I've discovered the more I draw the better I get, I can see myself improve at a much quicker rate than almost any other task. Ergo, the return on investment for my time and effort in art is really high - so that's where I should be investing my time.
This weekend I got to thinking about birds and I've been really attracted to the Art Nouveu style of Alphonse Mucha, with the dreaming whimsical maidens and elaborate backgrounds. So I sat down and sketched out a lady with a bird on her finger. I didn't come close to Mucha's dreamy, soft illustrations... but it's my own style.
I sketched this out in pencil, then inked it and scanned it into the computer. I cleaned it up in Photoshop so I could get a really clean live-trace in Illustrator. Then I colored it in illustrator. It's simple - and that's ok. It only took me one episode of Downton Abbey. I entitled it Blue Bird of Friendliness, after a They Might Be Giants lyric (which I obviously like because I entitled a previous post about felting the same thing). If you are on Dribbble, check out the "shot" there and maybe give it a little like. Things I want to work on
- Weight: My characters often look like they are floating. I think this is because I do a lot of my work from memory instead of finding reference material. Also, in this image I didn't do any shading. I might add that later.
- Poses: Once again, I don't usually work from reference. My friend Casey Robin has a line of bug-girls that I'm completely enamored with. I asked her how she got her figures to look so --- alive! She said she gathers reference pictures for how she want them to look, the clothes, the pose the facial expression; then sleeps on it. I need to start doing that.
- Details: My overall patience needs work. Being able to produce something ok in an hour is a fine skill and comes in handy working at a start-up. But I want to have the dedication to put in the time and create something exceptional.
