I have been drawing, and I felt like sharing two of the things I've been working on recently. I decided to revisit two of my slightly older drawings, to make them more appealing.
The first is fanart for Tangled. I loved this movie so much! It was a great story, with fabulous characters. The characters were believable, and well-developed. I loved Rapunzel, and even grew fond of Flynn Ryder, who I initially disliked from the trailers! I wanted to do at least a tiny piece of fanart for the movie. I'm a sucker for adorably sweet characters and long pretty hair, and so I naturally chose Rapunzel. I initially sketched up a little drawing of Rapunzel brushing her hair that was nothing too special. I would constantly glance upon it in my folders, but never much cared for it. I finally decided to rework it so it was more appealing. To spare you the long explanation I had originally typed up, that serves little purpose without the original drawing, I will simply give a quick briefing of my changes. I tweaked some proportions of the original drawing, cleaned up the lines, and did some serious redrawing. I think the biggest part of the Rapunzel piece was that I made good use of reference. With my original sketch, I had drawn entirely from my head. This left me unsure how to pose her hands, as well as the exact design of her dress. I decided that the only way to nail a believable pose for her hands was to search for reference of women brushing their hair. I tried to remain as true to the original pose of her arms, while still improving the believability. I kept the brush-wielding arm as it was, but I adjusted her arm and especially the posing of her other hand. I'd like to believe this posing works better, while still remaining playful and exaggerated. I must admit I am a thousand times happier with this updated drawing than the original. I hope you enjoy it as well! :)
The second drawing I want to show was drawn as an attempt to familiarize myself with the program GIMP. I attempted to do the piece entirely in Gimp, from sketching to coloring. I succeeded, and left this drawing sitting on my harddrive. I've always been a bit fond of the drawing, but I felt it had some issues that needed addressing. The hands and foot needed attention. I decided to revisit the piece in Photoshop, with which I am more familiar. I cleaned up the lines, I redrew the hands. But the part I wish to discuss concerns the foot. I originally intended for her to be kneeling, with her legs and toes tucked under. I attempted to draw the foot from my head, with not much success. After a few failed attempts, I remembered the ease I'd had after referencing for the Rapunzel drawing. I immediately sought out references of a kneeling woman. I found very few that were even close to what I was looking for. The only ones that even suggested the curled foot were only from the back view. I was disappointed. However, I realized that there were several photos that captured the concept better. I had wanted the feeling of a young woman posing on the beach; basically, a bit of a pin-up. I realized that it would actually improve the drawing if I were to adopt the way these women were positioning their legs. It would improve the silhouette, and add more feminine appeal. I quickly grabbed one of the reference images, and within no time had redrawn the legs in a more modelesque pose! I'm much happier with the pose. I am also proud of my attempt to use some subtle bounced lighting, as noticeable around the blue of her bikini and bracelet.
