have been moving quickly. With all the wedding planning and dinner outings with family, and the book project, on top of the teaching, and, and, yeah. My site, my newsletter, and my groups are suffering. *sigh* So are my illustration friday projects, and anything else I would like to do.

But, I thought instead of posting work I'd open a discussion! Yay for talking! :P So here's the question...

What is/are your job(s)? The jobs you get paid for.

For me, I do several things. I privately teach some awesome young ladies. I have one once a week, two every other week, and three once a month. It's small income, but it adds up quickly. I also teach art (drawing, painting, watercolor, fantasy, manga, cartoons) at our local art museum. There is an education wing, and I have been a part of that family for almost 5 years. I teach ages 6-17. It's awesome pay, but minimal hours. I teach only three days a week, 8 hours total (usually). But workshops and other activities that the Des Moines Art Center (the museum) hold are opportunities to teach as well. They're side jobs.

And then, I freelance. Usually several projects, one book, one private commission. Everything else I do doesn't seem to go anywhere...but I keep moving. It's tough! Especially when you load on the wedding. But I have to say, out of all of that I'm so very grateful that I'm not in retail any more, I'm not serving burgers, and I'm with kids! :D I am very blessed in the work I do!

Now....what about you!?

Baby Monster

Okay, so this is for my baby that's due in May. My first kid (YIKES!) Excited, nervous, many different emotions.

Well being an artist and an illustrator there is an expectation by friends and family to have a really cool nursery. I thought about cute animals, or an under the sea theme, but that's been done. I really love drawing two things...Monster and Dinosaurs, so I went with baby monsters. I was very happy with how this turned out. This little dude is going to be printed then applied to rhino board cut out and drilled into the wall. Three more monsters will follow.

Still not done with the Rattle...Painting circles in photoshop is a pain....I know there's an easy way to do it on the computer, but then it looks like it was done on the computer. Any color comments would be greatly appreciated.

Cookie Monster

This is an image I worked on for fun. I just started roughing out an image in BW strokes in photoshop and let the form take shape. I had no idea what I was going to create just tried to find something in the mess of strokes and then pushed and pulled the shapes with contrast. Let me know what you think about the color? Too muted? Color is my biggest nemisis.