Newborn: 1000 Cranes

[daestwen]

Reserved for final piece...

I'm doing this as part of the Newborn ChoW tie-in competition! Ya'll should do a Chow piece too!

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=161176

[daestwen]

So, Here's my idea...

Basically playing with the 1000 cranes idea... they are often given for babies, and supposedly grant a wish if you fold them all (hence, newborn babies recieve a wish for a prosperous life)... Marriages and stuff also traditionally get them. So, trying for a few layers of meanings...

Cranes = wish = new direction of life = newborn
cranes = gift to baby = newborn child/life
folding cranes = artistic creation
paper -> origami cranes -> real cranes

Something like that....

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[Liffey]

I like it, has the potential to be very beautiful/elegant. :)

[Black Spot]

It's nice to see something that isn't all dark and gloomy.

[daestwen]

Liffey: Thanks!
Black Spot: Admittedly, that's what came to my mind too! Interesting that for some reason artists associate birth/creation with creepy things, huh. :P So I tried to think of something I could do that was more positive....

Anyway, here's an update. The cranes are just sketched in for now - totally wrong in terms of colour/contrast/etc but that's where their placement will be, and probably the pose... At least I think. Any advice on composition is most helpful - I find it pretty difficult!

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[Baron Impossible]

Composition-wise I'd be tempted to move the lower of the two cranes down & right, so that its partially hidden behind the girl, then decrease the contrast so it appears in the mid-distance (+ turquiose hue) and doesn't overpower the main focus. Decrease the size accoringly, although tweaking might be needed to ensure its head is not on a level with the girl so it looks like its staring at her. I'd then move both bird and girl slightly down & right and move the top bird over to the left so its not flying out of the frame. You could then add a couple more birds in the distance. A sketch would be clearer but I'm not at my PC.

Just my thinking, I don't expect you to follow it - I'm not noted for conventional compositions... ;)