Errol McGillivray (illust. & visual storytelling) - [hiatus]

[LavenderMintRose]

Okay, I made some adjustments to it... I'm going to upload it again soon, could you critique it after I do that? I made some pretty dumb mistakes before... sweatdrop

 

[Errol McGillivray]

Sure. Sorry I've been so busy this week. Midterms. I've been getting stuff together to help you with things too though. Proportion charts and such. I have to dig for them.

Just let me know when the edit is uploaded.  

[Errol McGillivray]

Are my mentees still alive? Starr, did you ever get that image ready to upload?  

[Esper The Phantom Beast]

Hmm Hey Errol! For the creature thing you just want line art? No shading or color or anything else?  

[Errol McGillivray]

Exsahn

Hmm Hey Errol! For the creature thing you just want line art? No shading or color or anything else?

Read it.  

[_Kyohaku_Nushi_]

Errol McGillivray

Are my mentees still alive? Starr, did you ever get that image ready to upload?

I'm alive, as you know. :c
We're in contact a different way.

 

[Errol McGillivray]

_Kyohaku_Nushi_

Errol McGillivray

Are my mentees still alive? Starr, did you ever get that image ready to upload?

I'm alive, as you know. :c
We're in contact a different way.

Both you and Huggleberry.

I was mostly inquiring about Starre. I know the other guy is on hiatus. I need to update my first post. Anyways, no more off topic chat. Thanks for the check in though.  

[LavenderMintRose]

Gah... so sorry... my art teacher wanted me to finish it faster so I had to start painting it. I guess if there's still a big problem with it, I can paint over what I've already done, but yeah...

I also have two other pieces. I'll have all three up here in a few minutes.


Edit: Here!


The Muse

I got some critique from people and fixed most of it... I think the fact that I've just started using gouache might be apparent in how I painted. I meant to make the shading softer, but I don't really know how to do that with paint.

Flute
I want this piece to have some energy... He's playing a fast song. It's kind of based on a part from my failed attempt at novel writing where one character passes out and this character wakes up the other guy by playing his flute. I don't think I really got that energy here. I think he looks hesitant... Also, his hair looks like it's gelled that way or something, it's supposed to be windblown. I think I'll add some leaves blowing around to help show that.

I know the hands are a problem... I think part of the problem is that they're small...


Violin
I think the biggest problem with this one is the hand holding the violin. Also, the violin itself. But I think the peaceful feeling I was tying to show got through here better than the emotion I've tried for has with other things I've done. I don't know if you can see in the photo, but the background is going to be a beach and sunset... Is that really cliche? should I make it some other kind of background?

 

[Errol McGillivray]

Explanations coming!  

[UsagiKage]

Whoa, an opening! May I be one of your mentees? I'd really like your help in developing my style. I'm good with basics, but I don't feel like I have a clear identity yet.  

[Errol McGillivray]

Yes ma'am. It will be nice to help each other. You're good with color and shading, which I'm just learning and I'm fairly decent with design, story, and visual things.

I'm glad to have you aboard.  

[Errol McGillivray]

Alright, I did a bit of cleaning up. Anyone that is now off my mentee list due to inactivity can come back later. I understand that people are busy.

UsagiKage, feel free to contact me via msn since while I check here everyday, you can ask questions without waiting or whatever. elvenboyslut@hotmail.com  

[UsagiKage]

Wonderful! 3nodding I'm glad I could be an asset to you.

I wasn't expecting your e-mail to contain "boyslut" in it, lol. So anyways, my email is christilen@hotmail.com but I can only access it on any other computer than my own. I check Gaia frequently so contacting me is not a problem.

I'm supposed to design a logo for my friend's band, Full Moon Monsoon, but I've never done logos before so it's stumping me. Do you have any ideas to get the creative juices going? I know I should keep their identity in mind but the problem is that they don't have a cohesive style yet and the songs they like to perform are scattered in terms of style. They tend to play Alternative, Rock, Pop, Underground and some songs from Anime. Also, they don't have an image they want to present yet. You can tell they're a new band, lol.  

[Errol McGillivray]

You want it to be unique, simple, and easy to recognize, and easy to read at a distance.

http://www.grantasticdesigns.com/logos1.html
http://graphicdesign.spokanefalls.edu/tutorials/process/logos/logos.htm

Think of effective logos. FedEx is a great example.

Brilliant really. What does fedex do? Get your s**t from point A to point B. Your eye is usually drawn to the red. It's no accident that only those two letters are red. See if you can see what I'm talking about with the negative space.

If they go with text, then you have to make sure the font says something about what they do.

These guys have a drippy, scary kind of font that suggests disorder. It's supposed to be hardcore. So you imagine they're that kind of band. Someone who has never heard them could guess the style of music from looking at the name with the font. That kind of things appeals to fans of that kind of music as well. (Or so it's assumed.)

I would say that you should ask them:
Who is your target audience?
What do you want people who don't know who you are to think when they see your logo?
What colors do you want?
Do you want pure symbol? Do you want pure text? Do you want a combination? Do you want altered text? (They choose one.) I'd say for a band, altered text is a good idea simply because they probably want people who don't know them to read the name. They're nobodies right now. Only Prince can change his name to a symbol and people still know who the hell he is when they are in the store.

When they give you those answers (don't be surprised if they take a long time to get it to you), then I would say to start designing anything or even throwing out ideas. Ultimately, it's what THEY want. You can waste a lot of time before they know what that is.  

[UsagiKage]

That is really useful, thank you! eek I'll show you a set of logos after they give their input.