Yesterday I did a small sketch of Sasha on a journal page in my moleskine. I drew that while looking at a picture of her.
So then today, I imported that sketch into ArtRage2 to use as a tracing image and did a digital painting/sketch. In ArtRage I used paint and pencils. Here is the result- BUT… I am still wrestling with whether things look right on the screen, whether you see my images the way I see my images because of monitor brightness, contrast and the tilt angle of my laptop screen. So I’ll post two versions; one is the very light image I made in artrage and the second is exactly the same but I moved the "Curves" level in photoshop to boost contrast. Let me know, is the first one "too light" or the second one "too dark"?
kw: cat tabby moleskine artwork drawing sketch painting artrage artrage2 wacom graphire tablet
Hi Lauren,
for my screen the second pic is just right. The first one is much too bright.
Comment by Silvia — Wed., Apr. 11, '07 @ 2:10 am
I think the best one will be somewhere inbetween. There’s a little too much contrast in 2, not enough in #1. Good kitty!
Comment by Karen Winters — Wed., Apr. 11, '07 @ 3:21 am
I like the second one too.
Comment by Casey — Wed., Apr. 11, '07 @ 3:36 am
If I look at brightness in terms of seeing the strokes and marks, then I have to choose the second one. The first one comes across very light on my screen, some of the marks almost completely disappearing, BUT, which I like as well…it gives the illusion of part of the face of Sasha being faded out. I find that effect very suitable for the subject..
Ronell
Comment by Ronell — Wed., Apr. 11, '07 @ 3:38 am
It’s a lovely sketch of her. The second one looks better on my monitor than the first, which I can hardly see. Glad you are starting to feel better.
Comment by Carole — Wed., Apr. 11, '07 @ 5:13 am
What a sweet tribute to Sasha - we should all be so loved! God Bless
Comment by sandy — Wed., Apr. 11, '07 @ 9:35 am
The lighter version looks best on my monitor, but I agree with Karen that something in between these two will hit your goal.
Comment by Brenda — Wed., Apr. 11, '07 @ 10:06 am
Lauren, I was away on vacation so I didn’t know. I am so sorry for your loss. I feel your heartbreak. We went thru the same thing 5 years ago with our kitty that we got when we bought our first house. She was born in that house and we were all she ever knew. She was 17 years old. It will get better as you’re finding out, and her memories will be good ones. I cried when I read your blog because I felt all those things, too. Take care.
Comment by Sherie — Wed., Apr. 11, '07 @ 10:26 am
I’m very sorry about your kitty cat. It’s nice you will have a drawing you made YOURSELF of her though. It will look great framed.
Comment by Lydia — Wed., Apr. 11, '07 @ 2:49 pm
Both look nice, but the first one is very pale on my monitor. I like the brighter, added colors. Great drawing of a beautiful girl! Thanks for visiting my blog also!!! take care, Mary
Comment by Emma Pod — Wed., Apr. 11, '07 @ 7:41 pm
I took at look at your Turkish Angora kitty and she looks so much like mine! Thanks for leaving your flickr link. I just love this kind of cat - they are so sweet natured. We had a very favorite TA with yellow eyes, Sophie, who died very unexpectedly at 6 years old. After she passed, we got Josie, the one on my blog. They are wonderful cats!
Comment by emma pod — Thu., Apr. 12, '07 @ 2:04 am
I like the second one better as well… I’m sorry about your Kitty… You did the right thing by not letting her suffer any longer. Sasha and you had a long relationship together with a strong bond and I’m sure, though she was scared, she understood that your actions were always in her best interest. -Cy
Comment by Cy — Thu., Apr. 12, '07 @ 11:01 am
Here is another vote for the second one
Comment by Renate — Sun., Apr. 15, '07 @ 3:45 am
Here is another vote for the second one
Sorry if that comes two times, I’m not sure wether I made it through the anti-spam with the first try …
Comment by Renate — Sun., Apr. 15, '07 @ 3:46 am
usually, you should err on the side of more contrast and tonal variation, unless you are going for a specific look.
But there are times, especially when work is digitally created or finished when it will due to some error become more contrasty than you intended, and the painting isn’t what you wanted.
A good example is a painting I did of a blond, that was fine on one moniter, but was over contrasty on all others, and unappealing oranges emerged, as well as near black splotches.
But when just making a comparison between light and low contrast and more tonal range and more darks…
the human eye, I believe enjoys the variations and wide range in tones.
In the second pic you have them all, from white to black.
To me, that makes a success.
Be well, and nice kitty.( sort of like “live long and prosper”…but people always ask why I say “be well” )
Great blog.
Comment by rebecca — Mon., Apr. 16, '07 @ 11:51 pm