Partran Commission - Thought Process

More commission work! This time, thumbnails for a big painting. The client is actually one of my patrons here - hello Partran!

Normally I'd make this a $3+ post, but mis-clicked when posting, and I've already done one this month, so this one's for everyone :) 

This piece is a pretty big deal for me at the moment. I don't do paintings often, and the ones that I have done don't quite measure up to this - it'll be my first time in years working with a full scene, and on top of that there' a lot of symbolism and meaning in the image itself, for the client, that I want to deliver on. 

A meteor or some other force has destroyed the character's home and belongings, but he is neither hopeful nor defeated, accepting nor in denial, simply weathered. A tall order to portray in one image! 

I really struggled on the mood of this one in the beginning. I knew roughly what I wanted, but getting it down in on paper sketch was hell. Lots of incorrect attempts, lots of subtle tweaks to see what made the difference...  Hence a million thumbnails, haha. Here were my very first attempts! 

Thumbs 1-3 were me settling on camera position. I liked being closer to the character, so I went with 3.

I switched to a landscape orientation to show more of the setting. In 4 and 5, I tried other poses for the character himself, but I came back to 3 in the end. 

Off to the side, I tried these takes on body languages. Different amounts of broken and betrayed and angry.... 

And then something more rigid and stoic. Neither stuck, to me or to the client. 

I started to get really discouraged, around here. Between doing so many sketches without "really" making progress, having trouble with anatomy and proportion, and constantly being aware of how much of the piece was still left to do, I felt like I wouldn't be able to continue at all. I think I put the piece down for about 2 weeks at this point; partially because I had hit that wall, but also so that I could progress elsewhere. I think it's good to adjust your course when you're struggling too much. 

When I came back with fresh eyes, I gave it another go. 

In 8, I felt like I made a breakthrough - a good ratio of lax to stiff, and, in 9, we were really seeing the destruction in the ripped clothed. 

... And then I realized that I really had no perspective to speak of, haha. I think I got so overwhelmed by the significance of the piece that I forgot my basics, but I am glad I caught it here. 

So I re approached it from nearly the ground up! For thumbnail 10, I make use of the program DesignDoll, which allows me to pose a little figure that I can then use as reference, with the added benefit of having perspective lines so I can keep things looking as they should. 

This was exactly what I needed to do. The model itself has some anatomical issues, and those are present in this sketch, but having a  clear foundation really made the difference. 

10 is winning thumbnail, by far, and I'm ready to really move forward with the peice. Partran and I both feel like the body language is what it needs to be, and I'm really happy with the view we have of the scene... I just need to clothe him again, but that part should be easy.

That's all for now! I really like making posts like this, so I just wanted to do that today :) I'll be picking this up again soon, I'll keep you posted!