IP Development Mentorship Week 8

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DISCLAIMER: I don’t mind you guys sharing my thoughts about the mentorship with others. However, if you don’t see the art or writing bits up at SongofExile.com, that means I’d prefer you keep it between us!  Enjoy!:)

Final week! Sorta.  SDCC has thrown a monkey wrench into things so that our guest critiquers are busy, so we have an extra week to work.  That’s okay because I am totally taking advantage of the additional time to put extra polish on my art and finish up a color painting I wouldn’t have had finished by the end of this week, anyways.

This past week, I’ve continued my feverish working on panels for the book trailer!  It was a week of learning that if something just isn’t working right, I needed to learn to let go of it.  It’s a tough lesson to learn, as it meant redoing two of my total panels!

The rejected scene was just too boring. It was lacking interest and tension and the figures were very static and vertical. Moving the camera and changing the lighting added so much more drama! The figures have also been tilted in the picture plane for more dynamism.
The rejected scene was just too boring. It was lacking interest and tension and the figures were very static and vertical. Moving the camera and changing the lighting added so much more drama! The figures have also been tilted in the picture plane for more dynamism.
The line this panel was attached to originally read: "All the while, a forgotten darkness closes in on the capitol as the darkness of impending war casts a shadow over the kingdom. " The newest revision reads: "...or the disease that was eating away at the people?" I needed to swing the focus back around from the 'big picture' of the kingdom to the suffering of the people of the kingdom instead.
The line this panel was attached to originally read: “All the while, a forgotten darkness closes in on the capitol as the darkness of impending war casts a shadow over the kingdom. ” The newest revision reads: “…or the disease that was eating away at the people?” I needed to swing the focus back around from the ‘big picture’ of the kingdom to the suffering of the people of the kingdom instead. The original panel line art was done by my instructor during a critique.  I loved it so much I really, REALLY wanted to bring it to final and include it, but it just wasn’t meant to be.

The truth is I wasted a lot of time trying to make the original ideas work when starting over would have been quicker.  Lesson learned!  Onwards and upwards!

Last week, I mentioned photo collaging as a technique I’ve been experimenting with to speed up my workflow.  Here’s an example of the photo reference I cobbled together from bits of hair, cloth, various model references from DeviantART, and desert photos.

MJR-stock on Deviantart has lovely well lit stock with very lenient terms of use for artists and commercial projects. Highly recommend him, though be warned that everybody else uses his work too, making it very recognizable.
mjranum-stock on Deviantart has lovely well lit stock with very lenient terms of use for artists and commercial projects. I highly recommend him, though be warned that everybody else uses his work too, making it very recognizable. The female figure and flowing cloth in this image comes from his gallery.

The trick really is in bringing it all together at the end through lighting and values, making your own creative changes, and knowing when to deviate from your photo reference so you can create the most elegant final image. I’ll be notifying the model stock providers of the use of their photos once the images go public, while the reference of Jaipur fort I used for the palace will need to be changed later, since it’s only a placeholder for my presentation right now.  Generally, dA stock providers are a kind bunch who allow commercial usage for free or low cost, which makes it one of my favorite places to find stock.

I’m currently working on the final color painting of the opening image.  I’m planning to post the final color painting with a step by step to Patreon once it’s finished, so keep an eye out!

So here I am at the final push.  I still have a color painting to finish and a video mockup I’d like to throw together for my final presentation.  Wish me luck!

Week 8 Art Wrap-Up

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Read about the rest of my journey with the IP Development Mentorship here:

Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
Final Week
Final Critique