Monday, April 26, 2010

Alice, roughs 6/14

Note : I am posting the progression of these Alice pieces, start to finish. This stage is the rough + color study.

From Alice in Wonderland, Chapter 5, Advice from a Caterpillar :

The Caterpillar and Alice looked at each other for some time in silence: at last the Caterpillar took the hookah out of its mouth, and addressed her in a languid, sleepy voice.

'Who are you?' said the Caterpillar.

This was not an encouraging opening for a conversation. Alice replied, rather shyly, 'I--I hardly know, sir, just at present-- at least I know who I was when I got up this morning, but I think I must have been changed several times since then.'

'What do you mean by that?' said the Caterpillar sternly. 'Explain yourself!'

'I can't explain myself, I'm afraid, sir' said Alice, 'because I'm not myself, you see.'

'I don't see,' said the Caterpillar.

'I'm afraid I can't put it more clearly,' Alice replied very politely, 'for I can't understand it myself to begin with; and being so many different sizes in a day is very confusing.'

'It isn't,' said the Caterpillar.

'Well, perhaps you haven't found it so yet,' said Alice; 'but when you have to turn into a chrysalis--you will some day, you know--and then after that into a butterfly, I should think you'll feel it a little queer, won't you?'

'Not a bit,' said the Caterpillar.

'Well, perhaps your feelings may be different,' said Alice; 'all I know is, it would feel very queer to me.'

'You!' said the Caterpillar contemptuously. 'Who are you?'

Which brought them back again to the beginning of the conversation. Alice felt a little irritated at the Caterpillar's making such very short remarks, and she drew herself up and said, very gravely, 'I think, you ought to tell me who you are, first.'

'Why?' said the Caterpillar.

Here was another puzzling question; and as Alice could not think of any good reason, and as the Caterpillar seemed to be in a very unpleasant state of mind, she turned away.

'Come back!' the Caterpillar called after her. 'I've something important to say!'

This sounded promising, certainly: Alice turned and came back again.

'Keep your temper,' said the Caterpillar.

'Is that all?' said Alice, swallowing down her anger as well as she could.

'No,' said the Caterpillar.



This is one of the pieces I've most looked forward to making. I'm pretty pleased with the idea.

In real time update : Since this is an on-going project, building on stage after stage, I'll update you guys from time-to-time with where I'm at in real time. Last night I finished my "blue pencil drawings" for the first 6 final drawings. Typically I work in roughs/color studies (like above) from there I begin the final drawings with a lightly rendered blue pencil drawing. I get down all my shapes and everything and from there move on to the final drawing.

I always wonder how much preproduction, development work people would actually be interested to see, specifically whether or not it's even worth posting these little roughs/color studies. Does anybody get anything out of them? Is it aggravating to be on a weeks long journey, getting little snippets of pieces but not the payoff of a finished piece for weeks?

I occasionally get comments, ones that really confirm yes, this is helpful and possibly worthwhile for people. I'd like to post one in it's entirety from the previous week :
Rafael Kokiri said...

Corey, I'm seing your rough sketches, and crazy lines with some througts hidden, and it's all just awesome, really.
I'm kinda of an artist-wannabe ang get amazed by your works. just keep on posting it, please.
Maybe it's not much for you, but every single day I open your blog, see rough sketches or finisher masterpieces, it gives enough motivation to keep drawing and learning the rest of the week.
Congrats man.

Thanks, Rafael.

I post all that to say, I hope these are helpful for you in someway, to get a glimpse into the process I typically work with. Maybe it would work for you too.

Next post, Tuesday : The Cheshire Cat

6 comments:

David Dickerson said...

Cory, I'll concur with Rafael about that. I'm a 30-year-old designer who knows the basics of drawing, but am really wanting to hone my illustration skills. I've got a new wacom tablet, and am working on learning how to digitally paint.

Your art is a huge inspiration for me, as is the rest of the team at Portland Studios, and I'm checking your blog pretty much daily to follow your processes.

The entire production process is really helpful to see, it's great to watch an idea be put through all the stages to end up as a finished piece.

Sooo, yes. It helps a lot, and is really entertaining to boot.

Brandon O'Donnell said...

I'm always interested in the process and would be more than happy to see more of it.

SaraLynnArt said...

I love it when artists share their works in progress. It's always interesting, and I think that you can learn a lot by seeing how others work. I've really been enjoying watching the progress on this series.

Will Kelly said...

Ditto to Rafael's comment... your work & the rest of the Portland Studios crew are pretty much the reason I'm in art school now. You guys proved to me through your blog posts that being an illustrator is an attainable goal. Thanks for all the inspiration... it keeps us going!

I love the caterpillar, he seems to remind me slightly of Jabba the Hutt. I like that.

JCHeinsz said...

As an illustration student myself, I am a total process junkie! So I absolutely love that you post your work leading up to the finish.

Rafael Kokiri said...

God, What an honor.
Just posting to say I was sincere in every single word, and i'm glad other people agree with me.
Today's drawing looks beautifull, I loved the background mushrooms and the caterpillar design.
Keep on being awesome Corey =]