(Click for DA version)

One take on a possible front page for my comic Where Red Apples Lie.

Quick doodle again, but this time I was quite happy with the result.

MyPaint + GIMP.
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Griatch

Griatch, first off, I don't consider myself a very good critic of others' art. And giving criticism is rather hard for me because I don't consider myself high up on the chain of artistic abilities, but I do know what appeals or not, to me. The apple is symbolic and stands out (colorful) and the hand is B&W. Since you're using that medium it's hard to say what else should or should not be included. But since its a cover, my only suggestion would be to somehow (I don't know how else to say this) ease the reader onto the gaze of the apple (for me, it's "in your face" presently). Is my advice any good or not? Who knows? Maybe add a softened light gray vignette with a slight tattered edge. This will help draw away from the blast of color and at the same time keep the apple as the focus. Does that make sense?

BTW, I forgot to add that I love the image itself, good job. Did you paint the apple? Looks very real.

@Mahvin

(First off: Giving critique (should) have nothing to do with where you consider yourself to be on the "chain of artistic abilities"; gamers can criticize a computer game without being able to code a single line of C++, or dislike a piece of music without being able to play a single note, why should art be any different (besides, I think you're selling yourself short, but that's a separate matter). There is no right or wrong; if you react to it, it's "right" from your perspective. I always appreciate getting critique, it's the best way to improve!)

You are right that this is "right in the face", that was what I intended. It's certainly possible that I overdid it though. Maybe you could elaborate a bit more on what it is that disturbes you? Is it that the apple "overpowers" the hand making the image hard to "read"? I'm not sure what you mean would be changed by a "vignette" here, do you mean a shade behind the hand+apple, so that the contrast is reduced?

Oh, and to answer your question, yes I painted the apple from scratch.
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Griatch

Edit: Thinking about it, was it something like this you had in mind?

If you intended that, then you succeeded.

I was proposing a softened vignette slightly darker than white behind the apple/hand, a light gray color to stay in theme with B/W and not throw off the color apple effect entirely. Something to indicate a vignette glow of sorts? I don't know how to express it correctly in the artistic sense. Depth isn't the right term, because you want the hand/apple to remain effective. I guess the total white space behind the hand/apple makes the eyes seem blasted, if adding an element to help the eyes center onto the hand/apple, the appeal remains but the eyes don't seem so overwhelmed?



I call it humility, with a twist. I want to be good at what I do, but without arrogance. I see art everyday that awes and inspires me, some teaches me, some gives me gratitude for life. To critique that, wow, I can only say it's painfully hard.



I can appreciate that way of thinking. Thanks for sharing that.

Yes, what you did, was what I had in mind. It's softer now. You might want to lighten the gray a tad more. How can I define a "tad"? Whiten it by 10%. Perhaps reduce the opacity of the layer works best.

@Mahvin (I keep trying to write "Marwin")

Hmm, I see what you mean; it's possible that it's more balanced with the gray background. Adding gray sort of dilutes my original intent though ... I'll have to suck on this for a while to see what I go with. Thanks a lot for the feedback, gave me something to think about!
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Griatch

Nicely done, as usual

I like it much better now too. It just needed that little something to give it some depth. The apple is so well done that I can even identify that it is a Red Delicious...... I also like the hands. They are done in a way that they don't over power the apple... Very nice

Thanks for the comments!


Having sat and looked at this intently, I'm sorry to have to make you both disappointed. It's a very personal opinion of course, but I have finally come to the conclusion that the gray vignette doesn't really fit what I had in mind. I really see both your points on it being more "3D" and that it helps to smooth the transition more. But it's simply not the effect I was looking for in this instance. I find that I want the hand as flat as possible and the apple to be starkly contrasted. So I'll keep it the way it is, sorry. Thanks for the feedback nevertheless, it really made me look at this twice!
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Griatch

Griatch: I'm not offended in any way. As you state yourself, it's more about the effect "you're" trying to create. That's the most important of all.