Tuesday 15 June 2010

Moon Mouse





I’ve been working on a few colour tests in connection with the mouse drawings. They’ve been causing me no end of pain because I’m still being afflicted by the 50:1 crap to acceptable pictures ratio.


There are several things I’m unsure of here:


Firstly, the dark background. The concept here is that the white mouse feels an odd affinity with the moon. As they’re both white the mouse and the moon need to contrast with the background. Also, the moon tends to only be around at night as so it needs to be set in the darkness. I’m now wondering if this is a bit over bearing and the darkness may end up being too dominant.


Secondly, I’m in the midst of a pencil vs ink outline conundrum. The single picture has an ink outline and the sequence has a pencil outline and I’ve no idea which I think looks better or which I like better. I’ve been looking at it all for so long I’ve got picture blindness. I switched to pencil because I felt the ink looked a little too polished but I’m not sure if it’s helped.


I’m also concerned that the images, especially the sequence, looses something between my original drawings and the colour version and I’m not quite sure what it is or how to get it back. Eugh.


So Brown, what do you think?

2 comments:

  1. So so nice!! Well done! :D I think you don't need to worry about the 50:1 ratio. I'm sure it's not true (and anyhow it beats my ratio which currently stands at 0:0)

    I actually think the dark background works really well. As you say it makes sense in terms of contrast with mouse/ moon, and also being night - I don't think it's overbearing at all, it gives a sense of atmosphere and makes the mouse and moon stand out very nicely (love that mouse btw!!) Also the shadow is a nice touch. As for the pencil/ ink dilemma, tbh there's not much between them on screen, both look great - which do you prefer working in?

    Hmm I never know how to transfer from sketch to 'final' :S I guess the usual difference is that sketches tend to seem a little more spontaneous... perhaps try the Alexis Deacon method of just photocopying the original drawings and colouring those? Having said that, both versions are lovely so you really shouldn't worry!! :)

    Well done Elys, great work. Altogether far too productive though if you ask me :P my philosophy is that the semester doesn't officially finish until friday so work does not need to commence until the weekend at least

    xxxxxxx

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  2. Oh it's true. So many trees have died for nothing on my behalf. I should go digital for the sake of the environment.

    I probably like working with the pencil better but it's a bitch when it comes to layering it with the colour and tone. I either have to do the inky bit first and then pencil over the top or do them separately and layer it with the aid of adobe. I'll go with pencil for now and see if it's a disaster.

    Thanks for your feedback m'dear, it's always tres helpful! As I've said before panic = productiveness.

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