More like this? I really appreciate the input...I agree that something about the lighting is weird.
I've decided to make a dummy for the portfolio. I want to attempt to show that I can keep the look of characters throughout a book. To achieve this, I picked "Tom Thumb," by the Grimm Brothers. This story has potential for rich and interesting imagery, but it's disgusting! So many of the old tales seem to get pretty morbid...Dwight Shrute would love it (for any other Office fans out there)!
Here's my setting piece, to simulate an introductory page. It'll be taking place in a forest, deep in the mountains. This piece came together faster than most, so I'm interested to see what you guys see as working/not working.
I'm off for the summer from teaching middle school, so I'm kicking it into the high productivity gear...although potty training the son is slowing down things! :) Just wait for that one, Steve! Anyhow, I'd love to hear your thoughts!
7 comments:
Hey, cool idea! I think this has a good atmosphere about it, I like the backlighting effect and the huge moon.
Some things I notice: I am not certain why, but the house seems really flat against the rest of the image. Maybe it's that the backlighting creates kind of an outline effect. Can it be softened a little, maybe blended in where it meets the house?
The other thing was the two furthest hills in the distance. They are very similar in value and I think they'd give more of a sense of depth if they were separated in value a few degrees. I wonder, since you have the bright moon right there if it would look cool if they were *darker*, like a silhouette? It will be interesting to see what everyone else says.
Ah yes, potty training. That is where my little niece is at too, and it seems like it is every 5 minutes they want to go sit on the potty for 10 more minutes! Ha ha. Good luck with that. ;)
Hi Pete- Love the atmosphere in this image. I agree with carmen about the house, but I think that it is the white outline that is bothering me the most. At first I felt like it was missing a character, or something else that would draw the viewers attention, but I'm not sure after looking at it for awhile. Maybe a shadow of a person in one of the windows?
Good luck with the potty training. After much perseverance don't be afraid to use M&Ms.
Okay, so the bottom illustration is the initial. I think the critique about the white line was excellent! I hope the top illo addresses this, but you never know. Also, the mountains were a pain...I wasn't sure about how to best fade the color...but I gave it my best shot.
Thanks guys.
I think it is looking better, but I would still blur the white line on the right side of the house. I think it will give it the softer refection of "moonlight" feel. I like the lighting on the hills better in the second one as well- it's coming along!
I think something else you might want to consider is the shading on the hills. They look like they have a different light source and like it is day time. The sides of the hills showing would not be getting that moon light. There could be a light at the top of them but the sides we see would be darker. There could be some light from the house lights, but not that much.I am also wondering what your light source is for the side of the house. If this is a night scene even with the full moon I think the colors would go more to the blues?
I like the composition.
I made a real mess for myself by choosing a weird light source. Why do I do that? I had a time trying to figure out exactly how to handle those mountains. Do I go lighter as I go back? Do I go darker? Patti, I see where you're coming from about the lighting on the front of house, too. It probably'd have been better if I'd had moved the moon over to the right more. It would have played better that way. But at the same time, I really wanted to have a overbearing moon bathing the scene in light and I want to keep it in the frame. I probably need to to a wash over the front of the house to fix it.
Hey Pete, the revised version is really looking nice! I'm not bothered by the house now, it looks like it belongs in the picture.
For the whole moonlight and mountain issue, I looked up on Google Images "moon behind the mountains" and got a lot of good stuff to look at for ideas -- it's looking like mountains are usually very blue with not much highlights in such an arrangement. Maybe you can look for more images like that to help you figure out what to do!
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