Potatoes need love too

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June has ended and July has begun, and with it we wave goodbye to Bookworm Month. On the whole it was a vaguely satisfactory body of work that (for a variety of reasons) remains mostly unseen. And really, that seems about right. 

Mostly for my own sake I wanted to very quickly review/analyse the work that was produced and look to see where improvements can be made for the future. I will say up front that I think I've done better work in the past so I do not feel that this project represents my quality/progress as a whole.

One of the main things that has slowly been coming more and more to my attention is my lack of promotional skills. I don't get my artwork 'out there' enough..though I have made attempts..and this is certainly something that needs working on. 

Secondly I would argue that my work still lacks the full focus it really needs to truly shine. I've certainly improved and I'm good enough now that working as a professional is a realistic endeavour (please do tell me if you think otherwise, I could seriously use a wide range of opinions). And yes, I know that any good artist never stops growing and improving but I still can't shake off the feeling that I'm overlooking an obvious 'something' that I need to made a big step forward..right now and such. 

It's tricky, but above all else I want to be true to myself and my personal style. For example; I'll never be someone who is able to use digital painting techniques..I don't enjoy it and I'm not good at it. I could probably get good at it but it always feels like I'd be forcing it..and thus we come back around to staying true to who I am as an artist. I think that the use of more abstract or exaggerated shapes is a good start along with more interesting compositions and posing. And just drawing/creating/experimenting more can only help.

Oh and my business mentor thinks that by the next time we meet in a month or so I should be ready to start thinking about really moving forwards with my plans. We'll see how that goes..I still need to wrap my head around/get time for some questions/market research stuff. 

Anyway, back to the original point of this entry; the review.

001 - Dracula - 3/5
Dracula's appearance is relatively true to the source material and overall red hue conjures up a suitable atmosphere. Perhaps making Dracula so goofy wasn't that great an idea in the end..or if I were going to go down that route then I should have really followed it through in the rest of the image. It's hard to be too negative on the flat perspective because that flat, almost pop up picture book feel is kinda one of my things. Suffice to say this could use some more playing with at any rate.
002 - Treasure Island - 3/5
The main problem with this one is that it is a little difficult to tell what is going on..and more so that it doesn't really have the impact such a visceral scene requires. The decent colour scheme, fun layout and overall consistency make me rate this slightly higher than I probably should.
003 - And Then There Were None - 2/5
I think that this one is possibly a piece that you either love or hate. I was being very experimental with the entire thing and just went nuts with digital splashes and shapes. I still think the aim of the piece was solid but overall it remains too unfocused and unsatisfying to look at. 
004 - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - 3/5
I like the art of Harry..and I like the art of the dragon. I also like the simple background even. The problem here though is that's all there is to the piece..it needs a bit more to really excel. Good practice though and really boosted my confidence at the time.
005 - LotR The Return of the King - 4/5
I do like this one quite a bit but I could easily see other people disagreeing with me on that. It's not really true to my style..but it is a nice image and has some atmosphere to it. Competent line work and colouring. Funny thing is, a week or so later I did a sketch of the same piece and it looked so much better..so I know for a fact that this could have been a better piece if I'd just taken the time to really push it.
006 - Masque of the Red Death - 3/5
Putting aside the fact that the cartoon-ish look doesn't really fit the source material I think this is a good piece of artwork. I like the swirling, vortex like shape to the hands as they spiral towards the masked man at the centre..though this could have been emphasised more too. The clock in the background lets it down along with some empty spaces that really, for this piece, needed filling. 
007 - Macbeth - 4/5
Possibly my favourite of the project, though I'm thinking more and more that the distinctive colours on the witches were a mistake. Just a fun, competent piece that fulfils its aims. The unique shapes/designs of the witches work well for me.
008 - Inkheart - 2/5
I quite liked the line work of this one at the time but the finished piece if really a bit of a mess. Add to that the fact that almost none of the characters look how I wanted them to and we're left with not that much at all.
009 - George's Marvellous Medicine - 4/5
This felt the most like 'me' of the whole thing and it certainly ranks up there next to image 7. Not much to say on this one.
010 - Life of Pi -3/5
This is kinda the same as image 3 in some ways..something of an experiment. It comes across as more of a success than the other image though and I was tempted to rate it higher but overall I think 3/5 seems fair.
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