Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Starting Somthing New

As I think I've told all of you individually, I'm embarking on a project to revitalize my portfolio and give being an illustrator and honest go. To that end I've dedicated two nights a week as no excuses art nights and put on indefinite hold all the little never finished personal projects that muddy my art time. All but one that is clearly defined and achievable through incremental goals. 6 portfolio pieces in 6 months. All based on the Bros. Grimm story Iron John PDF.  All the same dimensions and medium (medium yet to be determined).  I'm doing all the preliminary work together so hopefully all of them are finished right after the other and achieve a level of harmony. January yielded thumbnails. 
Image one is the discovery of Iron John in a dried pond in a forest. I'm leaning bottom right with the figure crouching low holding a dog skull (he kills a dog).
 
Next is the Prince protagonist confronting a captured Iron John in a cage in his father's courtyard. Theme here is imposing wildness over the naive prince. Oh, and i think i never want to show the prince's face if I can get away with it. Fave here is lower left.

Here the prince who now live with Iron John in the forest has been tasked with guarding a magic well which guilds whatever touches its waters. Left is birds eye view of prince reaching in, a la Christina's World. Right is looking up at the wavy silhouette of the prince from in the well through the surface of the water. His finger may be piercing the water. Yeah, leaning this one.

These are #4 and 5. 4, on the left, is the prince in armor and with an army, both given to him by Iron John, marching to the gallant defense of his adopted kingdom. Right is five with the prince in new iron john armor fleeing palace guards, after winning a tournament and refusing to unmask. Admittedly i liked these two and didnt do other variations, but let me know.

I have #6 thumbed, but am at present w/o a scanner so that will come with the next update. I really am looking forward to your crits and input on this friends. Motivational phone call all around!

b.
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4 comments:

  1. Chad JacobsFebruary 1, 2012 at 12:06 PM

    Good call on never showing The Prince's face. For your first set of sketches, I actually really like the one on the top right. I like how it shows the scale of the emptied pond, whereas I think the bottom right one might be cropped in a little too close and doesn't particularly establish the surroundings too well.

    On the second one, I'm all about the bottom left one as well. It would be awesome if you made so that the entire interior of the cage is a mass of tangled hair and shadows and Iron John's face is emerging from it with no indication of the rest of his body. If that makes sense.

    As for the third, the one on the right. No competition. And yes, his finger breaking through the water is a must.

    Four and five are looking good; I don't know if you did this purposefully or just because it is a rough sketch, but I like how the soldiers behind The Prince in the sketch for number four look like a repeating pattern as opposed to defined characters. It reminds me of the opening of Coppola's Dracula where Dracula and the soldiers he's fighting are actors, but characters in the background are shadow puppets.

    I'm liking where this is headed! Be sure to keep updating on your progress. I definitely am excited to see how these turn out.

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    Replies
    1. Brendan RegulinskiFebruary 1, 2012 at 5:55 PM

      Thanks chad, you are reading my mind on this. I see what you mean about the first image. The one you like is my other fave, and was inspired by dried cracked salt flats. The tangle of hair and shadows is exactally what i was thinking in #2. #3, we agree. #4 was on purpose. The soliders given to the prince gave me the impression of a faceless enchanted army, so i made them identical and motif-like. Thanks fo the feed-back and I'll keep updating!

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    2. Chad JacobsFebruary 4, 2012 at 10:45 AM

      I was also thinking salt flats on that sketch! Either you get things across very well through simple sketches or I really am a mind reader.

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  2. Christina FultonFebruary 15, 2012 at 7:55 PM

    Hey!! Sorry it took me so long to comment on this, but it looks like you're off to a great start. I don't really know what to add to Chad's comments since I basically agree with everything he said. I too was immediately drawn to the top right sketch for number one. The focal point is clear and framed nicely by the dramatic landscape... the cracked salt flat look will be very striking. Definitely has the potential to be a strong opening piece!

    I agree with your choices for 2 and 3. The finger piercing the water in 3 will be really neat... great idea. I also am excited to see what you do with costuming for 4 and 5... detailing on the armor could be pretty cool.

    Can't wait for the next post to see what progress you've made! I promise to start checking the blog more regularly so I don't miss anything else :)

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