Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Looking for Advice

I've been doing some doodling for our next project but I could use some advice about this character, the queen. Something just doesn't feel right about it. The eyes and the mouth don't seem to fit the face very well and after I finished this doodle I realized that she looks an awful lot like Disney's queen of hearts, this was unintentional...I was hoping for something a little more original. I'm thinking about tossing out this doodle and starting over but I was wondering if it might be salvageable. Any ideas?

5 comments:

Vanessa Brantley Newton said...

I actually like your queen. The illustration has good bones. Maybe you could mix two characters. Use the top of one character and the bottom of the face of another. Fuse the two together. Don't be so hard on yourself either. Have fun with the prompt. Try to enjoy the process. We want you to create a character that you love! Go ahead and stretch your imagination. Maybe she could have a very long neck or no neck at all. I think the queen from Alice is going in the right direction. I'm working on the King in the poem. Looking for just the right look. All in all, you are going in the right direction. Keep plugging away at it. I think the face looks great. Really play with her facial features. Give her a huge nose and beady eyes. Great job can't wait to see your finish.
Lady Good Nectar

Meridth McKean Gimbel said...

I agree with Vanessa. This looks like it's going to be fun. The head really has a nice shape. What I try to do with character design is sketch a whole bunch of different ideas, then sometimes (maybe because I get bored with my own variations) I come up with something a little more different.

Good luck! (I still gotta see what I'm going to illustrate...)

Dr. Longbody

Cheryl Lynn Pastor said...

I think the execution is brilliant. I love the look on her face, she certainly fits the character in the poem. I agree with both Nessa and Meridth, it's a great start and fusing the two together somehow will make for one strong character. Have fun with it! After all, fun is what the Woods are all about!

Tah!

Delores Duckington-Merifeather

Loredan Avery, Lady Good Nectar said...

I like where you're going with your queen character. But, and this is just me, the crown seems different than the rest of the face. Does that make sense? As if the crown is drawn in a different more looser style, and the face has a bit more realism going with it. It seems like you're going for a kind of anxst look, and the best advice that I've received when I do facial features is to really exaggerate the beginning lines. Because, as we add on layers of clothes, jewelry, and even color and shading those exaggerated lines fade and mellow out, and your drawing settles into what you're going for. I really like the sketch, it's awesome!
~Scribbles

Debra Keirce said...

I like your illo too...If you want to make it look different from the Disney queen, I think if you just pick one element and change it, you'll accomplish your goal. For instance, if you made the crown too large for her head, instead of the tiny proportion we expect.