Compare And Contrast - Hephaestus

So one of the first things I did when I returned to Montana was work on building my portfolio. Sterling and I talked and agreed that some of my previous illustrations had potential, but needed work. So here is the first one, Hephaestus. I really like the drawing on this, and felt it was a good image, but the values were holding it back. So after working on it a little, what do you guys think of the new and improved(?) Hephaestus?

*UPDATE* So thanks to John, I figured out what was wrong with my file. Stupid CMYK/RGB settings. Now you can really see how bad and washed out the original was.

Compare And Contrast - Brer Rabbit

So, I have no idea how/why my first Hephasteus image got all messed up? It somehow inversed the color, or something, and I tried many times and couldn't figure out how to fix it. But rest assured, the first image was worse than the original. Now he second illustration I worked on while I was home was Brer Rabbit. I started the image at the Illustration Academy '06, and liked the composition and design of the briar patch, but once again value was an issue. So I fixed it, what do you think?

Illustration Academy, Part 2, Side B

So here are the rest of the finished pieces from this year’s academy. The first is Bill Cosby, Anita Kunz's conceptual portrait assignment. I really think this is the best piece I did this summer, and is the general direction I want to take my work. The next is Doug Chayka and Jenny Kostecki's assignment, Pinocchio. It was formatted to be a two-page spread from Chapter 3. The final image is Mark English's assignment, where we had to go back and use only one value to describe things, and it had to be set in a restaurant/ cafe. I think this summer I really found out what work I really want to do, and in a round about way, how to do it. I just want to give a shout out to everyone that helped me this summer, especially Miller and all of CJ2, the instructors, and pretty much everyone else. Thanks for all the help.

Illustration Academy, Part 2, Side A

This summer, I went to the Illustration Academy for the second time, and it was amazing. It was completely different from last year, but still worth every second of it. Here are the first three assignments, each given by a different visiting artist. The first is "Slice of Life: Sarasota", given by the four instructors. The objective was to focus on shape, value and composition, so I used painted cut paper. The second is Chris Payne's assignment "Celebrity Portrait". The image had to be appropriate for the New York Times' Book Review, and had to focus on likeness, I chose Rudyard Kipling. The third piece is "Blue", given to us by Gary Kelley. I actually redid this assignment over lecture week because the first was horrific, if not a learning experience. It is based of "Devil in the Blue Dress", or in this case, "Devil not in her Blue Dress".