Jan 2019 - Random 4 - WIPs

I'll risk my own embarrassment by guessing at Jimi Hendrix and if I'm right give him a bit more hair to make him extra wild!
(But if I'm wrong give me a slap for being stoopid.)

That expression of the lips is really good.

Thanks Valence spot on I am glad it is near enough for you to spot him.

The story continues this is the face of the great ape god who placed the curse on the hurdy gurdy player. The curse has been placed on the minstrel because he had a dancing monkey and this upset the great ape god.

Here's a quick hour of gibberish....

It's clearly the latest sequel of Monkey Island where the fearsome ape pirate Gorilla Glew, with his cursed zombie pigeon Walter on his shoulder, stands amidst the ruins of his burning ship during the final battle with Guybrush.

Valence I love where this is going great palette .

At the moment I am still fighting Charlotte's simply great idea of setting the hurdy gurdy on fire it would save a lot of work, but I still have sometime available so play a little more I think.

The story continues
As a recap the great ape has cursed the minstrel to stand pigeon toed and play the hurdy gurdy this is quite a hard thing to do as it puts him not only off balance, but it is also hard for him to tap the beat with his foot which most players do.
This however is not enough for the great ape and so not only the minstrel is cursed but also his wife and daughter. It seems harsh but their fate is linked to the minstrel and they must dance to his music and defend him through the night as he plays. The dances are allowed a tambourine to help him keep the beat and two magic never ending fire brands, magic is never far from the gods.
You could well ask “ Defend him from what ? ” and the answer is spiders who are attracted to the music and the dance because the music and the dance which must be performed is non other than the energetic dance the Tarantella and for those of you who may not know this is the spider dance.
If the dancers cannot defend the minstrel and themselves from being bitten before the sun comes up
then they must dance again the next night. A curse must always have a get out clause and this one is no exception it is breakable but only if the dancers are successful.

Lol - great stuff Oak - I'm loving the apes eyes as they hover behind our heroes (?) and keep watch on the proceedings - it reminds me of some of the classic Hammer horror movies for some reason.

The fire light hitting your apes forward hand is already great Val, you conjure up a great atmosphere really early with the way you work. Of course thats Glew and Walter.......errr wait a minute did i miss something, did someone turn two pages over when i wasn't looking?

Right here's my first attempt.

I'm jumping on the band wagon here with the new Spideysona thing that I keep seeing around. So here's Me! As Spiderman, with cigarette out and all, taking a quick break above the Birmingham skyline (to be added later) with my friendly neighbourhood pigeon (also to be added later).
I found a great artist on Insta the other day called Bryn Jones - go check him out if you know whats good for you....no, go on.......I'll wait.....) who I'm using as inspiration for some more muted colours.


Here's Bryns' insta page btw....

Atto wrote: ....errr wait a minute did i miss something....

No, you didn't miss anything. I did warn you that it was gibberish.
I like where you're going with your picture. The muted palette looks nice and moody and the pose has a great sense of balance and weight. Can't wait for the skyline!

And oaktree, your picture is fantastically surreal. It looks like something from a wild, fever dream! And as Atto says, it does give the impression of 70's horror movies (I'm getting a bit of the original Wicker Man from it.) It's all very strange and terrifying yet always interesting, and you've done a fine job of creating movement in those whirling dancers.

Thanks for the comments all. I would like some more input from you. I have done some work on the minstrel and also some work on the front dancer both which I am happy with, but then I thought that the dancer was not dynamic enough so I have an alternative pose for her comments please.

Oak, I’m liking the new pose but I’m not so sure the gesture fits so well with the overall composition. Her arms seem at odds with the flow of the image. I do like the fact that she doesn’t appear to be setting fire to your minstrels hair now though.
I’m not on my pc right now so I can’t offer a better alternative. Sorry. But her gesture seems to suggest that our focus should be on the rear dancer and not on the minstrel himself. Hope that helps.
Edit: Looking again I think that my issue is the way that lower firebrand sits at her feet and the gorillas eye sits atop her head. Could you angle that firebrand toward the viewer (possibly from her wrist so you still have the underlying gesture) so it sits below the minstrels feet?

oaktree: I think it's tough to choose between them at the moment. The second one seems to have a little too much of a lean, although a simple rotation would solve that. The first pose looks a little more natural but I'd watch out for the folds of the fabric. The way that they continue up past the waist is making the orientation of her legs seem a bit ambiguous.
In the end I'd just go with the one that feels more comfortable to work with.

To chip in, I was going to say I preferred the first version as they are all lined up facing the same way in the second. Then I realized it's just a matter of whether you want the dancers going around the minstrel or the lot of them forming a small procession... So, I guess what ever works best with your story/idea...