Sunday, January 17, 2010

Six Variations on a Theme: Troll Under The Bridge







































"Tim wasn't afraid, even when the candles flickered in the wind. He would prove to his friends, once and for all, that there was no troll under the bridge. Please click for big.



10 comments:

  1. I didn't realize until I came back here that you started another blog - it asked if I wanted to be the first to follow, so I said, "why not?"! I hope I'm not sounding gushy, but I am sincere when I say that all your work is really brilliant, and I think everything I've seen is good enough to post - but if you want some critique-like feedback, I just have this to offer - your second piece I like just about as equally as the one you posted, epecially how unawares Tim is! The others are great composition wise, but a couple are just hard on my eyes only because of how incredibly bright they are. That just might be me as I have very sensitive eyes (night driving is hard for me with all the high-beams!). The fourth one is a bit dark, but other than that I absolutely love the perspectives and angles you come achieve! Hope this is a bit of help - I don't know how you churn out so much stuff!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hya Susan, thanks ffor the in depth critique. Appreciated! I agree with you entirely, (I like the second one as well) so we must have the same taste!!! The other comments on the other variations are spot on. It always worries me playing on the edge of darkness because you get so much variation with monitors contrast etc, so something that is subtle on one monitor is nonexistant on the other. Going to print will be scary as well, seeing I am working RGB and not CYMK! So I don't know what will happen.....

    Thankyou for your thoughts, they are a great help!

    As far as my output.... I spend far too much time doing this because I enjoy it... but at the expense of other things!

    We are having a painting show soon, I need to varnish a big commission and get back to marketing my book, so my output here will diminsih for a while unfortunately.

    Thanks for following this blog!

    I set up another one for our litle art group. Here is a preview if you would like to see my present traditional work?

    http://sevenpainters.blogspot.com/


    cheers again

    ReplyDelete
  3. I too didn't realize you had a second blog, and I'm going to tell you right now that I'm going to steal your idea about the troll under the bridge (but don't worry, the only thing I'm going to steal is the topic--I promise my pictures won't look a thing like yours).

    I really really like all of these, but my two favorites are the second and third. The third one I keep going back to because the boy is so prominent. He's innocent. He doesn't even see the troll--and all that is shown by him being so much larger and bathed in a different kind of light. But WE see the troll, and feel for him. And I mean REALLY feel for him. The second one I really like because the boy and troll seem equal--equal size, equal degree of sharpness, equal kind of light, but the troll commands so much more of the picture. The boy is cramped at the top, whereas the troll is surrounded by dark space more in the middle of the picture, so the boy is inpinging on the trolls space. He may not know it yet, but he's in the troll's world, and the troll will ultimately control what happens.

    I'm so impressed with these. I can see why you spend so much time on them. By the way, how long does each one take?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hya Coreopsis, thanks very much for your thought-full and considered comments. I appreciate your opinion and how you give the reasons for them. !! Feeling something is wrong or right and being able to say why is sometimes very difficult.

    Your comments and Susans will help me when I am geting my portfolio together - at the moment I am having too much fun!

    To set up each scene takes about five hours. The time consuming part is usually the lighting. But once you have the scene set up then each 'render' will take about 45 seconds, depending on your dpi. Then you can 'bash' the resulting clean render around in photoshop for as long as you like.

    I like to experiment with things.... so that can take a while :)

    The stuff I do is .... umm, it's like being the director, photographer, painter, lighting person, dress maker, dress designer, cast chooser, post production person, prop person etc. It's not like traditional work at all - which is good an bad.

    thanks again!!!

    cheers

    PS looking forward to your troll under the bridge!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hey Andrew. Great variations on a theme! I scrolled through 5 or 6 times comparing and enjoying each different angle and poses. Love the third one. tThe glare from the candles leaves a little unseen mystery. Hey thanks for stopping by and following my new blog.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks Jack for tking the time to look at the different work! I appreciate your comments.

    I like your new bloge. It's a good idea, (mind you, I am a Heathen!) But seriously, I admire people with faith and admire people when they use their gifts to encourage others to have faith.

    regards

    ReplyDelete
  7. Argh, I can't believe I have written such a long comment and then clicked on the illustration to enlarge it by which I've lost my whole comment!

    Anyway, let me try to recreate it.
    First of all, many thanks for your nice comments on my blog! Much appreciated! They made my day!

    I have recently seen an illustration battle whihc had as a topic boy-troll encounter at the bridge. So I have seen quite a few variations of the theme already! :)
    I really like the atmoshpere and colours in yours. The first one would be your winner because the light is best but sadly there is no troll!! Number two is pretty good too, but a little too bright. Number three is interesting but the perspective makes it look a little like something from a video game.
    Now I am off to explore your other blog! :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thanks Kinga,

    Your comments really help. I'm in a situation where I have to pick between ten and fifteen images of my work for someone and I haven't got a clue which ones to pick!!!

    cheers

    andrew

    ReplyDelete
  9. this is very cool, your works always some kind of magic!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hahaha! so cool! This is fun!
    No trolls eh? here in Portugal (and spain too) we have a popular saying: "Não existem bruxas... pero que las hay, las hay". Meaning that everyone knows that there's no such thing as witches... but everyone fears them anyway :P.

    Andrew, thank you for visiting me and for the nice words on my blog. Your work is awesome as well :)

    Cheers from Lisbon

    ReplyDelete