Frog and Pig Finished

This has been pretty much finished for a while now, but I'm just getting around to posting it. I still feel like there's something missing though. Actually, it feels like there's a lot missing. But, there are a few things that I really like about it and will channel those things into the next painting. This is what happens when I don't have a very stable drawing or idea to base an illustration on. I was kind of flying by the seat of my pants on this one with a "not very focused" idea. So in retrospect, there's not a whole lot of substance here. This is only a portfolio piece and not for a client, but my next piece will definitely be fleshed out a whole lot better. I've been looking at a ton of visual development artists from the animation world and am dying to get some more drama into my pieces, but I'm always afraid to push values and points-of-view too far (even though I know that's what I really need to do). Maybe I'll do some "master studies" to get more of a feel of how they accomplish so much drama and atmosphere in their work.

Here is Lou Romano's work...an absolute incredible artist who has all the elements which make intriguing art perfectly wrapped up in each piece (lighting, atmosphere, tension, composition, drama, camera angle, color, value, etc.).

Well, on to the next painting which I will try to make a bit more Romano-like...

In other news, I attended the lovely OC Illustrators schmooze this morning and got pretty inspired by my fellow artists' work. It's always motivating to get together with like-minded people and spend some time talking shop.