Alas, They Can't All Be Great

[the_gneech]

Today's image was intended to be another summery sort of pinup image, and it's not too bad, but on the whole, it's definitely not as good as Wednesday's. Oh well, let's make a learning experience out of it, shall we? What are the weaknesses in this pic compared to Wednesday?

I should admit up front that Wednesday's image was inspired by a similar pinup by Varga, whereas today's pic was dreamed up entirely out of my own heat-oppress'd brain.

We'll start with composition. The Tiff pic is very clear, direct, and to-the-point. "Tiffany!" There's no clutter, nothing vague, just a tiger and a towel. The Leonard pic requires more context. "Oh, I get it, he's climbing up out of the dunk tank." It's not as bold and confident a concept ... as if Tiffany is strong enough to stand alone, but Leonard requires a gag.

Along those same lines, the Tiff pic can be resolved into a clear geometic shape. Her silhouette makes a strong right triangle, whereas Leonard's silhouette is just sort of a block, and gets lost in all the detail of the dunking booth. Also, the Tiff pic is nicely balanced ... the weight of Tiffany's body to the left, is balanced by the "Fun In the Sun" caption to the right. The Leonard pic is very left-heavy, with a big, empty, wasted blue space taking up the entire upper-right quadrant.

Finally, in terms of composition, this is not the best angle to show this concept from. The dunking target off to the right is obscured by the booth itself, and becomes an extraneous set of ovals just sorta sticking up out of nowhere. It would have been better to leave the mechanism off and have Leonard climbing up over the front of the tank instead of off to the left. That would prevent the visual clutter of the colored ovals, and balanced the picture better. Leonard's what the pic's about, he should be front and center. It would also prevent the rather awkward position he's in, with his body turned one way and his head turned another.

The "action line" of this pic sorta skitters down the left half of the image, and never goes over to the right; I could probably chop off everything to the right of the dark metal mechanism box and not lose anything important to the pic.

As far as anatomy goes, I was trying for a foreshorting effect to make it look like Leonard was leaning out over the edge. But I overdid it, giving him something of a Johnny Bravo look: he's got a humongous head and shoulders, but a teeny-weeny waist and legs.

Some of this is because I couldn't find a good ref pic to work from; I found some pics of similar sorts of positions but most were at awkward angles that I couldn't really translate into the one I wanted. Also, Leonard is an unusual size ... he's beefier than the standard male model ("Men's Health" cover type), but he's not huge like Ah-nold. He has a thick torso, but he's not a big chunk of a guy.

However, I think the real flaw with this pic, is that I didn't do the grunt work beforehand ... I started composing right on the bristol, and by the time I realized it was wrong, I was so far into the pic that I didn't want to abandon it. What I should have done was a few thumbnail sketches first to work out the pose, and _then_ start drawing the actual pic. This is a new habit I've been trying to teach myself, which I got from one of Herbie Bearclaw's tutorials. I first started doing it at FC 2002 and it made an immediate improvement ... but sometimes I get ahead of myself and forget to do it.

Oh well; for what it's worth, I'm pretty happy with the coloring on the pic, and I think that given its fundamental flaws I managed to salvage the best picture out of it I could. It's never going to be one that I hold up as one of my best, but it was very valuable as a learning tool.

-The Gneech

Comments

[spikedpunch.livejournal.com]

Quit going on about it. She looks great, like you always draw your characters. You artistic types are your own worse enemies.


Besides, where are those badges anyways?!

[the-gneech.livejournal.com]

Analysis is a good thing! It's the only way to improve. :)

And they're comin', okay??? Chill! ;P

-The Gneech

[spikedpunch.livejournal.com]

But there is a thing called "over-analysis," and also "beating the poor thing into the ground."


And I want my badges!

[rowyn]

I have to agree with you -- you've done a great job of pointing up the aesthetic weaknesses of the Leonard still.

