24 January 2018

Halfway

Yesterday afternoon I finished drawing my football crowd. It has taken a long while. I found that I was only able to work on it when I was in the mood, when there was nothing else to do and when I was on my own. Getting these three stars to align was not always easy.

Usually, I have put a CD on the stereo and listened to it while creating a few more faces. For the past few sessions I have listened repeatedly to Ed Sheeran's latest album - "Divide". There's no doubt that musically he is a very gifted young man but some of the lyrics seem quite juvenile to me, emphasising the fact that he is only twenty four years old. When you have known and loved the songwriting of Jackson Browne, Leonard Cohen, Robin Williamson, Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan - other writers' lyrics can often seem inferior.
Now that the basic drawing is done, I need to start adding colour. Every character is wearing a football scarf and originally it was my intention simply to colour every scarf  in black and amber - the colours of Hull City. 

As the crowd increased in size, I began to wonder whether or not I should colour in the entire scene - different flesh and hair colours as well as clothing. A big task involving many hours of patient work. However, when I finished the drawing yesterday afternoon, I looked at it and thought that maybe I should return to the original vision - scarves only.

I am now in a state of hesitation. And here I am to the rear of the crowd - watching the game and wondering how to proceed with the picture...

33 comments:

  1. I can't see the amount of detail I would like to but what I can see in your close-ups looks grand!

    As for colour or not, any time my artistic endeavours require me to make a decision like that I am inclined to go the minimal route. In retrospect it usually would have been better to take the plunge and add the extra detail but I would prefer to leave it out than mess it up!

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    1. I certainly do not want to mess it up. This morning I woke up thinking "Scarves only!"

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  2. Wow! You are a talented cartoonist! (You notice I didn't say "artiste".)

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    1. I hope that in the end it will work both as a big cartoon and as a work of art.

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  3. You've set yourself up with a major challenge. I hope we see the end product.

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    1. You will see the finished result - if I live that long!

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  4. How big is it, Mr. Pudding? How about different values of the same color except for the flesh tones and scarves? Maybe Paynes Grey?

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    1. Without getting out my tape measure I would say it's 24 inches by 18 inches. Thank you for the payne's grey idea.

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  5. Let your mind and hands guide you...they're doing an excellent job so far.

    Adding colour will be a daunting process...and time-consuming...you will find the answer...I can't tell you where it is, though!

    So far so good, though...very good, actually.

    I was saddened to hear the news yesterday that Neil Diamond has cancelled the rest of his world tour - his tour in celebration of his 50 years in the game. He was due to perform here in Aus in March. But now having been diagnosed as having Parkinson's Disease he has put a stop to touring, but not to writing and recording. It's hard to believe his is 77. I love Diamond. We saw him live in concert back in 1976 - he was, as expected, terrific - and we used his "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" album as background music during our marriage ceremony (my ex, Randall and me).

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    1. I also saw Neil Diamond in concert in 1976 - at Cleveland, Ohio. A gifted songwriterand I note that in spite of Parkinson's he hopes to continue writing songs.

      And thank for your thoughts about my picture.

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  7. You must feel a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment now after the drawing is finished, and like Lee says, I guess the decision about colouring will come to you at its own pace.

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    1. I do feel a sense of satisfaction at this interim point. I set myself a big job and I made it to the end.

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  8. Sorry, auto correct went crazy in my last comment. What I said was, why not colour in the scarves first and then see how you feel about the rest of it?
    Either way it's a most excellent drawing!

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    1. I feel that the skin and clothing colours would need to be added before the scarves. Thank you for your support Christina.

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  9. Amazing. I think it's great in black and white, but adding colour to the scarves only would make it more dramatic and stress the importance of the Hull colours. Does Mrs YP mind you having your young girlfriend next to you?

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  10. I like it as it is. Colour all over would look like a jigsaw and would be too overpowering. I think scarves only would be just right.

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    1. Thank you for your visualisation Meanie.

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  11. You could photocopy it and add some colour to the copy, then see how you feel about it?

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    1. That's a good idea from a lateral thinker.

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  12. It looks great so far! Here's an idea -- go find a large format copier and duplicate the drawing, and test your coloring plans on the duplicate. You could do scarves first, and then add other colors if you think they're warranted. And afterwards, if you hate the whole color idea, you haven't spoiled the original!

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    1. (Or you could even just copy a section of it and do the same test.)

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    2. Thanks Steve. I may just do this. Good idea - on the same lines as "Meanqueen" above.

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  13. I think it's amazing how you've made every person so unique - just like people really are, of course. How did you come up with so many different faces? (aside from the ones you placed there based on people you know)

    If I were doing it, which I am not, I'd put all the colour in. When I picture the scarves alone on black and white, it seems that so much wonderful detail would be lost. Only my unprofessional opinion and worth the price you paid for it :)

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    1. Of all my commenters you are the only one who has got to the nub of what this work is all about. Yes. Every person in the crowd is different. They are together but they are not the same. Thank you Jenny.

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    2. Maybe others didn't click on the picture to enlarge it; it's much easier to see that way.

      So ... how DID you come up with all those very unique faces?

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  14. I've been desperately trying to find a cartoon face that I can use for various ideas that I have but I am so lacking in talent that drawing even one face eludes me. To draw so many different faces with different expressions is beyond my wildest dreams. I am lost in admiration.

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  15. The photocopy idea is brilliant - and you could get the idea in a smallish section. Love it! Can't wait to see what you decide.

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  16. I think it would be striking with just the scarves coloured.
    Briony
    x

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  17. Very impressive. Personally I'd go for the black and amber scarves option but as Steve says, maybe the best idea would be to copy it and see which works best for you.

    I have say though, you don't look very happy to be at the match or is that your usual expression when watching the Tigers?

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  18. An interesting challenge. As Meanqueen suggests, I think I'd go for a little experimentation on a copy. My first thought was that I like the patterns made in the original by the varying density of the details (big picture, squint your eyes view). Scarves only strikes me as too busy, and distracting from the whole. As for coloring it all, when I have tried to paint various skin tones, eye colors, etc. I found it way too difficult to escape from a sort of cartoonish generalization.

    That said, I get the feeling you would like to slowly enjoy adding color to the whole picture. I expect these comments will help you figure it out. As an aside, when my daughter was about 4, she liked to fill a sheet of paper with faces drawn in pencil (I wish I had saved one).

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Mr Pudding welcomes all genuine comments - even those with which he disagrees. However, puerile or abusive comments from anonymous contributors will continue to be given the short shrift they deserve. Any spam comments that get through Google/Blogger defences will also be quickly deleted.

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