Dave's Digitals

Thank you kindly, Thomgirl & Dom. I was hoping to get to work on it some this past weekend, but between the wife having some issues, and me being under the weather and working all weekend for storms, I never got to fool with it any.

Hopefully I can get back to it soon and have an update.

Thanks again.

Dave - I know I'm a bit late commenting on this piece...I love the idea and the use of the differing cats. I think though a little reference is needed on the foreshortened fore legs and paws of the foreground cats. They maybe in the right area but some more angularity on the joint areas to read better....not sure if that reads right. (why can't I get the emoicons to work?) Duh, did a DOM!

I should have commented on it sooner, before you got into the coloring but hopefully you're not so far into it that the changes can't be easily done.

hobbyhorse wrote: Duh, did a DOM!

Haha! It's pretty cool to be a verb!

Sorry to hear about your under-the-weatherness Dave. I hope you guys get through it all quickly.

Thanks Dom, and yep, me too. Hate feeling miserable like this. And apparently it's something that's been going around our office for the past month or so, but I didn't know this until I started feeling bad.

No worries, Lori. Your input is appreciated anytime. - And it's never too late. But yes, the front guys do need work. I actually started this one out in color, instead of working it up in Grayscale first, as I have been. But I basically just roughed them in from the start, and haven't done anything with them since. Other than doing some minor adjustments to the panthers head getting it positioned in relation to the woman. Oh, and I did move the panthers legs a little too, after Charlotte pointed out the woman's sitting appearance, which may have also thrown them off even more? I just used the smudge tool and pushed them up some to make some room for a log of sorts, that they are supposed to be sitting on now. ... Hopefully it will look better soon. So far I've been mostly working on the BG and the 3 upper characters, but plan to visit the two big guys, as well as the front foliage soon.

Thanks again

Hi Dave and everyone else

I really like the cat piece you're working on, Dave! And I really like that you've set the background so early in the process - just as you said, I myself tend to throw some background in the end, which as it seems from what I've experienced so far is a potential recipe for failure. Another thing is that I usually am so impatient in the end that I rush said background and it shows severely. So, I admire you for having the courage (yep, to me that is about courage) to do what you did

However, there are a few things with the painting that bug me a little, and since I noticed them, and since for me this community is about mutual help as we grow together as artists, I'd like to point them out.

The one thing that I noticed ever since I saw the sketch and that keeps bothering me is her left (our right) hand. Now, my vocabulary is a bit poor but I'll try to explain as best I can.

The way you've painted it so far deceives me into thinking her arm is quite short, which I know it isn't. I believe her palm should be placed in a similar way to her other one, as her arms are more or less on the same planes and in similar positions. Either this, or you need to create the illusion of her elbow being much more retracted than it looks now. To achieve this I'd personally move her wrist closer to the panther's head and would definitely make the whole hand bigger, as it looks too small to me now.

Another solution, if you don't wanna pain her arms and hands in similar position, would be to extend the problematic arm a bit so it doesn't look out of proportion, and then let her gently rest her palm on the panther's back, as you've already done.

I hope at least a fraction of my explanation was clear

Another thing I noticed is that there's a liana that seems to be growing out of the top left (ours) feline. And the outer edge of the top right feline's head could overlap the tree in the background just a tad more in order not to create a tangent.

And the last thing I just noticed is that the main character's tail may be pointing out of the painting. You might like to change that.

I would love to see the painting finished soon!

Thanks, Roz. Appreciate the input, and fresh eyes.

Yep, her left hand was another one of those things I've kind of left alone, not really knowing what I wanted to do with it just yet. Thought I'd wait until I got the panthers body placed correctly before tackling it. But I had thought to place it further down along the spine of the panther, (as you mention) and hopefully it will read better when I get it done. ... Will also take a look at the other things you pointed out, like the liana on the left. I had planned to actually have it continue down along the base of the tree, below the chin, but just never finished it yet. And agree about the tangent on the upper right guy as well. I had started to enlarge the tree branch some as it got lower, but need to do some more to get the overlap like you suggested and plan to enlarge it even more as it get closer to the bottom.

And I agree with your statement about the BG stuff. I too have a habit of creating a character first and then building in a BG afterwards, and agree about the rushing it in, or just wanted to finish it. ... But I do occasionally work it up as a whole, but it's rare.

Thanks again

Well, with so many things going on, I haven't done any artwork in quite a while. - But I also haven't been able to get on here much as of late, and may be absent for a little while longer. ... I'm trying to deal with some messed up stuff with my Mom right now. She had a massive stroke last Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, and has been hospitalized since. Turns out she actually had multiple strokes, but one massive one that affected pretty much the entire left side of her brain. It's not sounding very good, and the prognosis doesn't sound much better. Along with dealing with this and trying to see what all we can do for her, my sister and I are also trying to deal with my brother who we think has turned into a complete basket case from this.

So, though you might not see me around much, I'll still be here and will try to hop on when I can.

So sorry to hear about your mother (and brother too - I don't think it's unusual for family members to handle things like this badly, hopefully he'll pull himself together with your help). We'll be thinking about you and I hope you'll soon be able to be back on here more often. *hugs*

Thanks kindly, Charlotte. ... I did sit him and my sister down Sunday morning and we spoke for about 5 hours. I agreed to being Power of Attorney for my Mom as they requested, but along with my sister, since I live an hour from them. This alone seems to have helped him some. That, and my Sister agreeing to move back in with them to help with her care. - She was renting a place just 10 minutes from them anyway, and had no issue doing this. So this should help with all involved.

Though, I might be the next one to start freaking out here soon. I just took my oldest pup (Shelby, who's 4) to the surgeon today. (she's been limping for the last week or so) Turns out she has a ACL tear in her right, rear leg. Surgery is scheduled for tomorrow, and picking her back up Wednesday. Rehab around 2 to 3 months & a bill being somewhere around 3 grand.

Just never seems to end sometimes.

aw poor pup
Things like these always seem to come in one big pile, don't they?