Thursday, September 25, 2008

Boids!

Sloooooooooooooooooow day at work, since we're wrapping up part of a project. So I drew some birds! Trying to explore different styles a bit, since Xavi pointed out that I don't really do that... I need to diversify!

My favorite is the bird at the top, center, singing his little heart out. :) My second favorite is the bird on the branch...

Which one is your favorite? :)

6 comments:

phantom42 said...

This is something that Emily and I had been discussing recently as well. If you wish to excel in concept art, you need to expand past your cute/anime-ish/tard'ins style. I know you want to build and sell your own brand, but so long as you're going to be working for other people to keep the bills paid, you'll need to show them that you can do other styles as well.

And yes, the singing one is damned cute.

Unknown said...

My over half my portfolio is a different style than the sketches here--and the stuff that I am working on/need to finish is as well. I don't see a problem with sketching cute things--right now I feel like you're implying that I draw this way exclusively. :(

Its part of the reason I want to move to a different project at work, as well--its subject matter is the exact opposite of what I HAVE to do for Littlest Pet Shop, which is all cute, all the time.

phantom42 said...

Hardly. I know you draw more than what you show here. But most of the things I've seen from you over the past few years have a very specific "Michelle" style and feel to them. Is this a bad thing? No, not really - consistency is important when you're working on a project. Still, it's also good to push past and work outside of your comfort zone now and again.

You've been working out lately - and the same principles apply. If you do a lot of reps, but don't push your limits, you don't grow as much - but you get better at what you're doing. Conversely, throw on the extra weight - push your self through your limits and comfort and you'll find new skills. Then, when you go back to your "usual" (and I use this word very carefully) stuff - you can approach it differently and bring new skills and ideas to it.

Unknown said...

In her defense I'll say that she has done stuff for work lately that IS much much more varied than what we see here (and I'm not talking about Littlest Pet Shop) ... but thanks to NDA's she cant show any of that right now (or for a while).

It sucks cause its a double edged sword, its hard to go home and have the same intensity that you do at work, and the way I see it she wants to relax and not think too hard about her portfolio. At the same time you're not wrong at all, its just that from the outside looking in not everything is like it seems.

I do agree that diversification is a good thing and I think she could do both approaches on her time off work, but building brand awareness is important as well.

Unknown said...

OK, I see what you mean--you're right, I need to learn how to manage my time better so I can do that.

I've been super focused on trying to get a 'brand' established for the past few weeks, and have been devoting all of my out-of-work time to that. Need to balance my time better.

And like Xavi said, I have been working on stuff, but I can't show it at all--which is SUPER frustrating. Its good work that I'd love to put in my portfolio, as its totally different, but by the time I can do so it'll be totally obsolete (two years from now :|). POO.

-------- said...

awesome girl!!