But I think Level Head and some others make a good point about this picture, too. Leonard's picture tells a story. I like the expression on his face, in particular -- sort of a cross between good-humored and vengeful. :) From that view, I much prefer the concept of the Leonard image to the pin up of Tiffany. It's a very nice pin-up -- but it doesn't give me as much to think about.

Anyway, um, I like your work, and I'm glad to see you striving to improve it. Bravo. :)

[m0nkeygrl.livejournal.com]

Maybe it's just a matter of personal taste and preference...but I kind of prefered the Leonard drawing. :) That was a very nice image to see first thing in the morning. ;)

[level-head.livejournal.com]

I recognize what you are saying about composition and details on the Leonard image. I'd also add that it is very difficult to get "dripping fur" and water effects conveyed effectively; the fur covering on a torso tends to be 5% of its usual thickness when wet, and also tends to be suddenly very directional based on the flow of water. The angle of hair on human heads, from the crown out, has evolved to deal with being rained on.

Water changes "fur" to "runny paint", in a sense.

But there is another subtlety to this that you did not take into account: The Tiffany picture, as attactive as it is, is a "still" -- it is a compelling and attractive glamour shot for her.

Leonard, however, is in the midst of the story -- this is a frame from a movie and we are instantly transported back to the scene. I can visualize Yin behind Tiffany, and the small impatient red fox with the foot tapping, waiting for Tiffany to finish the big stack she's paid for.

This adds a certain fourth dimension, and it causes the eye of the audience to be rather more forgiving -- they see the story, not just the image.

Or so it seems to me.

===|==============/ Level Head

[the-lizard-rat.livejournal.com]

Well put, LH :) And better yet, something tells me Gneech is going to redraw this pic to make it better --- looks like Leonard isn't done with being a dunk tank toy yet. :)

Lizard Rat ("Hey, I've got the same name as that lion!") out.

[torakiyoshi.livejournal.com]

I concur. The Leonard image, while perhaps less strong as a composition, is a part of something else. Tiffany's picture, while gorgeous and worth drooling over (unless you're Neko), is two-dimensional. That's not a bad thing, because it's static gives the shot strength, but at the same time, it gives more leeway to Leonard's pic because we know there is more to it than just a glamour shot.

-=TK

[kelloggs2066.livejournal.com]

Honest reaction:
I was sufficently impressed by how you put got the
wet fur effect going that I immediately went into technical
mode with the "Gee, how did he DO that?!?" question.

I tried to analyze your use of photoshop and linework to
get the dripping water effects. I was sufficiently
fascinated by their use that I failed to notice any mistakes.

Now that you've pointed out a few things, I can see some of
what you're on about.

Since you notice the errors and I didn't, it's a bit presumptuous of me to make suggestions, but I'll presume on one thing. That big blue patch of sky on the right side. It's a
good start for a sky, with the blue gradient bleeding to white.
However, I'd add some a puffy cloud or two.

A good way to add in clouds:

Add in a new layer.

Use the photoshop lasso tool to draw in and select the shape
of a puffy cloud.

Use the airbrush tool, set to white, at very low flow (approx 10%) to paint the cloud in. (Use more white at the top of the
cloud).

Release the lasso tool.

Use the smudge command to bend and twist and put twirls into the cloud so it looks puffy and whispy.

Cut n' Paste the cloud layer into the sky.

It's actually quite easy. I had always thought clouds would
be hard.

Anyway, Rock on, man! You taught me some stuff today. :)

Scott

Re:

[level-head.livejournal.com]

It sounded as if I was being picky -- I should note that I liked it too! ];-)

===|==============/ Level Head

[the-gneech.livejournal.com]

I figured that if you didn't like it, you just wouldn't say anything. :)

-The Gneech

[the-gneech.livejournal.com]

Honestly, the blue patch was something of a cheat. I didn't want to draw a background, but I wanted to give the picture a sense of "outsideness." If I had gone to the trouble of putting clouds in, I would have also had to go to the trouble of putting, y'know, the whole fair in front of them ... and I really didn't want to do that. :)

Thanks for the tips, tho! :)

-The Gneech