Crowded New York II: Sketch

This is another sketch for the Crowded New York Series. The original sketch was a safe option for me so I adjusted the perspective to make the composition a little more interesting. Really looking forward to applying all the lessons learned from the last Crowded New York illustration.     

Crowded New York I: P U

This is pretty far along and I can't really tell how much more I want to add to it so I'm waiting for my next class to get some much needed input and see what everyone thinks. I think it's pretty close to finished.

I've learned a lot while handling the color for this particular illustration and have taken several suggestions from my instructor as to how to make the coloring process more effective for my type of drawing. I look forward to working faster with the next four drawings which will afford me much needed time to experiment. I looked back at the other colored version of this drawing I had initially brought to class and this new one is much stronger.

I've used several layers of hand painted elements in this illustration which automatically makes it different from the previous work I've done using photoshop. It's too soon to say there's a personality to the way I'm coloring but with time hopefully that will change.

Photoshop Is Clowning Me

I've started to incorporate some textured and or organic elements into the coloring process in order to make more interesting images.

Reworked Sketches And Working Drawing For Review

This sketch is a modification from the original drawing. I have pulled back the viewer in order to get more character into the composition and then realized that by pulling out, I made the scene less crowded and claustrophobic.

In order to resolve the loss of a sense of crowding, I added a screaming infant in a pram (notice the parent is not presented) in the foreground of the drawing. I feel it also gives the composition a lot of depth and makes for a more interesting illustration.

This colored drawing is currently being worked on.

Reworked Sketches For Class Review

 

 

These two drawings are the second batch of sketches for the Crowded New York series I am currently working on as a class assignment. The review of the original sketches by my teacher Matthew Rota and my fellow classmates was very helpful as I went back to revise my drawings.

The first drawing (Dining In) has a lot more items in it to increase the effect of cluttered and tight living.

The second drawing ( No Room Anywhere) differs from the first sketch in that there is a lot more depth in it and the people out in the streets are a little larger to relate better to the figures jutting out of the windows. In a third revision of this idea, I was considering dropping the far roof down to show a sliver of sky with a helicopter and jet flying over the scene.

Crowded New York

I had a lot of trouble getting started with creating a concept to run with for this assignment, but I think I fell on a fun and interesting series I will call "Crowded New York". I'm not a curmudgeon or a person that thinks that a good life is to have a lawn and live in a sequestered cul de sac suburb so I feel I can come up with some light hearted drawings illustrating feeling crammed in New York.

I just moved from an apartment in Park Slope that was so small I couldn't cook anything more than a single dish at a time and had nowhere to place my dishes to dry. I was always afraid that an overzealous jerk of the arm would send my elbow through the drywall. I also had a friend who lived in the Lower East Side in the early 90's who had a bathtub in his kitchen/living room. He used to set out a plank of wood over his tub to eat on.

I don't freak out on subways very often. I have lived in New York for too long and the crunch is what I moved here for but sometimes the casual behavior of some people in public places still astonishes me. I would like to infuse those nuances into this drawing in order to make it less generic and homogenized.