Keeping the wheels turning.

It looks like the forum isn't going to get 'views.'  I wasn't going to post anything until that happened, but maybe it won't happen.  I like 'work in progress' posts...so if I like reading them I'm obliged to post something myself.   Here goes... Several people recently, me included, have said they got stuck and couldn't drum up enthusiasm to start anything.  I guess we all get that from time to time.  In recent years I've taken to getting my pictures printed in book form (photobooks actually, I've mentioned this before, so I'll leave it at that). To drag myself out of a recent artistic slump, I decided to get two books underway with specific themes.  Usually, my books are everything lumped together.  This time one will be Science-Fiction/Fantasy, (in both realistic and cartoon form), the other one will just be Cartoons.  I've heard there are other types of art, but believe that's just a rumor.  I'm finding the books concentrate the mind, and I don't sit around agonizing over what to draw or paint. The CARTOON book will have my recent ANON pics (Illustrations of anonymous poems etc), I got four pages of that already, and will do more.  It will also include RON & NELLY'S LUXURY WORLD CRUISE, I also have four pages of that.  (I've posted them in the gallery).  I will do more of those.  A third section in this book will be 'VARIOUS' cartoons, i.e, the odd thing I think of...that isn't a series. This is what a page will look like (it's changeable right up to the last moment). The SCI-FI/FANTASY book pages will be similar....here's one... At the moment, I'm taking a short break from Ron & Nelly to do something for this book.  The maiden and the monster is a frequent subject in fantasy...so I'll do something along those lines.   Here's a page from my 'scribbly' sketchbook where I try to visualize how it will be...these sketches are very quick, just getting an idea down, not worrying about the drawing much. I started with the girl...she's running away.  Thought that's a bit boring.   Did some thumbnails on the composition...three at the top...you may not be able to decipher them, because they are drawn in Lewcode.  Should have done this first, but I get fed up with 'shoulds'.  I'll go for the right hand thumbnail...the layout is more dramatic.  So I've sketched the girl in the wrong pose.  Never mind, just trying to get the feel of the picture.  There'll be a dragon, it's head mostly, you'll see I've had a few goes...the one at the top appeals most at the moment. That's where I am now...a few things have gone wrong...if anyone reads this, I'll add more. 

Thanks Paul.  I love your idea about the docklands and older ships.  I'll watch out for it.

Looking good.

Things don't always work out as you'd hoped.  We're not machines, we have off days, so the pictures we have in  our minds and the ones we make can be two different things.  Unavoidable, I guess.  For my Sci-Fi/Fantasy book, I wanted to make a picture of Queen Mab.  This mythological creature is the Queen of faerie-folk in all their various forms, she's mostly benign, but can mess with your dreams.  Shakespeare used her a couple of times, calling her Titania in one play.  Fantasy artists often make images where the composition (if it can be called that), is just crammed full of stuff...I decided to do it that way. While I was doing it I thought it was going well.  When finished I didn't like it at all...and won't be using it, or posting it in the gallery.  Here it is, with a black and white version... After an initial enthusiasm for it, I started to go off the boil on it.  I finished it, but bits of it are badly drawn.  I like bright color, maybe this would have been better with a more limited palette.  I removed the color in photoshop to see if I liked it more.  I think it's slightly better black and white.  Perhaps I'll try a few different monochrome colors in photoshop, just to save if it improves.  Sometimes, after a period of time, you can like these failures more.  I did this a couple of months ago, and still don't like it.  I'll have to have another stab at Queen Mab. But it's now part of an ongoing project, and I can't expect success every time.  So Queen Mab goes back on the list of things to do.

I like that John.  Stylish and vivid.  Looks a big canvass too.  I'll be interested to see the changes you've mentioned, it looks pretty much there to me...but it's your painting, so take no notice of me.