Cyfa's art challenges and other bits & bobs

[publiusr]

Here they are again at just gone 7:00 this morning. Jadzia and Worf made it to the beach this month, too (along with "Big Bird" ) - well, I had to make up for last month's lack of beach action.

That is perfect!

 

[Cyfa]

I think I know what I'm going to do for the 200th Art Challenge - [Cue Maria von Trapp] "These are some of my favourite things..."

This is just a quick sketch to gauge the layout so there're plenty of characters and things missing/undecided at the mo.

 

[Michael]

Whoa, this looks like it's going to be massive! Almost like a “Where's Waldo?” style image. Will be interesting to see where you take this!

 

[Cyfa]

Yeah, I was thinking "Where's Waldo" after I came up with the idea And some of those pieces from the "50 Artists 50 Years" art book (which I've just pulled off my shelf and flicked through - Amir Abou-Roumié's "Homestead" is the closest to what I'm envisaging).
It's going to be bigger than my normal efforts as I need to fit quite a lot in, but not so big that I have to draw recognisable faces (which I can't do). This sketch is A4, but I think I'll do the proper one A3.

 

[Santaman]

That's a nice starting point, can't wait to see it finished.

 

[Cyfa]

Thanks, Santaman It's not really working out as I'd hoped, though. I'm not skilled (or patient) enough to create what I can see in my head - the cartoon (Lower Decks-ish) style that I envisage just turns into crappy drawings because I can't help but go into too much detail to make things recognisable. Plus, realistically A3 is still too small - I need to go bigger, but I don't think I'll have the time. This is where I've left it:

And this is what I did with some of my previous bits and bobs to try and stave off the frustration:

It has given me another idea, though: I might try and do a combination of cut-outs and drawings to make a Spacedock scene similar to the top image...

 

[Michael]

Actually that‘s pretty good and I wish you would just continue working on it. But of course I absolutely get the frustration when a piece just won‘t come out as you envision it. I hate it when that happens. But as an outsider I honestly think your piece was going in an awesome direction.

 

[Santaman]

Just go with your own style, you've got something instantly recognizable.

 

[Cyfa]

Thank you for the encouragement, @Michael and @Santaman - it worked! My mini-strop soon dissipated, and I went back to work on "These Are Some Of My Favourite Things" (as I'm calling it). I'm much happier with it now that a bit more of it is done - and the addition of a few bold outlines really tidied things up. This is how it looks now:

 

[publiusr]

That is imaginative! All the best.

 

[Michael]

This is some awesome progress! I‘m glad you are continuing working on it.

 

[Santaman]

Yeah, glad it is coming together.

 

[Cyfa]

Here's the latest progress update on my entry for this month's art challenge, "These Are A Few Of My Favourite Things":

I've added a few things and removed others since the last showing, and rotated & cropped the image a bit as I want some things to remain secret until it's show time (not that there's anything particularly show-stopping amongst the Star Trek stuff that's cropped out).
Also, apologies for the poor image quality - the light was terrible when I took this, and Camera struggled somewhat (and my resizing and saving only made things worse - it certainly isn't my poor drawing and colouring skills ). I only hope the weather's conducive enough for me to take this outside and get a better photo once it's finished.

Edit: I've just noticed that Gillian is suffering from spaghetti-arm syndrome - I must try and rectify that.

 

[Michael]

Whoa, this is coming along pretty nicely! I can't tell you how happy it makes me that you continued working on this, because this is honestly just getting better and better. I hope you are satisfied with it as well.

 

[Santaman]

Hey, that's really nice., glad it is coming along.

 

[Argosy]

Really admire the creativity and ambition in this piece. So many cool things to look at. I wouldn't worry too much about the spaghetti arm. This image feels more about the spectacle of all the pieces interacting with one another and what that evokes, rather than perfect anatomy. Can't wait to see it finished.

 

[publiusr]

Wonder, embodied

DC comics worthy.

 

[Cyfa]

Whoa, this is coming along pretty nicely! I can't tell you how happy it makes me that you continued working on this, because this is honestly just getting better and better. I hope you are satisfied with it as well.

- Thank you, Michael Actually, now that's finished (well, as finished as it's ever going to be), I am satisfied with it. It's not exactly how I imagined, but it'll do

Hey, that's really nice., glad it is coming along.

- Thanks, Santaman

Really admire the creativity and ambition in this piece. So many cool things to look at. I wouldn't worry too much about the spaghetti arm. This image feels more about the spectacle of all the pieces interacting with one another and what that evokes, rather than perfect anatomy. Can't wait to see it finished.

- This certainly is one of the most ambitious pieces I've done for these art challenges, and I've had fun working out what/who goes where (and what/who to include) - spaghetti arms notwithstanding Thank you, Argosy!

Wonder, embodied
DC comics worthy.

- Wow! High praise indeed, publiusr - thank you!

Thank you all for your kind words and encouragement. Here is the finished piece, "These Are A Few Of My Favourite Things":

Not everything you see here has appeared on screen, as many of my favourite Star Trek things exist only as concept art, merchandise, or in books (both behind the scenes and fiction), but I hope you can recognise most of my little selection

 

[Santaman]

Hey, that's really awesome.

 

[Starscape]

That's fantastic on so many levels, @Cyfa. I'd be far too intimidated to attempt anything with that amount of detail, I'm in awe!