retro boy and bot

[foster]

Well this is where i wanted to take the initial painting of the boy. You can see other variations of this painting in the finished thread under "outward bound". I?m just playing around at this point but if you want to make suggestions, please do.

Really needed to get away from commercial work and play with something that had not requirements or committee to answer to.

Jon

[foster]

detail

[foster]

hey imp head! thanks for the poke (nothing sexual) and the lamp eyes sugestion.

now post something in progress.

jon

[Blackhawk]

This is absolutely beautiful jon. I don't know what it is, but this is my favorite of yours. Thanks for the detail shot as well. Brilliant work as always, now I need to get back to work so I can paint this well someday ;)

[Tedsuo]

Hello,

I feel odd giving a crit to an artist of your caliber, but if you'd like one, here goes:


My main comment is the lines of action. Right now the strongest line seems to be the underside of the Robot's arm; my eye keeps following the gaze of the boy and getting "stuck" there.

The elbow of the robot and the boy's shirt exhibit a high degree of contrast compared to the boy's head. This makes it hard for me to focus on his face, even though emotionally his expression is at the center of this piece.

So my suggestion, if I were to be so bold, would be to add more highlight to the boy's face so that it a) pops more and b) uses the receding plane of his face from chin to forehead to make the line of action from Helmet to Face to Robot Head the strongest one in the painting, as that line would link the foreground and background both visually and thematically. I would also perhaps add a vertical mid-or background element in the far left of the painting, to pull the viewer's eye back from the robot's gaze to the foreground again.


Hope that was helpful, and I apologize if any of that was just restating what you were already aware of!

[Smeagol71]

:D Yeahhhh! This is great!!!!! I absolutely love this work and subject matter. Keep up the great work Jon, really good stuff!!!

[foster]

a little further along.

thanks to those who replied and for their comments and help.

jon

[littlejohn]

You've been really nice about commenting about my work, so I thought I'd at least try. I love the painting as is, btw. :)

The changes you made make a big difference. Desaturating the suit really complements the now lighter and more saturated face. And it's neat the way the new puffy cloud edge on the left really helps the composition. I especially like the overall color harmony: the jade green and the rusty red; a few patches of cerrulean. Yummy!

The things I notice seem really minor to me as I read this. I see that you made an adjustment to the placement of his eyes. Maybe his right eye is now too high? (Ha! I should talk.) Also, I kind of wish the t-shirt design were less interesting, even though I love the specificity and half-seeing it creates a certain mood in me. Uh, and now that I'm started: my eyes can't seem to find the front edge of his shoulder guard. Maybe adding a little highlight would help? And (okay, last one) I wonder if the helmet should be larger, letting us see more of the lovely silhouette of his hands.

Just some thoughts. As I said, I find it really satisfying as it is...now I feel bad for critique-ing something I really like. :(

[taff]

I am not sure if my comments will help, since I am far less experienced than you are, Jon.

It appears to me as if the strong color-contrast between the spacesuit and the background is separating the suit to much from the other parts of the painting. Changing the suits color to a lighter red already worked wel, but maybe a more brwonish background with hints of red and orange might work well.

Do you plan on leaving the hands thins dark, or did you just not get around painting them out, yet. Anyway, I think they are still to dark, esspecially if you compare them to the highlights of the helmet.

OH well, I feel kinda wierd trying to comment your work. :)

[Prometheus|ANJ]

Looking good as always. Reminds me I need to learn how to paint fuzzyness :G

First crits that pop into my head:

-Neck looks too long.
-Shoulders should be deeper inside the suit.

[amphex]

Damn man..what materials did you use for this?

[ikuru]

what the... Not more than a few reply´s on a Jon Foster painting.

Anyhow... Looks really cool as always.

[Chris Bennett]

That reverse 'Z' of the design is working just great and the direction of the boy's look and body attitude are perfectly couterbalanced by the off centre formal bits and pieces, so its just a couple of mundane observations that may be of help:
The space helmet looks a little small for the space suit neck opening to fit on at the moment.
The boy's shirt is not sitting quite right behind the suit (left side) - nothing serious, but since this is the area where the Robot must link in with the flow of the lower part of the design, putting the area to rights might be a good lead in to the process of further connecting the two elements together - giving you something to 'bite on'.
It's a beautiful piece anyway - I really like it a lot!

[Craig D]

Chris,
notice the date on the first post.
Ikuru has been running around and messing with peoples heads all day with his necrothread revivals

[ikuru]

Craig, no one told me where not supposed to revive the dead.
And quite frankly if its a thread with great forgotten art that almost no one have seen you´d think reviving it would be a good thing
Why should a good thread be forgotten?

//D

[Chris Bennett]

Chris,
notice the date on the first post.
Ikuru has been running around and messing with peoples heads all day with his necrothread revivals

You're right! Thanks for the heads up Craig.

[fullmetaljacket]

Man that looks so cool, reminds me a little bit of sky captain and the world of tomorrow qua style and atmosphere, but i would like to know witch brushes you used to create this? i suppose you made this in painter or am i wrong ?

And if you really really wont some crits on this (verry hard to find some :p) then i would say that the helmet and gloves of the boy could be detailed a bit more (specular and shit like that).

Great Respect for you're stuff man!

[Mr.Punch]

Looks great. I love the colors and textures. Definately saved this one.

I agree that the kid should be sunken in the suit a bit more and the neck is a tad long.

[Cuchulain]

First of all - I respect you, and your work.

For one, without a description from you about the image, I don't see the main point or a goal or idea behind the image. The Boy looks like he is playing an astronaut, or he dreams to be one. However the running robot... I don't know what it is for.

The boy's neck is too muscular, or maybe that is just your style.

I'm not feeling the helmet cropping. I think it might look better adding more space to the bottom. You decide.

And In my opinion the secondary information is still too sharp and bright. (left shoulder, background robot)

And I love your style.