Monday, March 2, 2009

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.

6 comments:

Carmen Medlin said...

You'll have the coolest nursery ever!!
Congrats about your new little one that's coming -- it's a wild ride but so worth it. Awesome to see them grow and become little people with opinions all their own. ;)
This little guy is great, wonderful goofy expression, nice brushstrokes, plus I just plain love silly monsters. I think two things I would watch out for here are: the deep blackness of the background is darker than any of the shadows on the monster and so the monster looks a little pasted-on. Maybe if you darkened little spots of the shadows on him he would meld into the background more, or you could put some brushstrokes of a lighter dark color in the background around him.
Also about the rattle -- I know you're not done yet :) but just wanted to point out that one of the circular things pokes out on one side but doesn't on the other, and they'd probably look best if they matched. Since the other circles are kind of recessed into the rattle, probably the not-poked-out version would look most believable.
This rocks! I'm excited to have a silly monster painter in the group. :)

Unknown said...

Aw! he's got your eye!

Very nicely done. It looks nice, friendly and cute. And monsterous. I love the reflections in the eye - Mine don't end up with that glossy wet look that yours seems to have.

As far as color -t he only thing I can think of is that there seems to be a couple of places of oversaturation (I almost hesitate to use that word, because it's subtle, but I notice it in a couple of places) - and that would be on the monster's left ankle and one of the ridges around his eye (on the monster's left side). Everything else on the monster is a nice soft muted purple, but those two areas seem a little brighter.

Also - this might mean anything because of where you're using him - but the ground plane...since it's just black around him, he's floating. The pose and everything strongly suggests that he's sitting, but there's no indication of that in the black...for your purpose with this piece it probably isn't necessary, but it's something I've always had in my head. Anyway - it's a small thing - because of where you're using the picture...but just wanted to point it out, just in case...

Unknown said...

Thanks, for the comments. I thought about showing the black cut out version for the purposes of how it's going to hang on the wall. The black BKGD wasn't my first choice, in fact I had it on a white BKGD, but had to change it. That kind of messed up some of the shadows and over saturated other areas. It does make all those little hairs stand out nicely.

pete said...

Congrats, Steve! Ah...the baby's room...good luck!

My initial impression is that its a very nice piece. I'm not so bothered by the black...it helps to make the image pop and babies see dark colors (mainly blacks and whites) better than any other at birth. That's why you'll see lots of blacks and whites on baby stuff. So if you really want him/her to see it at first, then I think dark is the way to go! Not sure you were looking for that scientific stuff but oh well. I have a really cool web article about this stuff if your interested...(http://www.ski.org/Vision/babyvision.html) I'm a middle school science teacher so I tend to go overboard on this kind of thing! :)

Best of luck...give the Mommy-to-be a back rub every night and you'll score major points!

Lara Lakshmi said...

Hi Steve, I'm the other illustrator who requested to join the group recently, and I'm glad to be here. Congratulations, exciting times are ahead for you ... Be prepared to give names to and make up bedtime stories about these adorable monsters for years! The only minor thing I notice is the placement of the "thumbs" on the feet seems asymmetrical - one seems to attach closer to the heel than the other. Along the same theme, maybe some fingernails to match the toenails? Or not ... I love the multiple chins and chubbiness of this creature. Good luck!

Christy/Tiddly Inks Digitals said...

Hi Steve, Congrats on the new little one. I wish I had thought to do monsters for the nursery! LOL Great idea. I love this monster, but I think the above suggestions are right on. I would like to see some fingernails too or a change to the left hand. It is more of a paw and less of a hand like the right one.
I think most of those details are minor however and this is one awesome painting. :) Have fun cutting out that hair... :) Let us see the next two crazy monsters too. :)
Christy