Abandoning your first idea/concept on a piece- help!

[TMG]

When I'm doing some concept or illustration work, I often have a lot of trouble moving past the first idea or image that I'm happy with. For example, in design lets say I do a few thumbnails of a character and the last one I really like, I usually find it extremely difficult to move past that design, even though I think if I pushed it even more and kept experimenting I might find something even cooler. Or when doing an illustration, if I get a composition I really like after a few tries, I find trouble moving past the one I really like and just trying something totally different. The worst part is when I really like my first idea, because then it severely limits the amount of thumbnails or comps. I know its not healthy and I've been trying to just power through it and force myself to do more, but I'm finding it pretty difficult. Any tips or advice would be great.

[FlipMcgee]

Are you drawing for somebody else or just for yourself?

[TMG]

Well, both. Clients like to see a variety of ideas, and for my personal work I know its more efficient and rewarding to be able to go past your first good concept.

[FlipMcgee]

Oh okay.

I was gonna say that if you're just drawing for yourself that maybe you're putting unecessary burden on yourself with this.

Do you make studies of your choice designs in different views, different environments, different palettes after thumbnailing? Because that could help generate fresh ideas for gear, accessories, or detailing. Or try silhouette checks in different views.

If it's going to be a non-hero design, do you leave areas in your design for variations besides changing textures? (For creatures, basically how can you differentiate between age, gender, or role in the pack).

Another thing is to try drawing test orthos, it's a good way to reveal areas you haven't quite defined yet or have inconsistencies with (especially with complicated tech detailing).

Finally, if you're totally stuck, get another pair of eyes for feedback or suggestions.

[DavePalumbo]

I may be remembering this wrong, but in the DVD set that Syd Mead did awhile back, he sketches out dozens of concepts and angles on the scene he plans to paint and then at the end decided to go back to the first because he liked it best all along, just wanted to make sure he wasn't being hasty. It happens I suppose, sometimes that first idea actually is the best. If your clients want variety though, you just have to keep pushing new directions even if they don't satisfy you as much.

[Justin.]

As I've been told many many times, you need to break your image. Take a giant brush and put a giant shape right in the foreground or something. From what I've observed, a good concept can consist of 2 things. A clever solution to a problem, or a mash of 2 previously unmixed things to make something new (perceived as original). So you can either create a problem to solve, or take something completely unrelated to the subject and make it work somehow.

[kev ferrara]

Howard Pyle advocated drawing 50 quickie thumbnails for each painting, even if you think you "nailed it" on the first go.

You might want to develop a protocol for "kinds of variations" you should pursue after achieving one you like. For instance, upon nailing one idea make sure the next one is:

Going in the opposite direction on the canvas.
Is at a different camera angle.
Has more action, or less action.
Is more shadowy or less shadowy.
Has more background or less background.
Has a strong foreground frame, or no foreground frame.
Is comprised of different kinds of shapes (circles becomes triangles, etc.)
Is simpler or more complex.
Has a different graphic design... (analyze the good one and see what letter of the alphabet the design kinda looks like, then do a different letter.)
Is more angular or more curvilinear.
Is more like a pinwheel or S-curve, or more like an X or a Y.
Has more characters or less characters.
Is more serious or more outlandish.
Is more "classically" composed or more random snapshot-ish.

Maybe once you hit a good one, try to come up with the very worst composition you can think of for the same scene. And then try to "make it work".

Maybe try to take the successful one and "radicalize it" to such an extent that it looks like a psycho funhouse version of the successful composition.

Invert the lighting. Use the lighting to make shadows that act as metaphors for the action. Play with the scale of the main figure, making it really small compared to the environment, or really big on the canvas, to the point that it crowds the picture.

Edward De Bono calls these kinds of mechanisms "stepping stones." Meaning, they are stepping stones that lead from the path you are on to a path that runs laterally from your own. De Bono coined the term "lateral thinking" to describe this deliberate process.

kev

[TMG]

Ah I love all you guys. Thanks a lot, such great suggestions and they're already helping.